Biography

Amanda Weise, also known as Kendra Westwood is a Film, Television and stage Actress known for her work on NBC's Debris, The CW Network's iZombie, Lifetime Television Movie Gone Mom, and Netflix Series The Baby-Sitters Club. Weise was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised between both Jamaica and Canada. She was born to Caribbean parents and is of half Jamaican and half Grenadian descent. She became involved in the arts from a very young age when she started painting. She received formal acting training at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York.

As a producer she also wrote, produced and starred in the short film Coco Blue. The film which was her screenwriting and production debut went on to be in Cannes Film Festival SFC and screened across The United States, Canada, Europe and Korea, gaining the actress and her team several festival awards including best actress for her performance and best musical score.

As a child growing up in Negril, Jamaica Weise started out as a visual artist under her first artistic mentor. From the age of 7 she was making art and selling pieces to tourists who would come into her parents' shop. A tourist once bought out all of her children paintings. Weise would also perform at school and community functions singing, dancing and reciting poetry. She was bitten by the acting bug as a youngster after watching Tina Turner's biopic "What's Love Got To Do With It" starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. She was also hooked on musical films such as "Grease" and Action flicks such as "Action Jackson". After graduating in Ontario with a performing arts award at her high school graduation and an arts scholarship she was encouraged by her drama teachers to seriously pursue acting. She first went on to study Theatre at Humber College in Toronto, followed by her enrollment at Lee Strasberg NYC. While studying in New York she worked on her first Off-Broadway show 'To Be A Black Man in America' at Ujaama Black Theatre and performed in 'Cabaret' the musical at Marilyn Monroe Theatre. Later on, she began working as a touring actor in Toronto for a children's theatre company. Then with a hit production in the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, Now Magazine hailed the actress for her strong work in the play 'All Our Yesterdays' presented at Factory Theatre. She went on to being featured in several films and television shows. She published the book 'Liberation Is Now' in 2023 under the pen name Kendra Westwood. In 2024 the actress stepped away from the movie production business.

Weise went on to earn a Certificate from Harvard Business School online in Design Thinking and Innovation. She then started her own companies. Weise was born-again in December 2024. Much of her contemporary work is inspired by her faith in Jesus Christ, and her passion for love and well-being. Weise is based in Western Canada, where she runs her art practice. She creates sculptures, paintings and a variety of crafts, specializing in solving human issues and utilizing sustainable processes within her work. She is a creator and host of her own independent faith-based content and programs. She continues to be an actor on stage. She has appeared in selected ads. She is also a singer & songwriter, and she is an author of poems and short stories.
- IMDb mini biography by: C.Y.