Actress and Writer, Lena Cardwell, was born in Detroit where she began her career journey
appearing in commercials. As a young girl, she was featured in national
commercial campaigns for companies such as Nike and McDonald’s. She also
performed in local musical theaters and competed in pageants.
Her family moved to New York City when
Cardwell was in junior high, fell on tough times
and endured severe hardships, including being homeless. Yet the enterprising
young Cardwell would not be deterred from pursuing her dreams. For both junior
and high school, she attended schools for the performing arts. And Cardwell
would sing on subway platforms and on the street at places like Times Square to
raise money so she could take singing and acting lessons.
Cardwell’s resourcefulness coupled with
her talent opened doors and she landed a few small television roles before
landing her first regular series role portraying Simone Russell on the soap
opera Passions. “I have so much respect for the soap opera genre. It is
the best bootcamp for actors, especially young actors. You have so much thrown
at you that you have to pick up at the drop of a
hat. I became really good at learning my lines
quickly because there were so many pages of dialogue to get through. I was on
the show for about two years. This gave me the time to really delve into the
role, to explore Simone’s personality and character as a teenager and gave me
the chance to try different things. It was an amazing experience and I had so
much fun.”
After Cardwell left Passions,
she appeared in several television shows (The Steve Harvey Show,
Judging Amy, My Wife and Kids) and was in her first movie, the
horror film, Jeepers Creepers 2. Then sort of out of nowhere, she
disappeared into obscurity. So much so
that people wondered, where is Lena Cardwell? The answer? She moved back to
Detroit where she was, “living, raising two great Danes, being normal and being
Jennifer Hazel (birth name).”
Fast forward several years. During the
height of the COVID pandemic, Cardwell was quarantined at home, when she
received a phone call from a friend who asked if Cardwell would write a
children’s book for her daughter. This one phone call ignited an artistic tsunami-like awakening. Since that phone call, Cardwell has written twenty-two
children’s books, four teen series and one adult
novel. As we said, an artistic tsunami.
“I used to write and read a lot. I have
tons of journals that I filled up and if I wasn’t writing my nose was usually buried in a book. I
wrote my first novel around eighteen years old. My mom’s computer caught a
virus, I lost the entire book, and I swore never to write again. But when my
friend asked me, I started writing again. It stirred something inside of me and
I couldn’t stop. I have experienced zero writer’s
block. It keeps coming so I just keep going. When I get an idea, I become so
energized and obsessed. It makes me happy, anything creatively, I’m all over it. My inspiration can come from
anywhere. I am also surrounded by nieces, nephews, little cousins, and family
who are a never-ending source of ideas.”
Cardwell is always working on several
projects at one time that are in various stages;
writing outlines, drawing, and painting
illustrations and developing and drafting stories. She is constructing a body
of work for all audiences to enjoy. “Although most of my books right now are
children’s books, I am writing books for different
genres. I have so many ideas and I want to get them all put to paper. When I am writing, I am also thinking, could
this book be a film? Could it be a television show? I have a few friends in the
business who ask me to audition for various projects. I haven’t
as of yet, but I haven’t
totally closed the door on acting. So, we will see, for now I am all about this
writing bug I caught! I love it!”
Website https://www.jlhkidsbooks.com/
Facebook @jlhkidscorner
Instagram @jlh_kb
(Article by Kenyan Smith)
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