Karen David
Karen David
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Karen David

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Karen David

Karen Shenaz David (born 15 April 1979) is a Canadian and British actress, singer, and songwriter, best known for portraying Princess Isabella Maria Lucia Elizabetta of Valencia in ABC's fairytale-themed musical-comedy television series Galavant, as well as the Head of Spanish, Cesca Montoya, in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road, and Layla in the American action film The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. She starred as Angela in the ITV television series Cold Feet, and played Princess Jasmine/Shirin in the sixth season of Once Upon a Time.

She had a recurring role on The CW's Legacies as Emma, a guidance counselor and witch, and played regular character Grace Mukherjee in Fear the Walking Dead.

She has had a recurring role as former MI6 agent Rose Dinshaw on NBC's The Irrational.

David was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, to a family of "Chinese, Khasi and a sliver of Jewish heritage". Her mother is of Khasi-Indian and Chinese descent, while her father is Indian-Jewish. She was raised in Canada and then at age 17, David moved to Britain to study at the Guildford School of Acting. She then moved back to Canada for a time in the late 1990s, studying radio and television arts at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Upon finishing drama school, David joined the original cast of the West End musical Mamma Mia!. She made her professional acting debut as part of the ensemble and as understudy of Ali and Lisa. A. R. Rahman, who had been invited to see the show by the director Shekhar Kapur, asked David to assist him and Don Black in the development of the material for the Bollywood-themed musical Bombay Dreams. She performed songs on the show's US and Canada tour, and continued collaborating with Rahman at his Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios in Chennai, India.

She appeared in the music clip "Higher & Higher" (2000) and in two short television videos, Dancers: The Trailer (2002), playing the role of Jenny, and The Paper Round (2002), playing the role of a policewoman. She then landed a role in the musical Bollywood Queen (2003), as a member of the R&B band at the story's center. Through 2004 and 2005, she played Scarlet in MTV's Top Buzzer.

David played Lyla, a main character in the London-based film Take 3 Girls (2006). Other work during this time includes Steven Seagal's Flight of Fury (2007) as Barnes' Operational Soldier Flanders, The Colour of Magic (2008) as Liessa, the Dragonlady, and The Legend of Dick and Dom (2009) as Fairy Frampton. David appeared as the female lead, Layla, in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008), filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.

In September 2010, David played the Spanish teacher, Francesca "Cesca" Montoya, in series six of BBC One's drama, Waterloo Road. While Waterloo Road was still airing, David landed the role of legend hunter Alexia Alderton in Pixelface, a CBBC children's comedy series about six video game characters and what they do when they are not inside their games. The second series aired on 3 January 2012.

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