Saskia Garel

Saskia Garel (born December 9, 1969) is a Jamaican-Canadian musician and actress.

Early life and education Garel was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to Toronto, Canada at an early age. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours degree and was awarded the Oscar Peterson Award.

Career During her four years at York, she performed in the group Coconut Groove (top 40, Latin, and world beat music) and played the Toronto nightclub circuit. It was with Coconut Groove that she was discovered by Richie Mayer and David Bendeth (A&R with BMG Music) and was signed to a record deal as a member of the group Love and Sas. She went on to win two Juno Awards for best R&B recording for "Call My Name" and "Once in a Lifetime" two years in a row off the same album. Love and Sas toured Canada, the US and the UK, had 3 top ten hits on the Canadian charts and had 5 music videos running in high rotation on Much Music.

Garson played the role of Mimi in the Canadian production of the musical Rent. While on tour with Rent in Vancouver, she got the part of Jasmine, a singer, on the television series Nightman, and appeared in ten episodes of the final season. This meant she was filming during the day and performing as Mimi at night.

Personal life

Garel is married to fellow actor Steven Allerick whom she met while playing Nala in The Lion King.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Mistrial Reporter #8 TV movie 2000 A Tale of Two Bunnies Judy TV movie

Television Year Title Role Notes 1997 The Newsroom - Episode: "Meltdown: Part 3" 1999 Night Man Jasmine Recurring cast: season 2 2002 Earth: Final Conflict Claire Jackson Episode: "Deep Sleep" Spynet Usher TV series Tracker Gina Newcastle Episode: "Eye of the Storm" 2003 Platinum - Episode: "Loyalty" 2004 She Spies Gina Dominic Episode: "Remember When" Wild Card Jamie Rodrigue Episode: "Bound and Gagged, Your Husband Was Snagged" 2004–2006 One on One Danielle Recurring cast: season 4, guest: season 5