---
name: "Jane Levy"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jane-levy"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "29 December 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-18T10:33:53.483457+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jane Levy

Actor. Born 29 December 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 29 December 1989, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **Also known as:** Jane Colburn Levy, ジェーン・レヴィ, جین لوی
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Levy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q452618, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3994408/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/530618

## Coming up

- *Whalefall* (2026-10-14), as Eva Gardiner — [page](https://film.one/film/whalefall.md)

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Suburgatory*](https://film.one/tv/suburgatory.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jane Levy

> Jane Levy's trick is to look like the least dangerous person on screen and then refuse to budge. It made her a fine sitcom lead in *Suburgatory* and, less predictably, the horror lead of choice for Fede Álvarez.

A sixteen-year-old stands on a lawn cut to the millimetre and narrates her own sentence. That is Tessa Altman in *Suburgatory* (2011), and it is the first thing most people saw Jane Levy do. Tessa is written as someone who has read a great deal and been to the suburbs never, and the danger is smugness; Levy never lets it in. She plays cleverness as a habit rather than a weapon, and she is watchful, so that when the joke lands you can see her decide whether it was worth making. We said at the time she was the reason to start the show, and we hold to it.

The career has two halves that ought not to fit. She had a recurring part as Mandy Milkovich in *Shameless* (2011), then three seasons as Tessa on a network sitcom that ran from 2011 to 2014 and, by our account, never found a second idea. Then she went into the dark. *Evil Dead* (2013), as Mia Allen, and *Don't Breathe* (2016), as Rocky, were both directed by Fede Álvarez, and both are the kind of horror that asks its lead to be hurt for ninety minutes and keep going. Television followed, in *Castle Rock* (2018), *What/If* (2019) and the title role of Zoey Clarke in *Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist* (2020–2021), along with independent films such as *I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore* (2017), in which she plays Dez. *Whalefall* (2026) is next.

The halves fit better than they look. What the notices on the Álvarez films dwell on is endurance and physical commitment, and what we noticed in *Suburgatory* was the same quality at sitcom volume: a girl who will not be moved from her position by a whole town of pink cardigans. Levy's toughness has always come with something soft underneath it, and it is the soft thing that catches you. The kitchen scenes with Jeremy Sisto, two people who like each other and have nobody else, moved us more than a half-hour comedy with a laugh a minute has any right to, and the quiet one at the end of the pilot, once the neighbours have gone home, had us a little choked. Nothing in it is big. She simply lets the face stop performing.

The recurring complaint about her work is not about her. *Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist* drew mixed notices on tone and execution while her performance was singled out, and *Suburgatory* went the same way on our own page: the show tired, she did not. That is a pattern to be wary of, because an actor who is always better than the material has usually been choosing material too kindly.

Of the horror work she has said, "There's perversity to me. Obviously, the genre is perverse, and it literally tickles me. It lights me up." We believe her. Start with the first season of *Suburgatory*, which is the one to watch, and then follow her into the Álvarez films with the lights off, on the understanding that we have yet to sit through those with a notebook.

## Biography

Jane Levy is an American actress. She trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and made her television debut as Mandy Milkovich in the first season of the Showtime series *Shameless* (2011). She left after one season to star as Tessa Altman in the ABC sitcom *Suburgatory* (2011–2014).

Levy collaborated with director Fede Álvarez on the horror films *Evil Dead* (2013) and *Don't Breathe* (2016). Other film credits include *Fun Size* (2012), *I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore* (2017) and *Monster Trucks* (2016). On television she has appeared in *Twin Peaks* (2017), *Castle Rock* (2018) and *Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist* (2020–2021), the last of which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. She is credited as Eva Gardiner in the film *Whalefall* (2026).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, bloody-disgusting.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Suburgatory* (2011), Fi1m 70, as Tessa Altman — [page](https://film.one/tv/suburgatory.md)

## Complete filmography (33)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Whalefall* (2026), as Eva Gardiner — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/whalefall.md)
- *River* (2026), as Lucy
- *Atropia* (2025), as Nancy
- *A Little Prayer* (2025), as Tammy
- *The Toxic Avenger Unrated* (2025), as Cheerful Insurance Rep (voice)
- *Melody of Love* (2024), as Peggy
- *The Problem with People* (2024), as Natalya
- *Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas* (2021), as Zoey Clarke
- *DAVE* (2020), series, as Brittany Parker
- *Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist* (2020), series, as Zoey Clarke
- *Pretenders* (2019), as Catherine
- *WHAT / IF* (2019), series, as Lisa Ruiz-Donovan
- *Carfucker* (2019), as Jane
- *Good Luck in the Land of Mañana* (2018), Acting
- *Castle Rock* (2018), series, as Jackie Torrance
- *Office Uprising* (2018), as Samantha
- *There's... Johnny!* (2017), series, as Joy Greenfield
- *Sea Oak* (2017), series, as Min
- *I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore* (2017), as Dez
- *Monster Trucks* (2016), as Meredith
- *Ciao Lola* (2016), as Lola
- *Don't Breathe* (2016), as Rocky
- *Frank and Cindy* (2015), as Kate
- *Nicholas & Hillary* (2015), Acting
- *Bang Bang Baby* (2014), as Stepphy
- *About Alex* (2014), as Kate
- *Evil Dead* (2013), as Mia
- *Fun Size* (2012), as April Martin
- *Nobody Walks* (2012), as Caroline
- *Suburgatory* (2011), series, as Tessa Altman — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/suburgatory.md)
- *Shameless* (2011), series, as Mandy Milkovich — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), series, as Elizabeth — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)
- *Sunset P.I.*, series, as Faye

## Gallery

- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-52f29b8bdbb4.jpg) Jane Levy — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Jane_Levy_WonderCon_2013.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_WonderCon_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy at WonderCon, 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-af788614a758.jpg) Jane Levy at WonderCon, 2013. — Gage Skidmore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Jane_Levy_%282013%29.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_%282013%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-54e181d3d72c.jpg) Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Jane_Levy_%288610409297%29.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_%288610409297%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-c0b25346a99f.jpg) Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Jane_Levy_%288610535031%29.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_%288610535031%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-c8670997d3db.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-f4ebe750d129.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-6359ac909a2b.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB
- ![Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-b99df59090a5.jpg) Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Jane_Levy_%288611518194%29.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_%288611518194%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-200c1ca0d93a.jpg) Jane Levy speaking at the 2013 WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Jane_Levy_3.jpg/1280px-Jane_Levy_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-a7edadabc170.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-c913174bdae2.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB
- ![Jane Levy](https://film.one/media/person/96040/gallery-093c5cad3066.jpg) Jane Levy — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jane-levy