Biography
Vanessa Lee Chester (also credited as Vanessa Chester) is an American actress. Born on 2 July 1984 in Brooklyn, New York, to Guyanese immigrant parents, she began her career as a child performer after moving to Los Angeles, where she appeared in commercials. Her early film roles included Becky in A Little Princess (1995) and Janie Gibbs in Harriet the Spy (1996).
She gained wider recognition for her role as Kelly Curtis in Steven Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Chester later appeared in supporting parts in films such as She's All That (1999) and 17 Again (2009), and in television series including Malcolm in the Middle (2000), The West Wing (1999), How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Veronica Mars (2004). She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. Chester received a Young Artist Award for her performance in Harriet the Spy and was nominated for Saturn and Image Awards for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
