Karen David
David in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Ilze Kitshoff
Background information
Birth name	Karen Shenaz David
Born	(1979-04-15) April 15, 1979 (age 33) Shillong, India
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Actress, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1999–present
Labels	AWAL
Website	https://www.karendavid.com

Karen Shenaz David (born April 15, 1979) is a Canadian-British actress, singer and songwriter, who is best known for portraying Francesca "Cesca" Montoya (Francesca "Cesca" Kirby) in the BBC television series, Waterloo Road, and Layla in the American action film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

David currently stars in Pixelface, a CBBC children's television series, where she plays Alexia, the glamorous legend hunter.

She made one appearance as Kayla Graham^[1] in the Fox television series Touch, with Kiefer Sutherland and Danny Glover. She performed "Three Little Birds", as Graham in the show, and the version was released as a soundtrack single, with Wendy & Lisa, on iTunes by 20th Century Fox TV Records on February 28, 2012.^[2]

Career [link]

Early years [link]

At age 17, David won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied jazz and gospel. It was here that she discovered a flair for songwriting. A few years later, David moved to London to study at the Guildford School of Acting.^{[citation needed]}

Acting [link]

1999-2005 [link]

At age 20, upon finishing drama school, Benny Andersson immediately asked David to join the original cast of Mamma Mia! (a West End hit musical). This was her professional acting debut as part of the ‘glorified ensemble’ and understudy of Ali and Lisa. A. R. Rahman was invited to see the show by the director Shekhar Kapur, which then opened new doors for David. He asked her to assist himself and Don Black in the development of the material for Bombay Dreams (a Bollywood-themed musical). She was rewarded with an invitation to perform some of the songs on stage in his highly acclaimed sell-out US and Canada tour. This was the beginning of a strong friendship which lead to them writing and recording a wide range of material together at his Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios in Chennai, India.^{[citation needed]}

She appeared 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 Bollywood Queen (2003), which, according to Director, Jeremy Woods, is a "cross-cultural young London romance set in the East End against the backdrop of the clothing trade"^[3]. The musical is about an Indian teenage girl called Geena, a kind, well-behaved daughter who is, however, also a British woman who dreams to make it big with the R'n'B girlband she has formed with her two best friends, Anjali and Neeta (played by David).^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, David made a one-off guest appearance on Holby City "Oedipus Wrecks" as Eve Hotton, an underweight pregnant woman. Through the years of 2004 and 2005, she landed the role of Scarlet in MTV's Top Buzzer, also on Channel 5. This was the first ‘dope opera’ produced and consisted of ten episodes.^{[citation needed]} The programme was about two drug dealers and their various clients. She next appeared in Batman Begins (2005), as Courthouse Reporter #1.

2006-2009 [link]

David as 'Layla'; the female lead in the American action-film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

David's first role in 2006 was Lyla; a main character in Take 3 Girls (2006). Take 3 Girls is a London-based film about three girls who share a dream; making something of their lives through music. Lyla is a beautiful Indian girl, who has the voice of an angel. The three girls form a band and, together, with the help of a failed businessman and his wife, follow their dream and turn it into reality.^{[citation needed]}

David was given a supporting cameo in the hard-hitting movie Provoked (2006) as Asha, one of three South Asian social workers who are running an under-funded organisation called "Southall Black Sisters". This organisation supports abused women. During this film, she worked alongside the likes of Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson and Robbie Coltrane.^{[citation needed]}

She also appeared in several feature films, including Steven Seagal's Flight of Fury (2007) as Barnes' Operational Soldier Flanders, The Colour of Magic (2008) as the warrior princess, Liessa the Dragonlady, where she was filming alongside Sir David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Jeremy Irons, in the SKY TV movie adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel, as well as The Legend of Dick and Dom (2009) as Fairy Frampton and Couples Retreat as the Spa Attendant.

David appeared as the female lead in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008), in Cape Town, South Africa, where she played the beautiful and feisty Layla, who wants more than anything to be a warrior. She proves she can fight her own battles when she embarks on a trip to Egypt with Mathayus to avenge his father's death.^[4][5][6][7].

2010-present [link]

David as 'Francesca "Cesca" Montoya' in BBC1's, BAFTA nominated, award-winning drama, Waterloo Road.

September 2010 brought David back to screens in Series 6 of BBC One’s award winning drama, Waterloo Road. She played the Spanish teacher, Francesca "Cesca" Montoya. In part 2 of series 6, Cesca landed herself in hot water when she developed feelings for her A-level Spanish student, Jonah Kirby. As their forbidden relationship progressed, senior staff members found out, which made it impossible for Cesca not to come clean. However, Cesca and Jonah were not prepared to give up on one another; episode 20 saw them tie the knot at Gretna Green - although the happiness was short-lived when police officers turned up at the scene to arrest Cesca. The series ended with Cesca and Jonah being taken away in separate police cars.

Whilst Waterloo Road was still airing, Pixelface (a new CBBC children's comedy series produced by Graham Norton’s company, So Television) started in mid February. David landed the role of the legend hunter, Alexia Alderton – a Lara Croft type character.^{[according to whom?]} The programme is centred around six video game characters and what they do when they are not inside their games. Series one has now ended and the repeats are being shown every Saturday at 8:05am on BBC2. The second series of Pixelface began airing on Jan 3, 2012.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011, David appeared as a flirtatious barmaid in Strike Back: Project Dawn,^[8] a 10 part action television series by Sky. The cast included Sullivan Stapleton, Richard Armitage and Philip Winchester. The series follows the actions of Section 20, a secret branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), particularly two of its officers, Michael Stonebridge (Winchester) and former American Delta Force operative Damian Scott (Stapleton).

The new Fox television series Touch brought David back in 2012 with a role as Kayla Graham. She appeared with well-known Hollywood actors Kiefer Sutherland and Danny Glover. The series centers on a ten-year-old mute, autistic boy who can only communicate through sequences and numbers and who develops the ability to predict the future of people's lives—including Graham's. The world premiere of Touch was on March 22, 2012, however a special one-hour preview aired on January 25, 2012, on Fox in North America and on Global Television in Canada, and aired on March 20, 2012, on Sky1 in the UK.

Music [link]

2000-2004 [link]

In the past, David has worked with acclaimed producers such as A. R. Rahman, Johnny Douglas, Gil Cang, Rob Wells and the Bombay Dub Orchestra.^{[citation needed]}

David was the lead vocalist in Dutch dance musician/producer DJ Jurgen's single "Higher and Higher", which she recorded at the start of her music career in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

She released her first single "It's Me (You're Talking To)" in 2003, when she was signed to BMG Music. This single was a top 10 airplay hit in three different countries - Germany, Austria and Switzerland.^{[citation needed]}

2005–2009 [link]

David collaborated with A. R. Rahman on the main theme song for the film Provoked in 2006. After working alongside Rahman to produce the soundtrack for this movie, she found herself back with him in his Chennai studio, in 2007, to write and record the song, "Alive". This theme song captures the essence of the infamous story of the abused woman, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who refused to be defeated.^{[citation needed]}

April 14, 2008 saw David release her first EP, The Live Sessions EP.^{[citation needed]} It included five songs and one bonus track, these are - "Magic Carpet Ride", "Carry Me Home", "All I Need", "Pink Glasses" and "Shillong, Shillong", with the bonus track being an instrumental version of "All I Need".

On June 29, 2009, David released her Magic Carpet Ride EP, along with a further four mixes.^{[citation needed]} The four mixes were entitled, "A Nucleya Mix", "Johnny Douglas Radio Mix", "The Pathaan Flying Mix2" and "DJ Shadow Dubai & DJ Dev Remix". The EP included, "Flip and Spin Flavasia Desi", "Urban Mix", "Flip and Spin Upfront DJ Mix" and "Flip and Spin DJ Club Mix".

2010–present [link]

May 24, 2010, saw David release the single "Hypnotize", along with three mixes and a Hypnotize Desi Mix EP.^{[citation needed]} The three mixes were, "Tripnotize", "Radio Version" and "Niros Mix" and the Desi Mix EP included, "Radio Version", "Tripnotize" and "The Stranger Mix". Her "Hypnotize" music video was released in April 2010.

David recorded songs for her new music concept The Girl In The Pink Glasses, in 2011. The songs are called, "Push", "Superheroes", "My Inner Freak", "Tom, Dick or Harry", "Catch Me If You Can", "Chinese Whispers", "Pinky Square" and "Slow Motion". David released "Superheroes" on June 6, 2011^[9], however the rest have yet to be released.

20th Century Fox TV Records released "Three Little Birds", as sung by Kayla Graham (David), on Touch, on iTunes, on February 28, 2012. It was released worldwide, as a soundtrack single, with Wendy & Lisa.

David is currently in the studio working with songwriter-producers, Stefan Skarbek, Greg Wells, Carl Ryden, Boots Ottestad, Adam Argyle and Martin Brammer, on her next EP, entitled Dust to Stars. It is due to be released on iTunes, on June 17, 2012.

Charity work [link]

David has been active in raising funds for Breast Cancer Awareness. She did a fashion show for London Fashion Week at The Dorchester Hotel a few years back^[when?], to raise money for this.^{[citation needed]}

David produced a t-shirt to raise money for ActionAid's PoverTee Day, which was auctioned off on June 18, 2010. ^[10]

In early December 2010, David released a charity Christmas EP, entitled My Christmas List, in order to raise money for the housing and homelessness charity Shelter.^{[citation needed]} This EP included cover songs of "Silent Night", "Baby, It's Cold Outside", "Grown Up Christmas" and "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire".

Along with many other celebrities, David recently painted a one-off self-portrait for Face Britain (a unique project created by The Prince's Trust Foundation), which, after ten days, was auctioned off at £225, with a history of fifty-nine bidders. All proceeds went to The Prince's Trust Foundation.^[11]

David has recently began supporting Designers Against Aids; an international project which was launched in 2004, by non-profit organisation Beauty Without Irony. ^[12]

David's also raises awareness for SOS Children's Villages Foundation.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life [link]

David was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, in northeastern India, before she moved to Toronto, Canada, with her family and subsequently to London, England.

She is a Canadian and British citizen. Shillong is one of the few remaining matriarchal societies left in the world.

She is of Jewish, Indian and Chinese descent.^{[citation needed]}

Roles and appearances [link]

Films [link]

Television series [link]

TV/video shorts [link]

Other [link]

Music videos and live performances [link]

Music videos [link]

Remixes/radio edits [link]

Live performances [link]

Behind-the-scenes [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Karen David at the Internet Movie Database
• Karen David on Facebook
• Karen David on Twitter
• Etobicoke Guardian Interview