Saskia Garel was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to Toronto, Canada at an early age. Her exotic looks are a result of just the right blend of a Spanish-Jamaican father and a Chinese-Jamaican mother. Her father Roland was an accomplished guitarist in their homeland and instilled a love of music in his daughter as far back as she can remember. With an avid interest in the arts, Saskia enrolled in Torontos prestigious Claude Watson School of the Arts. From there she went on to graduate from York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours degree and was awarded the Oscar Peterson Award. During her 4 years at York, she performed in the group Coconut Groove (top 40, Latin and world beat music) and played the Toronto nightclub circuit. She recalls being the youngest one in the club on any given night, in fact she turned 18 the legal drinking age in Toronto, while singing on stage unbeknownst to the club owner.
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 & Sas. This would launch her music career in a huge way as she went on to garner 2 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 & 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. While shooting her music videos, Saskia was bitten by the acting bug.
She was able to combine her love of singing and her new found passion for acting in the realm of musical theatre. The role of Mimi, in the Canadian Production of the Pullitzer Prize winning Broadway show RENT was Saskias first venture into the world of theatre. Not surprisingly, she excelled on the stage and acquired quite a following during the Rent phenomenon. While on tour with Rent in Vancouver, Canada she landed the part of Jasmine on the TV series Nightman, a Glen Larson Production where she starred as a singer in 10 episodes of their final season. Saskia endured the grueling schedule of filming during the day and performing as Mimi at night.
While her busy acting career was taking off, she found the time to record an independent CD entitled Movin On where she developed her remarkable songwriting skills. With her producer Daniel LeBlanc, Saskia borrowed from her own life experiences to co-write 8 of the 13 songs on the album including a wedding song entitled I Do for her brother and sister-in-laws first dance as a married couple. There wasnt a dry eye in the house especially her own!
Soon after, Saskia was offered the role of Judy, a spunky playboy bunny, in the ABC Movie of the Week, A Tale of Two Bunnies which also starred Marilu Henner and Rhea Perlman. It was during this time that her American co-stars peaked her interest in Los Angeles and dreams of Hollywood. But fortunately for Canadian audiences, Saskia subsequently landed the coveted leading role of Nala in yet another Broadway show, Disneys the LION KING which opened in Toronto to rave reviews. Later she went on to wow audiences in Chicago and Los Angeles as well, which finally motivated her to make the daring move to LA.
Since arriving on Californian soil, Saskia has guest starred in numerous TV shows including "She Spies", "Wild Card", "Platinum", "Tracker" portraying characters ranging from a sexy hot tempered spy to a diva with attitude to a quirky reporter. She is currently recurring on UPN's hit show "One on One" as Danielle, Flex Alexander's girlfriend and former psychiatrist. Her most recent undertaking was in the role of Mercedes (Desdemona) in Lynn Mannings contemporary version of Othello, UP FROM THE DOWNS with the Watts Village Theatre Company. Saskia is looking forward to continuing her incredible journey here in LA and hopes to conquer the film world in the very near future.
Check out my Behind the scenes pics....
