Who is Alisha Wainwright?
The 30-year-old Shadowhunters and Raising Dion actress made headlines this weekend after recent paparazzi photos showed her and Justin Timberlake, her married co-star in the new film Palmer, together at a New Orleans bar, with the two holding hands and him appearing to not wear his wedding ring. She was also spotted placing her hand on his knee.
A source later told E! News that “there is absolutely nothing going on between them,” and that the two were out with other members of the cast and crew. Another source also said the hangout was “innocent.”
Here are five things to know about Wainwright:
She’s Super Smart: Wainwright attended the University of Florida, majoring in botany, and after graduating, studied plant reproductive biology and seedling recruitment at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
“Science is one of the toughest industries because everyone is vying for the same pot of money to fund their research,” Wainwright told W magazine in October. “I had a very weird anthropological-botanical focus, and I couldn’t find anyone to give me the money to study it. I had to shift my focus to something a little broader, and I wasn’t as interested in it.”
Her Parents Are Foreign-Born: The Florida-born actress’ mother was born in Jamaica and her father was born in Haiti.
“Growing up I spent a lot of my very early years going back and forth between both countries,” Wainwright told Condé Nast Traveler in September. “I remember Jamaica being full of fresh fruit and family and greenery and positivity. Jamaican cultures always err on the side of having that ‘take it easy” vibe. My first meaningful memories of traveling to Haiti are from when I was a little older—like five or six. That was the first time I saw what impoverishment looked like, and how different someone’s life could be from my own—someone who’s right outside my front door.”
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She Was Raised Primarily by Her Mom: “Your mother is your guiding light into the world. That’s how I think about my mom,” Wainwright told Shondaland.com in October. “My mom is an accountant and she’s Jamaican. She’s proud and excited that I took a chance on acting and it worked out. She’s on board and is my biggest fan.”
She Loves to Travel: “I travel by myself a lot because it’s so hard to find someone else who has a schedule that coincides with mine,” she told Condé Nast Traveler. “But I would say my favorite kind of travel is a mix of the two: If I’m traveling by myself, I still like to be part of a group experience, whether that’s living aboard a boat so I can scuba dive or signing up for a group hiking trip to Machu Picchu. That way you get to meet new people who are probably traveling from all over the world and explore a culture and a place together, but you’re not so tied to those people that you’re obligated to spend all of your time with them.”
She’s Resourceful: When she was starting out as an actress, she traded a local wine photographer a case of wine for a couple of headshots, according to Backstage. Her first jobs? Commercials, like many actors.