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On TelevisionA career guide · fact-checked September 2026
The Fast films made Jordana Brewster a movie name, but television is where she started and where she has done some of her steadiest work. From a teenage soap role to a prestige-drama turn, here is her small-screen career.
Soap-opera start
Brewster began as a teenager in mid-1990s daytime television, playing Nikki Munson on the long-running soap As the World Turns and appearing on All My Children. The soap work earned her an early Soap Opera Digest Award nomination and set her on the path to film.
Dallas (2012–2014)
In TNT's continuation of the primetime classic, Brewster played Elena Ramos across the show's three seasons, roughly 40 episodes. It was her first major returning television role as an adult, a soapy, high-gloss drama that put her at the center of the Ewing family's tangled affairs.
American Crime Story (2016)
Her most respected television work came in Ryan Murphy's Emmy-winning The People v. O.J. Simpson, where she played Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson. It was a short, serious role in a prestige ensemble, a different register from the blockbusters, and it showed range the Fast films rarely ask for.
Lethal Weapon (2016–2018)
On Fox's television take on the buddy-cop franchise, Brewster played Dr. Maureen Cahill, the department psychologist, across all three seasons and more than thirty episodes. It was her most sustained TV lead of the era, an easy, bingeable weekly role.
Secrets and Lies and more
She led the second season of ABC's anthology thriller Secrets and Lies (2016) as Kate Warner, and earlier turned up in a recurring arc on Chuck as Dr. Jill Roberts. Across all of it, television has been the constant parallel track to her film career, not a fallback from it.
See the full filmography Beyond Mia
Frequently asked questions
What TV shows has Jordana Brewster been in?
Beyond the Fast films she has led or co-starred in Dallas, Lethal Weapon, American Crime Story, and Secrets and Lies, and she began on the soap opera As the World Turns.
Who did Jordana Brewster play on Dallas?
Elena Ramos, across the three seasons of TNT's Dallas revival from 2012 to 2014.
Was Jordana Brewster in American Crime Story?
Yes. She played Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, in The People v. O.J. Simpson in 2016.
Who did Jordana Brewster play on Lethal Weapon?
Dr. Maureen Cahill, the department psychologist, across all three seasons of Fox's Lethal Weapon from 2016 to 2018.
Read next
- Beyond Mia — her best roles outside the franchise.
- The Mia Files — Mia Toretto, film by film.
- All the guides — every deep-dive in one place.