BIO

Recently selected for the SHOWRUNNER BOOTCAMP facilitated by award winning writer and Showrunner, Anthony Farrell with Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada, Chantel Riley is a Canadian-Jamaican singer, songwriter, actress and producer known for her lead role as “Trudy Clarke” in the Canadian hit series, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES. She also starred as “Angela Cooke” alongside SUITS veteran Gina Torres in the SUITS spin off series PEARSON.

Chantel kicked off her acting career after attending an open call in Toronto and landed her first gig playing “Nala” in Disney’s THE LION KING in Hamburg, Germany. For this, her first major role, she learned the entire play and lyrics in German. After a successful one-year run, Chantel returned home to Toronto and was immediately offered an opportunity to play this role on Broadway.

In the summer of 2012, she made her debut in New York City and spent four years bringing this well-loved character to life. While performing on Broadway, Chantel also landed her first film role playing “Quincella Nickerson” in the critically acclaimed Jesse Owens biopic, RACE.

Chantel is also known for her recurring role on the SyFy series, WYNONNA EARP and appears as “Layla Hassan” in the ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS video game. In 2021, she released her EP called “I AM” and published her children’s book “I Am: Precious Affirmations”.

Chantel is also the voice of Lucy in the Netflix animated series DANIEL SPELLBOUND. She has starred in the Jeremy Lalonde directed comedy DANIEL’S GOTTA DIE (Austin Film Festival 2022), in THE LOVE CLUB for W Network and Hallmark, and has had a guest starring recurring roles in GRAY (Lionsgate TV), BEYOND BLACK BEAUTY (Amazon Prime), HOW TO DIE ALONE (ABCS), and the new series LAW & ORDER TORONTO.

Recently, Chantel has broadened her scope as Executive Producer on multiple award winning Documentary film A LETTER FROM THE FATHERS as well as the upcoming short film SUGAR DUMPLIN’ having its World Premiere at the PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL 2025.