Woman Crush Wednesday: Imani Lewis Slays in ‘First Kill’

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Take a pause from the hustle and bustle of your daily life to bask in the awesomeness of a new actress we’re celebrating in today’s Woman Crush Wednesday. This week, we’re talking about an amazing young actress who has already built up an impressive filmography full of a diverse list of credits and strong performances at the young age of 23. She’s about to take on her first of what’s sure to be many memorable major leading roles, so be sure to remember her name. Without further ado, give it up for your WCW, the incredible Imani Lewis!

WHO’S THAT GAL: Imani Lewis

WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Lewis stars as Calliope in the upcoming Netflix Original title First Kill, which premieres on the platform this Friday on June 10. Based on author V.E. Schwab’s short story of the same name, this brand new horror mystery-drama depicts an unconventional love story between teenage girls Calliope (Lewis) and Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook): Calliope comes from generations of monster slayers and has to slay a vampire in order to officially earn her spot in her family trade, while Juliette comes from a long heritage of vampires and needs to find her first human victim in order to come of age as a full-fledged vampire.

Both are looking for their first kill when they encounter one another, but instead sparks fly, initiating a thrilling, forbidden supernatural romance that will definitely bring the heat to your summer streaming lineup, so be sure to check out First Kill as soon as it drops this Friday, only on Netflix.

WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Lewis’s professional onscreen career began in 2017 when she played Zulu Girl Tanya in three episodes of Netflix Original musical drama series The Get Down. Just one year later she had her feature film debut playing Aniyah in Bo Burnham’s critcally acclaimed 2018 coming-of-age comedy-drama Eighth Grade, and from there, swiftly accumulate work in TV shows like Star, Alternatino with Arturo Castro, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga, as well as in films like 2019 musical romantic-drama Premature, 2020 comedy-drama The Forty-Year-Old Version, 2020 romantic musical-drama Farewell Amor, and 2020 horror-comedy Vampires vs. the Bronx.

Most recently, Lewis has made waves playing Charmaine in Starz Original crime-drama Hightown, Kisha Griffin in CBS crime-drama The Equalizer, Honor in an episode of Showtime Original comedy Flatbush Misdemeanors, Babs in 2021 comedy-drama film Shoplifters of the World, and Ricki Fennel in 2021 thriller film Killer Among Us. In just half a decade, Lewis has already established that she is an acting force to be reckoned with, and we’re excited to see all that she continues to create and accomplish in the years ahead.

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: As of right now, we’re not sure what’s next for the actress role-wise, but you can keep up with the latest from Lewis by following her now on Twitter and Instagram so that you never miss a moment from your wonderful WCW!