Ja-ne de Abreu was a crew and background cast on Lost. She portrayed several characters, including the non-speaking role of Casey in multiple episodes in Season 5. This character was previously a speaking role in "The Man Behind the Curtain", and was originally portrayed by Jenn Boneza.
Background
- Born in New Orleans with parents from Brazil.
- Able to speak Portuguese and Spanish.
- Was in the mediums of photography, videography, and writing for more than 20 years.
- A winner of the Telly award.
- The owner of NOLA Jewels.
- Once had an accident with her puppy who bit her in the tongue.
Career
On Lost
Ja-ne started working for the show in season 1, where she was the auditor of the construction team. Her duties were renting equipment, buying supplies, handling budget, hire paperwork, checks, etc. She was also on set when the caves were built.
Later in season 4, she appeared as several background characters in the flash-forward of "The Shape of Things to Come", including a Tunisian girl, a reporter rushing Sayid to ask questions, an Iraqi girl at the market, and a lady on the balcony.
In season 5, Ja-ne started to play the recurring non-speaking role of Casey since "LaFleur". She was seen closely with Molly McGivern, who portrayed Rosie in many episodes, and their on screen friendship was later confirmed to be canon when it was mentioned in the Lost Encyclopedia. During filming, she was also frequently paired up with Daniel O'Brien, who played Clive. Therefore, they jokingly claimed their characters were a couple on set. At some point of the season, the producers have filmed a scene recreating the purge from "The Man Behind the Curtain". Ja-ne was chosen to play one of the dead volleyball girls, where her body was collected by the others and being thrown to a pile. Other known DHARMA extras in this scene were Alice Carpenter, Alice's husband, Pascal Amar, Bonnie Berger, Liam Avery, Mike Johnson and Jonathan Shirley. However, it is unknown if the dead volleyball girl was meant to be Casey, and it is uncertain which episode was this scene supposed to be featured in, as the scene was deleted and never released.
In season 6, Ja-ne worked as the stand-in for Tania Raymonde, who played Alex Rousseau. The scene required her to work opposite to Michael Emerson. It is possible the scene was for the flash sideways of "Dr. Linus" or "What They Died For", the only two episodes Alex appeared throughout the season.
Other shows
Ja-ne did some extra and crew works for other shows, including The Descendants, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Hawaii Five-0.
As a writer
Beside working for TV shows and movies, Ja-ne was also an award winning writer. She has published several books, such as cookbook "Sassy Food: How to Grow and Cook Food from Your Own 'Farm' Any Size Anywhere Any Time of Year with Any Budget" and novel "The Energy Inside Valsin's Choices".
Trivia
- She is a friend of Chris Candella, the background actor portrayed Craig.
- During the filming of "Namaste" and "He's Our You", Ja-ne was interviewed by Iain Lee, the presenter of "The Lost Initiative" podcast. The interview was later shown in the Sky1 special "Lost: Season 5 Revealed", and Ja-ne's name was mistakenly shown as "Ja-Ne De Ver".