Crystle Lightning | |
|---|---|
 Lightning on the Femme Fatales red carpet | |
| Occupations | Recording artist, actress, DJ, Indigenous rights activist |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Label | 1491 Nation |
| Parent | Georgina Lightning |
| Relatives | Cody Lightning (brother) |
Crystle Lightning is a First Nations film actress, musician, DJ, and hip-hop MC.
Lighning is an Enoch Cree artist. [1]
Lightning started acting in 1994 and has been in several films, with her most notable role portraying Lori Piestewa in Saving Jessica Lynch . She played the lead role of Jo in 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995). [2] Since then, she has been cast in a recurring role on the daytime NBC soap Days of Our Lives , played Chloe in 2005's American Pie Presents: Band Camp , The CW/BET/Paramount+'s The Game (2006), the spinoff of Girlfriends ; and in Older Than America (2008) alongside Bradley Cooper. She also voiced Jen, the girlfriend of the game's protagonist, Tommy, in the 2006 video game Prey .
At the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, she won the award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Trickster . [3]
Lightning is also an electro house DJ. Inspired by a mix performed by DJ Lady Tribe at a local Los Angeles nightspot, Lightning sought a musical apprenticeship with Christi Mills, later partnering with her mentor to form a performance crew called Ladies of the House.[ citation needed ] They perform regularly at Los Angeles venues, as well as throughout the United States.[ citation needed ]
Moving from the DJ booth to the center-stage mic, Lightning paired up with MC RedCloud to form the hip-hop group LightningCloud. The pair released their self-titled debut, LightningCloud, in 2012 with RedCloud's long-term musical collaborator, DJ Hydroe.[ citation needed ] Sam Slovik of L.A. Weekly called the group, "a near-earth object inventing new realms of the Electro-House-Hip-Hop revolution on the planet. Urban futurist[s], MC RedCloud and Crystle Lightning are L.A.'s subterranean Bonnie and Clyde."[ citation needed ] The Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards (APCMA) honored the group with recognition for Best Hip Hop Album in November 2012. [4] In 2013, LightningCloud won the "Who's Next: Battle for the Best" contest on Power 106. [5] As winners, LightningCloud received a cash prize, a performance with Kendrick Lamar, and the honor of representing west coast hip hop against Hot 97's Brooklyn-based east coast representative, Radamiz, in a freestyle battle in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2013. After winning that MC battle, [6] LightningCloud received the opportunity to work with Timbaland in the recording studio.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Last Chance Detectives: Mystery Lights of Navajo Mesa | Winnie | |
| 1995 | 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up | Jo | |
| 1995 | Tecumseh: The Last Warrior | Star Watcher | |
| 1995 | The Last Chance Detectives: Legend of the Desert Bigfoot | Winnie | |
| 1996 | The Last Chance Detectives: Escape from Fire Lake | Winnie | |
| 2003 | Saving Jessica Lynch | Pfc Lori Piestewa | |
| 2005 | American Pie Presents: Band Camp | Chloe | |
| 2008 | Older than America | Diane | |
| 2014 | Death Factory | Girl in Trunk | Uncredited |
| 2015 | Tamales and Gumbo | Gloria's Cousin | |
| 2023 | Fancy Dance | Sapphire |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Yellow Wooden Ring | Velma Blea | |
| 1998 | 6/29 | Paula Cooper | |
| 2010 | Sardines | Tiffany | |
| 2010 | The Ricochet | Misty | |
| 2010 | Search for the World's Best Indian Taco | Rose | |
| 2014 | Unmatched | Candi | |
| 2022 | Stripper | Ashley |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | ABC Weekend Special | Keah Nez | Episode: "The Secret of Lizard Woman" |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Anna Hernandez | Episode: "Mi Familia" |
| 2006 | The Game | Scantily Clad Girl #2 | Episode: "Mi Casa Es Su Casa" |
| 2006 | Live! From the Future | Herself | |
| 2008 | Days of Our Lives | Sasha | Episode: #1.10981 |
| 2009 | Tease | Tina | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Femme Fatales | Candela | Episode: "Hell Hath No Furies" |
| 2013 | Southland | Tia | Episode: "The Felix Paradox" |
| 2018 | Yellowstone | Verda Stands Alone | Episode: "Daybreak" as Crystle Lea Lightning |
| 2018 | Outlander | Giduhwa | Episode: "Common Ground" |
| 2020 | Trickster | Maggie | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Hudson & Rex | Kiera Laford | Episode: "Blood on the Tracks" |
| 2021 | The Good Doctor | Val | Episode: "One Heart" |
| 2021–2022 | Diggstown | Michelle Knockwood | 8 episodes |
| 2022 | Rutherford Falls | Shauna | Episode: "Halloween" |
| 2022 | Three Pines | Missy Two-Rivers | 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Ghosts | Shiki | Recurring role |
| 2023 | Lawmen: Bass Reeves | Nita | Episode: "Part II" |
| 2024 | Spirit Rangers | Twigs | Episode: "Summer's in Charge/Barracuda Brouhaha" |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Prey | Jen/Radio Caller #2 (voice) |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
