- Born
- Birth nameCharlotte Lopez
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Charlotte Ayanna was born on September 25, 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is an actress, known for Training Day (2001), Love the Hard Way (2001) and Jawbreaker (1999).
- ParentsEmma Lopez
- RelativesDuane Lopez(Sibling)Diana Lopez(Sibling)
- Won Miss Teen USA in 1993 wearing a $37 evening gown.
- Spent sixteen years of her childhood in foster homes.
- Charlotte was an out-of-work actress when Ricky Martin picked her head shot from the hundreds submitted last year for his romantic video.
- Spokeswoman for foster children.
- Changed her last name to Ayanna when she learned that Lopez was the last name of her maternal grandfather, who she discovered abandoned her mother. Ayanna means "blessed" and Charlotte feels she has been blessed. Attended the University of California at Irvine. Moved to Vermont with her mother and siblings in 1977.
- I am very proud to have done that. Ricky Martin was so sweet, like so not what I ever expected. And, it definitely helped me get back on my feet financially." - on starring in Ricky Martin's video for "She's All I Ever Had.
- The pageant was such a fluke. I mean, I was living in an orphanage, and my foster mother bet me $150 to go out for this thing. Nobody, including myself, thought that a foster kid could be a beauty queen. - on being Miss Teen USA 1993
- Ever since I was a little girl, I envisioned this exactly happening to me. Not necessarily doing a movie about strippers but being young and having somebody like a director like Michael see me and see something in me and take a chance. And have a process like we have had. - on her film Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)
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