Who is Bre-Z?
Calesha ‘Bre-Z’ Murray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA, on 22 July 1987 – her zodiac sign’s Cancer, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress and rapper, with more than 10 acting credits to her name, perhaps known best for her portrayal of Freda Gatz in the critically acclaimed musical series “Empire”, created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, and which starred Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Jussie Smollett. It follows a hip-hop businessman who has to decide who amongst his three sons will inherit his multi-million dollar company, while his former wife also wants a piece of the pie; the series aired from 2015 to 2020, and won 30 of the 143 awards for which it was nominated, including eight Primetime Emmy nominations.
Early life and education
Bre-Z was raised in Wilmington, Delaware by her mother Carla who worked in the entertainment industry as a barber, and her father who was also a barber; it was her grandmother who nicknamed her ‘Bre-Z’ not long after she was born, because she would keep crying until someone had closed the windows, thus calling her ‘breezy’.
Bre-Z attended a local high school in Wilmington, and was interested in a couple of activities during her four years there: she was a member of the school’s drama club, appearing in many plays performed there, took dancing lessons, and played soccer with her peers. She had short hair while growing up, and people occasionally mistook her for a boy.
Upon matriculating in 2005, she moved to Winter Park, Florida and enrolled at Full Sail University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 2008; Bre-Z then moved to Atlanta, Georgia with her mother, and began working as a barber, following in her parents’ footsteps.
Some of the celebrities whose hair she’s cut include famous American rapper and actor Christopher Brian ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, and Senegalese-American singer and entrepreneur Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam.
Roles in TV series
Bre-Z moved to Los Angeles, California in 2014, in pursuit of acting roles, and made her debut TV series appearance in the 2017 episode “Part 1” of the critically acclaimed biographical musical mini-series “The New Edition Story”, which starred Bryshere Y. Gray, Elijah Kelley and Luke James, and follows the lives of members of the music group New Edition; the series won seven of the 18 awards for which it was nominated.
Bre-Z then portrayed Ty in the 2017 episode “Children’s Story” of the drama “Tales”, and in 2021 played a supporting character in both the comedy “Way Too Crazy”, and the comedy game-show “Living the Lyrics”.
The best, well written, carefully casted & genuinely acted, television shows ever, hands down!
You will laugh, cheer and cry! Absolutely amazing! @danielezra @tayediggsinsta @only1karimah @_samanthalogan @michaelb05 @greta_onieogou @monetmazur & @brezofficial are amazing! pic.twitter.com/bulYKktjVp
— Kelvin K. Ward (@PKKWard) August 21, 2021
Since 2018, she’s been starring as Tamia ‘Coop’ Cooper in the sports drama “All American”, created by April Blair, and which also stars Daniel Ezra, Samantha Logan and Michael Evans Behling; the series follows the life of a promising high school Football Player who’s moved from South Central to Beverly Hills High School, and it’s won one of the eight awards for which it’s been nominated.
Bre-Z’s currently shooting for the upcoming series “Ramble On”.
Roles in movies
Bre-Z made her debut film appearance with her portrayal of Winnie in the 2017 comedy “Fat Camp”, directed by Jennifer Arnold, and which starred Chris Redd, Anabelle Acosta and Michael Cienfuegos. It follows Hutch who’s been kicked out of his parents’ house, and forced to work at his family’s fat camp.
In 2018, Bre-Z played Denise in the action drama “Down for Whatever”, and Taj in the 2020 action “16 Bars”.
Most recently, in 2020 she portrayed a supporting character in the thriller drama “True to the Game 2”, directed by Jamal Hill, and which starred Vivica A. Fox, Andra Fuller and Rotimi. It follows a journalist working in New York City who’s being targeted by a criminal who wants to collect a debt owed by her recently deceased friend.
Other credits
Bre-Z could’ve been seen featured in the 2016 documentary movie “The Hip Hop World News”.
She’s made a guest appearance in a couple of talk-shows, including a 2016 episode of “The Real” and a 2017 episode of “Celebrity Page”.
Bre-Z was featured in the 2021 TV Special “Black Pack: We Three Kings”, and in the same year the short video “BROOKS BROTHERS PRESENTS – WISHES FOR THE CHILDREN”.
Career as a rapper
Bre-Z began performing rap music around Philadelphia when she was 14, and when she was 15 she met members of the rap group State Property, who took her to a studio and helped her to record her first song.
She then went on to write songs for various popular musicians, such as The Game, Jennifer Lopez and Dr. Dre, and in 2015, Bre-Z released her debut extended play (EP) “The Girl”; most recently, in 2020, she produced her debut studio album “Full Circle”.
She launched her self-titled YouTube channel on 26 August 2011, and it’s today subscribed to by close to 100,000 people, while it numbers nearly four million views of all her videos combined; Bre-Z’s mostly focused on uploading musical content onto the channel.
Love life and husband
Bre-Z prefers to keep details of her love life away from the media’s attention, and when asked about her sexuality, simply said that she ‘loves everybody’.
There have been various rumors circulating the internet in the past a couple of years claiming that Bre-Z’s lesbian, and that she’s been spotted spending time with her girlfriend at various clubs around Los Angeles; the rumors were confirmed to be true in March 2021, when it was revealed that Bre-Z had proposed to her long-term girlfriend Chris Amor. Chris prefers to stay away from media, while it’s known that she’s today working as a make-up artist, and that she has two sons from a previous relationship/marriage.
Bre-Z hasn’t mentioned any other women or men whom she’s perhaps been with, and as of September 2022, she’s engaged to Chris Amor, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cct3ZwPry30/
Hobbies and other interests
Bre-Z’s quite active on Instagram, and seems to be enjoying the attention which she’s receiving from her close to 1.5 million followers; she’s uploaded over 200 pictures and videos onto the network, the majority of which feature her during her everyday life.
She’s passionate about travelling, and has been to more than 20 US states, for both work and pleasure, while Bre-Z’s also travelled to a couple of European and Asian countries, with her dream travel destination being London, England.
She’s a fan of tattoos, and her right arm is nearly entirely inked.
Bre-z enjoys spending her spare time watching sports with her peers – her favorites are the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL).
She likes to watch movies late at night – her favorite actors and actresses are Denzel Washington, the late Robin Williams, and Angelina Jolie, while a couple of her favorite films include “Maleficent”, “Mr. and Mrs Smith”, and “Good Morning, Vietnam”.
Age, height and net worth
Bre-Z’s age is 35. She has short black hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft (1.55m) and she weighs around 110lbs (50kgs).
As of September 2022, her net worth’s been estimated at over $4 million.
