Jewel Belair Staite (born June 2, 1982 in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role in Firefly and the subsequent film Serenity.
The youngest of seven children, Staite modeled as a child and acted since age six. She attended the Vancouver Film School and worked at the Vancouver Youth Theatre.
Staite has worked with the Dyslexia Foundation and several AIDS charities.
Staite is perhaps best known for her role as Kaylee Frye in the short-lived science fiction/Western television series Firefly and its subsequent 2005 film, Serenity. She also wrote a chapter in the book Finding Serenity, called "Kaylee Speaks: Jewel Staite On Firefly". She also played Heidi Gotts, the antagonist in the TV series Wonderfalls, which like Firefly, was also canceled by FOX.
She currently plays the role of "acting head of medicine" Dr. Jennifer Keller in the Stargate spinoff Stargate Atlantis, making her the third actor from the Firefly series to move on to star in a Stargate series (the first being Adam Baldwin and the second being Morena Baccarin). She replaces Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett) whose character died in the episode "Sunday". She also played as Wraith child Ellia in the Stargate Atlantis episode "Instinct".
Other television work includes:
She has also been a guest star on The Odyssey, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The X-Files, Just Deal, Dead Like Me, Seven Days, Huff, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, and Stargate Atlantis.
