brooke crowley

ABOUT

Brooke grew up in Witchita, Kansas, the only daughter Jeffrey and Viola Crowley. Jeffrey worked for Textron Aviation, while Viola worked in corporate for AMC Theatres which often involved her spending several days away from the family home at a time to save on the commute. Brooke didn't mind so much, but she did feel lonely at times when she'd come home to an empty house after a bad day at school.

Her grandmother, Vivian, was an actress, starring in a number of productions in the 70s and 80s, leading to a reoccuring role in the show Days of Our Lives. She wasn't pleased when her daughter chose not to follow in her footsteps, wanting to vicariously live her glory days through her when she decided to retire from acting. A decision that was not made lightly, but when rumors circulated that her grandmother had become difficult to work with, some remarking a 'diva like' attitude, her agent thought it best to end her career without scandal.

She would watch reruns of her grandmother's peformances and interviews, and became enamoured with the idea of being someone else for awhile. She would play dress-up whenever she could, and pretend she was a famous celebrity getting interviewed on the red carpet, accepting handmade awards in her bedroom. It seemed easy, saying a few lines, having everyone know who you were, and being rich. She never understood why her mother chose a life away from the spotlight. Fortunately, on their weekly phone calls, her grandmother encouraged her ambition and offered to make her dreams come true.

Brooke was first introduced to acting through commercials for the latest new toy to hit the markets, with her grandmother's talent agency taking an interest in her from a young age, after Vivian stated a case that practically sold her grandchild as a star in the making. Whenever, Brooke would vacation in California at her grandmother's home, she'd always come back with some new acting credit. This caused a rift between Vivian and her daughter, Viola, who had explicitly said she had not wanted Brooke to pursue a career in acting due to the stories she'd hear about the real world of entertainment and the effects it could have on a person. Vivian made the argument that Viola shouldn't be concerned, as she were never home anyway. Even to this day, things are still hostile between her mother and grandmother.

Brooke didn't necessarily mind acting when she was a child, she always got to keep the product of whatever she was advertising as a gift, so it seemed to be a win for her. She was then auditioning herself for middle school plays, with teachers often giving her lead roles due to her confidence and natural talent for the craft.

However, she caught her 'big break' when she was fourteen, and spending her summer vacation at her Vivian's. Behind her mother's back, she was pushed into an audition for role in a Criminal Minds episode where she played a teenage beauty queen, brutually murdered by a rival's mother. The role required the actress to be sixteen or above, but her talent agent (with Vivian pulling the strings) lied about Brooke's age to get her the role. Too timid and shy to go against her grandmother's wishes, Brooke never disputed the fact that she was underage.

Her mother was horrified when her social circles began talking about Brooke's debut into film and television, and what ensued was another argument between her and Vivian.

However, when her mother had sat Brooke down to discuss the job, she was stunned to hear that Brooke wanted to continue acting, as she had enjoyed the atmosphere, and the paycheck had been nice for such minimal work. As displeased as Viola was, not wanting her daughter to enter into the life her mother had, she supported her wishes, as long as she was careful and made good choices.

After much deliberation between the family, Vivian included, her grandmother had persuaded Brooke's mother and father to allow her to move Brooke to California to pursue acting roles, but under the assumption that schoolwork and education would come first.

It was certainly a reality shift for Brooke, growing up in a three-bedroom semi-detached to moving into her grandmother's mansion in Burbank, and hers wasn't even the biggest on the block.

Vivian jumped at the oppourtunity to thrust Brooke into whatever production she could get her an audition for during the summer months. She kept the promise that Brooke would attend the school year, but due to more jobs, she soon became home-schooled, with private tutors, funded by Vivian.

Brooke acted in several indie films, guest spots in television shows, and had a few lines in a big budget comedy movie by the time she was eighteen. She often worked back to back on productions, leaving her stressed and tired, but Vivian assured her this is how stars were made.

Her grandmother's name held credit, which often swayed casting agents, and it paid off, landing Brooke a minor role in a historical film that had gone on to be nominated for an Oscar. She wasn't some standout star within the press, but it got her name out there and it made it easier to pick up jobs.

She was able to secure more supporting roles, usually playing a "bitchy, self-obsessed" teen in coming of ages films, which ended up getting her typecast for a short while.

Whilst on set of one of these films, shooting in Los Angeles, she found herself becoming attracted to the male lead. He was a few years older than her, and seemed more experienced in the acting department. He was the teen heartthrob that every person wanted to be with, including Brooke. Fortunately, she'd caught his eye too, and it wasn't long before they'd be sneaking off set together to 'talk'.

Brooke had never had time for romance before, she'd always been so busy with making her grandmother proud. Perhaps, that was the reason she was so trusting and naive to the ways of Mister Heartthrob. Three months into filming, he had taken her virginity on the couch in his trailer, and had introduced her to new ways to deal with the stress and pressure that her grandmother had put on her. The latter being in the form of cocaine and valium.

At first, Brooke was able to hide and manage her use of the drugs, but it slowly became an addiction, one that she didn't want to go away. She needed it, she relied on it, to feel somewhat sane. She had realised that the 'high' didn't last long, and to avoid the crashout, she'd consistently be popping pills between takes and afterwards.

Mister Heartthrob took her to 'work parties' where drug use seemed to be the norm among certain groups, but it made Brooke feel accepted and as though she didn't have to worry, if everyone was doing it, surely she would be fine.

And she was. Until the age of twenty two, when Brooke landed the role of Rogue on upcoming X-Men remake. It was the biggest part she'd ever played, and she finally felt as though she'd won the approval of her grandmother after all these years.

She had gone out to celebrate around LA with her new friends from the industry after shooting her last scene, the news already hitting the papers that the film were to be released in the next year, and she felt as though she were on cloud nine. But she took it too far, couldn't constrict herself from the drugs, constantly chasing the high, wanting to feel even better than she already did.

She ended up overdosing on the cocaine and the benzodiazepines, which caused her to lose conciousness and was rushed to the emergency room. She didn't remember much about that night, but forunately, it was captured perfectly by patrons and local paparazzi who had gathered on the street outside the club she'd been in.

It was a scandal, not one that Vivian said she could easily come back from if she were to be taken seriously again. Brooke was dragged to a rehabilitation centre in Santa Monica where she begrudgingly completed a 12 step, 90 day program.

She had caused the production of X-Men to be halted, due to the bad press surrounding her drug use, and her talent agency (and grandmother) were trying to do serious damage control. An email was received from executives on the production stating that they were in talks of recasting and reshooting her scenes, which devastated Brooke.

Brooke's mother had begged her to come home to Witchita, furious that her worst fear had come true and she had succumbed to the evils of Hollywood, but Brooke couldn't face returning to her hometown as a failure. She also didn't want to live with her grandmother, not being able to bear the constant judgment and belitting.

Instead, she needed a break from it all. She knew she wouldn't be able to escape entirely from who she was, but at least she could maybe breathe easy in a new town, away from the hustle and bustle of the film world.

She moved to Aurora Bay in the middle of January 2026, moving into her cousin, Bellamy's, apartment in Ocean Crest. It seemed the most affordable, and wasn't too shabby. She didn't need to spend any more money than necessary, and at least she'd be around family. After all, she knew long-term, she wouldn't be here forever. Just until things had settled down enough that she could return to doing what she loved.

She's tried to stay under the radar, rarely leaving Bellamy's place, but she's almost getting cabin fever. Two weeks later of living on delivered takeaways and bingewatching television series', she's driving herself crazy, and decided she is ready to make her debut back into the world outside her door.

A condition of her living unsupervised away from her grandmother was attending weekly Narcotic Anonymous meetings, which doesn't feel like that anonymous to her, but she still goes to appease the masses.

TIDBITS

Brooke has 13 IMDB acting credits (not including commericals).

She adopted a Maltese named Scrappy.

Her middle name comes from her grandmother, as at one point, her mother had a good relationship with her.

She's named after Dorothea Brooke from Middlemarch by George Elliot, which is one of her father's favourite books. He persisted for the name Dorothea, but they settled on Brooke.

CONNECTIONS

allocated sponser from her na meetings - @samucl-kane

met on the set of an indie film in 2022 about the salem witch trials, where brooke played abigail hobbs and maverick was a pa. he covered for her when she turned up to set hungover one day - @maverick-liu

cousin from her mother's side, and is the reason she chose to move to aurora bay, currently living with her - @thebellamyxcalvert

friend and mentoring about acting - @estieclements