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Lilan Bowden
Bowden in 2018
Born	Alice Lilan Bowden (1985-09-01) September 1, 1985 (age 39) Castro Valley, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Irvine
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present
Partner(s)	Nick Mandernach (2019–present; engaged)
Children	1

Alice Lilan Bowden (born September 1, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Rebecca "Bex" Mack in Andi Mack and Amber Kang in the Netflix series Murderville.

Biography

She attended Castro Valley High School where she had joined an improv club and graduated in 2002. Bowden attended University of California, Irvine where she continued to perform in comedy. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles and joined the Upright Citizens Brigade. She also began writing videos with her writing partner Wilder Smith, featured on Funny or Die during this time.

Bowden began auditioning for roles which was made difficult due to her mixed race heritage. "The roles you get as a minority usually cluster in certain category...I felt like every year I was going out and testing for at least one pilot where I was the sassy, ethnic best friend...I still think that we have a lot of work to do as far as entertaining someone who’s not white for the lead role of TV shows." She suddenly auditioned for the show Andi Mack and got the role of Bex, the single young mother of the title character. "I feel like I hit the jackpot!...It’s so exciting to be a part of a female dominant cast that is an Asian American family and doesn’t fit the model minority." She added that she finds the positive message of the show enticing and feels that she earned the role through perseverance.

Bowden directed the 2020 short film, Becoming Eddie.

Personal life

In 2022, Bowden joined current and past Disney employees who criticized Bob Chapek for refusing to criticize anti-LGBT legislation that was passed in Florida. Bowden came out bisexual on Twitter in March 2022.

She endorsed Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Kenneth Mejia during the 2022 Los Angeles elections.

In 2019, Bowden started dating actor, writer, and producer, Nick Mandernach. They became engaged in August 2022 after 3 years of dating.

On May 16, 2023, Bowden announced she was pregnant with their first child.

On July 30, 2023, Bowden revealed she had given birth to their son.

Filmography

Filmmaking credits

• Becoming Eddie (2020)

Film

Television

Web

References

1. Janet Varney (April 4, 2019). "Episode #317: Lilan Bowden". The JV Club Podcast (Podcast). Event occurs at 17:30. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
2. Levin, Joe (September 1, 2017). "Happy Birthday, Lilan Bowden She Turns 32 Today". TOTPI. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
3. "Meet Lilan Bowden: The 'Murderville' Star Who Is Dating Writer Nick Mandernach". news.amomama.com. 4 February 2022.
4. Bracy, Brittany (May 31, 2017). "Screen star Lilan Bowden returns to her roots". CVHS Olympian. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
5. "Screen star Lilan Bowden returns to her roots". 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
6. Khatchatryan, Astgik (2017-08-25). "UC Irvine Drama Alum Lilan Bowden on Playing Bex on Disney Channel's "Andi Mack"". Orange Coast Mag. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
7. "Lilan Bowden". Upright Citizens Brigade. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
8. ^ Rachel Ann Cauilan (January 23, 2018). "Bowden Breaks Through with Disney's 'Andi Mack'". Kore Asian Media. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
9. Nguyen, Hanh (October 11, 2017). "Asian American TV Actors Expose the Difficulty of Landing Parts – With or Without an Accent". Indie Wire. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
10. Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 12, 2019). "'Andi Mack's Lilan Bowden To Direct Comedy 'Becoming Eddie' From Ed Lee". Deadline. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
11. Hailu, Selome (March 7, 2022). "Disney Employees Slam Bob Chapek's Memo on 'Don't Say Gay' Bill: 'Silence Is Unacceptable'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
12. "I did say "our rights." I am bisexual! I didn't come out until last year. This really isn't how I was planning on coming out publicly, but I think it's important to know that hateful bills like this one in Florida affect more people than we realize". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
13. Bowden, Lilan (May 27, 2022). "LA City Council Elections: If you live in CD-1, you GOTTA go Eunisses Hernandez!! @EunissesH" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. Bowden, Lilan (May 27, 2022). "LA City Council Elections: If you live in CD-13, vote Hugo Soto-Martinez @HugoForCD13 who has a huge labor organizing background and is for WORKERS RIGHTS!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
15. "Engaged!!". instagram.com.
16. "Official Baby Bump Debut 🐣 At @vcmediaorg 's Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Fest premiering @ohcha_shortfilm !! Thanks to all who came to celebrate! I'm gonna be a mommy!! Portrait by @sthanlee Vid by @jane1kim Baby Bowden-Mandernach premiering this Summer!! @nickmandernach". instagram.com.
17. "Big belly vibing w @peytonelizabethlee Taken by @displaysample at @thewildersmith and @bradley_simmons_ 's magical wedding #foreverwildley". instagram.com.
18. "We have a baby now 🥰". instagram.com.
19. "Short Film Review: Becoming Eddie (2020) by Lilan Bowden". asianmoviepulse.com. 17 October 2020.
20. "BIG NEWS! @yourfriendlilan has been selected to the Disney Directing Program! We're so proud of our fearless director!!!". facebook.com.
21. "Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Andi Mack's Lilan Bowden". pop-culturalist.com. 18 January 2019.
22. "Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery cast: Who's in the new comedy?". netflixlife.com. 16 December 2022.

Notes

1. This is a Murderville Christmas special

External links

• Lilan Bowden at IMDb
• Lilan and Wilder website Archived 2021-08-03 at the Wayback Machine

• Living people
• 1985 births
• 21st-century American comedians
• American actresses of Taiwanese descent
• American bisexual actresses
• American comedy writers
• American film actresses
• American LGBTQ comedians
• American sketch comedians
• American television actresses
• American women comedians
• American women film directors
• Bisexual comedians
• Comedians from California
• Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from California
• University of California, Irvine alumni
• 21st-century American actresses