Lesley Kravitz

**Lesley Ann Kravitz** (born October 9, 1995) is an American musician, actress and social media influencer from Berkeley, California. She was previously a member of the American girl group *In the Beat* along with Sierra McCormick and Chloë Grace Moretz. She currently runs a YouTube channel, which as of November 2022 consists of over 800,000 subscribers. Kravitz is also an active and vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community.

## Early life

Kravitz was born in Berkeley, California, to two unnamed parents; and served as their only child. Kravitz revealed in a YouTube video that she never had a close relationship with her parents; mostly due to their homophobic views. Kravitz realised she was homosexual when she was 9 years old, but didn't formerly come out to anyone until she was about 14. By then, her parents had kicked her out of her own home, forcing her to move across state to her aunt's house. After graduating high school, Kravitz moved out of her aunt's house and began attending the University of California, majoring in Psychology and Gender Studies.

While attending university, Kravitz found a performing arts group, and began attending weekly meetings. This group encouraged her to pursue acting. During this time, she also began to take elective music classes, which encouraged her to start creating her own music.

## Career

### **2015-16: Early acting roles**

After a dozen unsuccessful auditions, Kravitz finally landed her first acting role at age 19 in the short-film *Worlds Apart*. She served as the second lead character of the film. The film also went on to win several awards, with Kravitz's performance being well received by critics and viewers.

Kravitz also continued to pursue her acting career by starring in other small projects; mostly consisting of low budget student films. Later that year, Kravitz eventually landed a one-episode cameo appearance in the Freeform series *The Fosters*, and a minor recurring role in the Netflix original *Orange is the New Black*.

### **2017-18: Break-out role, early music beginnings and YouTube debut**

In the summer of 2017, Kravitz was cast alongside her would be future band mate Sierra McCormick in the Netflix drama film *The Women Behind Bars*; based on the memoir of the same name by Lindsay Taylor. Kravitz played the role of Gill; who served as the love interest of McCormick's character Sarah. The two leading actresses underwent intense training sessions to prepare for their respective roles, and formed a strong friendship as a result. The film was released online in the fall of 2018, before being picked up by Netflix in 2019.

In December 2017, Kravitz released her debut single *Flight Path* onto her personal Soundcloud account. She would also go on to release her second and third singles, *My Hands* and *Lovebound* the following Spring.

In April 2018, Kravitz uploaded her first YouTube video, which simply served as a channel introduction. Kravitz went on to publish around 30 videos that same year, with the topics mostly concerning her life as a LGBTQ+ youth. In that same year, Kravitz graduated from college.

### **2019: Tour debut and *In the Beat* beginnings**

In January 2019, Kravitz's close friend McCormick announced that Kravitz would be joining her as an opening act for her solo *One Woman Show* tour, which ran from March-May 2019. The tour consisted of 39 stops; with dates in the United States and Europe. Around the same time, Kravitz made her mainstream musician debut on In the Beat's fifth studio album ITB5, landing her vocals on the track *More Than Words*. She had not formerly met Mendler or Moretz at this stage.

In the summer of 2019, In the Beat revealed that Kravitz would be joining them as an opening act for their *The Americas Tour*. Kravitz also attended the world premier of In the Beat's feature film *To the Beat*. As tour rehearsals kick-started in September, Kravitz finally got to formerly meet Mendler and Moretz and become close friends with them.

According to an interview with TeenVogue, discussions about Kravitz possibly joining In the Beat began in October 2019, about a month before the *Americas Tour* was about to begin. McCormick originally pitched the idea to Kravitz during casual conversation, and Kravitz immediately jumped aboard the idea. Kravitz finally appeared on stage alongside In the Beat for the first time on November 8, 2019.

### **2020-2022: *In the Beat* deal**

In January 2020, Kravitz officially signed a deal with In the Beat's management to secure her place in the group. However, this deal would not formerly take place until March 1, 2020. Kravitz released her debut single with In the Beat titled *Break Up Song* and provided the opening vocals. A lyric video and a music video was also released for the song. It debuted at #113 on the Billboard chart, making it the lowest debut in In the Beat's history.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Kravitz began uploading a series on her YouTube channel called "Quarantine Capers". The series consisted of 12 episodes, and featured all members of In the Beat in them.

On August 20, 2022, In the Beat performed an exclusive "Final Show Ever (For Now)" that was livestreamed around the world. During the show, Kravitz revealed that she was officially leaving the group; further confirmed by a social media post a few hours later.