Jena Sims

Jena Sims: biography

Born in Georgia, Jena Sims received wide recognition for winning several beauty pageants as a child and a teenager, and some successful movie and TV series roles. She started her acting career in 2012. Currently, the actress is dating with Brooks Koepka, PGA Championship, and U.S.

Open winner. Jena’s net worth is estimated at $2 million. Her earnings are mostly from her acting and modeling career.

Childhood and youth

Jena’s native city is Winder, the Georgia state’s town. She was born there on December 30, 1988. Jena studied in Winder-Barrow High School. As a kid, she liked watching soap operas with her mother. Initially, she wanted to become an opera singer, but once there happened a case, which turned a girl’s life. Jena and her mother went to the Super Soap Weekend in Orlando, and they had the opportunity to meet Susan Lucci.

That meeting remained in the memory of little Jena forever. Susan was so charismatic, graceful, and beautiful that Jena wanted to be like her. However, Jena didn’t start developing acting skills, but she was a cheerleader while studying at high school and college. Sims earned business education at the Belmont University in Nashville.

Pageantry

In 2004, Jena started competing in a beauty pageant and achieved some success. At the age of 16, she won her first award. She became Miss Georgia among teenagers. It allowed her to take part in USA beauty pageant among the teenagers who had become the best in their states. In 2005 Jena got the crown of Miss Junior National Teenager.

A little rest, Jena won another contest in 2007. She became the best in her state in Teen USA pageant. However, it was the end of her success. She didn’t take place in the main contest and became first Georgia’s representative since 2003, who failed Miss Teen USA.

Movie career

Two years later, in 2009, Jena moved to Los Angeles to realize her childhood dream and become an actress. She immediately started going to acting classes and auditioning. As a result, she signed with a new theatrical agency. Jena’s mother continued to help her in LA. Once she drove Jena to the audition after working with her coach on the scenes.

Jena went in and read with the casting director. Having known about Jena’s past in cheerleading, the director started asking her a few questions. After Jena performed a high kick, another director, Kevin O'Neill came in and asked to read once more. Jenna received congratulations from them and the lead role in her debut movie Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader.

Jenna was happy. It was an ideal role to her thanks to her six years of cheerleading experience, and 15 years of dance training. The only problem for Jena was the scenes with fighting. Jena was forced to go through vigorous fight training, studying kung fu. But all the movie’s cheers and dances Jena learned about 10 minutes before the cameras started rolling. She improvised a lot, and it was good.

Soon Jena starred in 3-Headed Shark Attack, in which a mutated great white killed former WWE champion, Rob Van Dam. Jena also was a cast member in Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, and made several small appearances on TV, featuring an episode of Entourage, Dexter and Vampire Diaries. She also acted alongside Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Jeremy Renner, and Morgan Freeman.

Charity

Jena’s pageant experience inspired her to found a nonprofit organization named HBBQs Inc. The charity team travels to cities across the country and abroad to organize a noncompetitive event, called Pageant of Hope. It aims to raise the self-esteem of children facing cancer and other serious challenges.

According to Sims, she wanted to allow each kid to be a prince or a princess for the day—a moment to be celebrated for who they are and to take their mind off of endless hospital visits and treatments.

Personal life

Jena has booked nearly 20 commercials and print campaigns. She can be seen in advertisements for Rooms-to-Go, Harris Teeter, All For Color and Zappos. In 2011 Jena was romantically involved with Robert Buckley. The two were not engaged and broke up in a year. In 2015 Jena met golfer Brooks Koepka. In 2016 Jena and Brooks started dating.

Although Jena has supported every step of the golfer’s way, she has not become Brooks Koepka wife. Jena likes to share images with him on Instagram. After the Masters, where Koepka finished just a shot behind Tiger Woods atop the leader board, Sims posted yet another revealing photo with the golfer.

At the PGA Championship in May, Koepka was seen snubbing Sims for a kiss. In search of his fourth major title, he had no time for a public display of affection when there was a title to be won. Of course, after Brooks managed to hold on and win the tournament by two strokes over Dustin Johnson, all bets were off.

As he ascended the hill behind the 18th green on his way to the scorer's tent, Sims was there waiting with Koepka's friends and family. And he was more than happy to pucker up.

On July 11, 2019, the pair appeared on the ESPY Awards. Jena was the owner of one of the buzziest looks of the night. She wowed in a plunging bubblegum pink dress with a low neckline and thigh-high slit, which gave the viewers a glimpse of her nude Louboutin sandals with crisscross straps.

With Koepka as the winner for Best Male Golfer, he and Sims were seated front row at the awards show — right next to Dwyane Wade — meaning that even those who skipped the red carpet still got a good look at her bold outfit.

Filmography

• 2012 – Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader
• 2013 – Last Vegas
• 2013 – Best Night Ever
• 2014 – Kill the Messenger
• 2015 – 3-Headed Shark Attack
• 2015 – American Beach House
• 2018 – The Price for Silence
• 2018 – Tales of Frankenstein
• 2019 – Beneath the Leaves