Mette Towley

Remarkable talent as a dancer and a willingness to have her head shaved on camera granted Mette (pronounced "MET-ta") Towley entry into stardom as a model, spokesperson and actress, beginning with 2019's "Cats." Raised in Alexandria, Minnesota, Towley earned her degree in dance from the University of Minnesota before heading west to work as a dancer in music videos. She amassed a handful of credits, including the video for Jennifer Hudson's "I Can't Describe" before receiving an 11th-hour call from that song's producer, Pharrell Williams. The singer-producer needed dancers for his halftime performance at the 2014 National Basketball Association All-Star game. Towley passed the audition and performed at the show, which led to a permanent assignment as one of Williams' backup dancers, known as "the Baes." Steady work in videos, live performances and advertisements preceded her breakout appearance in the music video for "Lemon" (2018), a single by Williams' band, N.E.R.D. and singer Rihanna. Towley drew national attention for not only her athletic, largely improvised dancing, but also for a scene in which Rihanna shaves her curly hair down to a smooth pate. Her fearlessness and talent led to work as a global brand ambassador for Revlon and her screen acting debut as Cassandra in Tom Hooper's screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's venerable musical "Cats" (2019).