Hazel Crowney (Also spelt as Hazel Croney), who grew up in Grosvenor Park, had entered Bollywood by sheer accident. While backpacking in Thailand, she stumbled upon a Bollywood film that was shot in the location. she got her first major film role, Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, where she played a teenager in love.
Hazel was born to Karin and Phil, who now live in Morocco, has two younger sisters. She completed her schooling from Bennett Memorial School in Tunbridge Wells, UK. Later, she studied fashion and textiles at West Kent College. According to a UK report, she claimed to have faced "casting couch" advances from a few film bosses keen to exploit her dreams of becoming an actress.
She worked hard to learn Hindi and got almost fluent with the language. She also did several commercials for brands like Ponds, Nokia, Samsung, HSBC after landing her first role in 2007. Hazel also appeared in a couple of Reality show on celebrities.
In 2010, a right wing political party in Maharashtra - MNS led by Raj Thackeray, campaigned against the non Indian actresses who are increasingly trying their hand on Bollywood. The party threatened and asked several such actresses including Hazel to leave the country.