Jessica McNamee

JESSICA MCNAMEE

Date of Birth: February 21, 1986

Born in Sydney, Australia, Jessica McNamee is one of five children. She grew up performing in school plays, reveling in the spotlight, and left Sydney University in 2007 before completing her degree in order to pursue acting when she landed a starring role on the long-time beloved Australian drama series Home and Away. She played Lisa Duffy in 21 episodes of the show in 2007. In the same year, she also worked with Oscar-nominee Jacki Weaver in the dramatic TV movie Hammer Bay.

In 2008, Jessica won a central role on the Australian series Packed to the Rafters. She played Sammy Rafter for 55 episodes, wrapping in 2013.

Jessica made the transition to the big screen in 2009 with the horror film The Loved Ones, playing the supporting role of Mia.

In 2012, she acted alongside Chad Michael Murray in the TV movie Scruples and landed a part in her second feature film, The Vow. She established herself with North American audiences by playing Gwen in the romance flick, which starred Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

During a December 2014 interview with the publication Splash, known as "Chicago's dose of style, society and celebrity," Jessica shared that she, Rachel, Channing and the whole crew on The Vow "had a ball" working on the film.

In 2013, she appeared in an episode of the series White Collar before scoring a big year in 2014. She worked on four episodes of the drama series The Time of Our Lives and began work on a comedy show many would come to associate her with. Jessica played Theresa in 23 episodes of the Chicago-based, Denis Leary co-created series Sirens between 2014 and 2015.

Her latest credits include the big-screen crime comedy CHiPs (2017) with Dax Shepard and Michael Peña, and the thriller Last Days of Summer (2017).

While chatting with Splash, Jessica revealed that she travels home to Dural, New South Wales about six times a year, that her family "instilled a great work ethic" in her, and that she's a self-proclaimed "free spirit." She said, "I always laugh that when I get married, I don't even know how that wedding would work out in terms of where I'd be, who'd come or if I'd have to have three separate weddings or just elope. I have these completely different worlds — they're all over the place."

In a March 2014 interview with Michigan Avenue magazine, she also shed light on which directors and actors she'd like to work with one day. She said, "Directors would be the Coen brothers, Baz Luhrmann, Sofia Coppola, Guy Ritchie. In terms of comedy, I'd love to be involved in anything with Judd Apatow or Will Ferrell. I am a huge fan of great comedy: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd — basically the entire cast of Anchorman."

She added that her favorite genre of film to work in is comedy.

Filmography:

Last Days of Summer (2017)
CHiPs (2017)
The Vow (2012)
The Loved Ones (2009)