Born in Pomona, CA on April 28, 1981, Jessica and her family moved to
Bilox, Mississippi when she was an infant. Three years later, her Air
Force father brought the family back to CA, then to Del Rio, Texas,
before finally settling in southern CA when Jessica was nine. In love
with the idea of becoming an actress from the age of five, Jessica was
12 before she took her first acting class. Nine months later, she was
signed by an agent.A gifted young actress, Jessica has already played
a variety of roles ranging from light comedy to gritty drama since
beginning her career 3 and a half years ago. She was in an episode of
the acclaimed medical drama ''Chicago Hope''. This fall, she was also
be seen starring opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. as a pregnant teen in a
difficult relationship in the ABC TV movie ''Too Soon For Jeff''.
Jessica made her feature film debut in 1993 in Hollywood Pictures
comedy ''Camp Nowhere''. Originally hired for two weeks, she got her
break when an actress in a principal role suddenly dropped out.
Jessica cheerfully admits it wasn't her prodigious talent or charm
that inspired the director to tap her to take over the part. It was
her hair, which matched the original performer's. The two week job
stretched to two months, and Jessica ended the film with an impressive
first credit. Two National TV commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penny
quickly followed before Jessica was featured in several independent
films. She branched out into TV in 1994 with recurring role in
Nickelodeon's popular comedy series ''The Secret World of Alex Mack''.
She played an insufferable young snob, devoted to making life
miserable for the the title character, played by Larisa Oleynick. That
same year, she won the role of Maya in ''Flipper'' and filmed the
pilot for the series. Jessica spent 1995 shooting the first season's
episodes in Australia. An avid swimmer and PADI-certified scuba diver,
Jessica is delighted to be doing a show which allows her to play with
dolphins. The success of the first season of ''Flipper'' lead to the
filming of the second season, which Jessica also starred in. Jessica
involvement in ''Flipper'' lasted from 1995-1997. Since ''Flipper''
Jessica has appeared in a number of television shows and movies.
In 1996, Jessica appeared in Venus Rising as Young Eve. In 1997,
Jessica appeared on the ''Dini Petty Show'', a Canadian talk show, and
talked about her role in Flipper and her general acting career. She
began working on P.U.N.K.S., featuring Randy Quaid, in 1998.
P.U.N.K.S. was just recently released on video in early January,
1999.In 1998, Jessica appeared in several TV shows for an episode or
two. In early 1998, she appeared in ''Brooklyn South'', as Melissa. A
few months later, she appeared in two episodes of ''Beverly Hills
90210'', as Leanne. And finally, she appeared in two episodes of
''Love Boat: The Next Wave.''She appeared in ''Teen Magazine'' in 1995
and various European magazines in the past several years. More
importantly, she was just featured in the February, 1999, issue of
''Vanity Fair''.She also had recently major roles in two movies this
spring. Never Been Kissed released on April 9 and Idle Hands on April
23.