Jessica Napier

Jessica Napier
Jessica Napier in April 2012
Born	4 April 1979 Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993–present

Jessica Napier (born 4 April 1979) is a New Zealand-born actress based in Australia. She has appeared in a number of feature films, including Love Serenade, Blackrock, Cut, City Loop, Angst, The Illustrated Family Doctor and Ghost Rider, and is well known for her ongoing role of Becky Howard in the Australian TV drama series McLeod's Daughters.

Early life

Napier was born in Wellington, New Zealand. As a child, her father, Marshall Napier, relocated the family to Australia.^[1]

Career

Jessica had her first taste for acting at age 9, when she played her father's daughter on the long-running Australian TV series Police Rescue. A year later she reappeared in another episode, when Marshall nominated Jessica to fill in for a role when the girl who was originally booked to do the job refused because the character was required to be submerged in a swamp.

It was not until Jessica was 15 that she decided to be an actress. On her first serious audition she won the lead role of Edwina on Echo Point. Her first feature film was in Shirley Barrett's award-winning Love Serenade (with Miranda Otto), followed by the critically acclaimed Blackrock, where her character's brother was played by Heath Ledger in his first prominent film role.

Small parts in a string of other popular Australian TV shows, including Water Rats and Murder Call, followed; she played the role of Gerry Davis in the highly acclaimed Wildside, alongside Aaron Pedersen, Rachel Blake and Tony Martin. The improvisational-style series also launched the career of Abbie Cornish.

Napier then appeared in Stingers (with Peter Phelps) and City Loop before landing the lead role of Raffy in Mushroom Pictures' film Cut. The cult Australian slasher film was her first lead in a feature film and also saw Molly Ringwald, Kylie Minogue and Stephen Curry.

She then starred in Angst and appeared in the made-for-TV film Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.

Already a household name in Australia, Napier then played the Becky Howard on the Australian TV drama McLeod's Daughters from 2000-2003. Her father played Harry Ryan on the same series.^[2]

Napier then starred in the tele-movie The Alice. Following its success it went on as a series with Jessica reprising her role in the tele-drama.

In 2009, Napier guest starred in both the popular third season of TV series Sea Patrol and the new Rescue: Special Ops.

The thriller Savages Crossing was released in 2010 and saw Jessica star in an ensemble cast of other Australian favourites including John Jarratt, Craig McLachlan, Sacha Horler and Chris Haywood.

In 2010 the Nine Network announced that they would be continuing with their successful Underbelly franchise by producing three separate stand-alone crime telemovies which would be known as The Underbelly Files. Jessica was cast as the lead actress in the second of these telemovies, titled Infiltration, opposite Sullivan Stapleton. Infiltration follows Victorian police officer Colin McClaren's investigation into the local Calabrian mafia in which he infiltrates their group and also stars Valentino del Toro, Henry Nixon, Tottie Goldsmith, Buddy Dannoun and Glenda Liscott.

Personal life

She is married to David Adler. They have a daughter Emily. Both Jessica and her father Marshall are vegetarians and support various animal rights foundations.^[2] She has also supported the use of Taronga Zoo in Sydney for retired circus elephants.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Love Serenade	Deborah 'Debbie'
1997	Blackrock	Rachel
1998	War Story	Princess	Short film
2000	Cut	Raffy Carruthers
2000	City Loop	Sophie
2000	Twitch	Jane	Short film
2000	Angst	Jade
2001	Jet Set
2002	Sweet Dreams
2002	New Skin	Lyra
2002	Stuffed Bunny	German Girlfriend	Short film
2004	Post	Jessica	Short film
2005	Illustrated Family Doctor, TheThe Illustrated Family Doctor	Christine
2006	Safety in Numbers	Jen
2007	Ghost Rider	Broken Spoke Waitress
2007	Don't Panic	Kimberly	Short film
2009	Savages Crossing	Kate

Television

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Police Rescue	Tracey Therese	Episode: "L.P.G." Episode: "One for Dad"
1995	Echo Point	Edwina Amadio	TV series
1996	Twisted Tales	Michelle	Episode: "Night of the Monster"
1996	Police Rescue	Zoe	Episode: "The Only Constant"
1997	Water Rats	Vanessa	Episode: "The Witness"
1997	Murder Call	Brodie Cochrane	Episode: "Who Killed Cock Robin?"
1997-1999	Wildside	Gerry Davis	60 episodes
1998	Stingers	Kaye Kelso	5 episodes
2000	Lost World, TheThe Lost World	Gladice	Episode: "London Calling"
2001	Head Start	Amy	Episode: "Making Music"
2001	Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story	Klammie	TV movie
2001-2003	McLeod's Daughters	Becky Howard	70 episodes
2004	Alice, TheThe Alice	Jess Daily	TV movie
2005-2006	Alice, TheThe Alice	Jess Daily	22 episodes
2007	Chandon Pictures	Annabelle	Episode: "Private Dick"
2007	All Saints	Pam Elton	Episode: "Life's Little Miracles"
2009	All Saints	Elyse Leine	Episode: "Out of Control 2"
2009	Sea Patrol	Simone Robsen	5 episodes
2009	Rescue: Special Ops	Nicole	4 episodes
2010	Cops LAC	Natalie	Episode: "Illegal Dumping"
2011	Underbelly Files: Infiltration	Jude Gleeson / Narrator	TV movie
2014	Janet King	Caroline Martin	3 episodes

References

1. Rae, Fiona (3 October 2002). "Passing muster at McLeod's Daughters". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
2. Fiona Rae (3 October 2002). "Passing muster at McLeod's Daughters". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
3. "Actress against elephant imports". Television New Zealand. Australian Associated Press. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2011.

External links

• Jessica Napier at the Internet Movie Database