| Jessica Cauffiel |
 |
| Born |
March 30, 1976 (1976-03-30) (age 33)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress |
| Years active |
1998—present |
Jessica Cauffiel (born March 30, 1976) is an American actress and singer.
Biography
Early life
Cauffiel was born in Detroit, Michigan; her mother is a social worker and her father is Lowell Cauffiel, a best-selling true crime author, screenwriter and television documentary producer.[1] She received a "Bachelor of Fine Arts degree" in Musical Theatre and Vocal Jazz at the University of Michigan School of Music. She performed in several bands, including Jazodity and Tribe of Zoe. Before graduating college, she sang on a cruise ship and in jazz and blues clubs throughout the country.
Acting career
She was born and raised in the theater and began her career in New York. Off-Broadway and regional theater productions include: Tony Award winner Robert Lopez's (Avenue Q) 1001 Nights, City Of Angels, Antigone, Assassins, Cowboy Mouth, Cabaret, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Company, Baby, Music Man, Shoppers Carried By Escalators and Grand Hotel, amongst others. She attended the University of Michigan where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre.
Cauffiel's debut film role was playing Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn's daughter in the 1999 remake of the The Out-of-Towners, and her debut TV role in Law & Order. That same year Cauffiel played Kit, Niles Cranes' girlfiend, in the sitcom Frasier. In 2000, she appeared in the hit comedy Road Trip and Urban Legends: Final Cut with Eva Mendes, and was a lead in the 2001 film, Valentine, which co-starred Katherine Heigl. That year, Maxim magazine featured her in the publication and their online Girls of Maxim gallery. Cauffiel subsequently appeared in several more films aimed at a young audience, including box-office hits such as both Legally Blonde films and the 2004 comedy, White Chicks. She also co-starred in the independent romantic comedy You Stupid Man alongside Milla Jovovich, directed by Brian Burns.
She followed a 2 year recurring role on The Drew Carey Show with featured roles in several studio films, like the Farrelly Brothers' Stuck On You and Guess Who, and in 2005, co-starred in the Burt Munro biopic period drama The World's Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins. She followed that with a lead role playing both a young actress and an elderly pancake maven (Mother Paula) in the 2006 feature film adaptation of the award-winning novel Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen, and a 2006-2007 recurring role on the hit NBC series My Name Is Earl.
After a nearly two year break from acting, she landed the lead role in the Hallmark Channel TV movie Drama Ice Dreams, in which she plays Amy Clayton, a former Olympic figure skater who begrudgingly agrees to coach a teenage girl, and must confront her demons in the process.
Jessica just wrapped the comedic film short "Bed Ridden," {http://www.bedriddenland.com] which she produced as well as starred in alongside Joel David Moore, Alan Tudyk, and Garrett Morris. It was written and also produced by her father, Lowell Cauffiel, and director Jonathan Heap, who was nominated for an Oscar for his short "12:01 PM." All proceeds benefit The Clare Foundation in order to raise awareness for drug and alcohol recovery for the homeless and those in need of treatment. [1]
Cauffiel can speak with a Russian accent and has played a Russian in the movie D.E.B.S. (as an assassin) and in episodes of My Name Is Earl (as a mail order bride called Tatiana with a large mole).
Music career
Cauffiel is a trained singer, and has studied and performed for over 20 years in the Western Classical, Musical Theatre, Jazz, Pop, Blues, and Eastern Devotional vocal mediums. She also plays piano, guitar and percussion. She and renowned Bollywood percussionist and composer Sivamani, with whom she is currently writing an album, performed live in Dharamsala, India for the 14th Dalai Lama and approximately 20,000 other monks and visitors from around the world, on the occasion of the March 10th, 2004 anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day. She also sang on the World Music Grammy finalist album, "Shanti", by Snatam Kaur and "Grateful Ganesh" by Guruganesh Singh Khalsa.
Personal life
Cauffiel, who is a certified Kundalini Yoga and Meditation instructor, often travels to India and Peru,and speaks several languages. She is also a teacher and practitioner of shamanic energy medicine (Shamanism), and has been trained in several healing modalities and ancient philosophical cosmologies, including the various indigenous and mystical traditions of the Americas, the Amazon, Tibet, Southeast Asia and the Yogic traditions of the Asian Sub-continent, including India and China. She has spent extensive time studying and practicing in Peru with the medicine people of the Amazon and the Andes mountains. She is active in several non-profit Non-governmental organizations that serve to bring inter-faith harmony amongst the many cultures and spiritual orientations of the world.
She is also a writer. She sings, plays piano and guitar.
She has been quoted as saying: "To entertain is to heal. I have always thought of my acting career as the benefactor for my Higher Self. It it a great vehicle which has gifted me the freedom and ability to travel, to explore, to experience, to understand the world and its inhabitants, and ultimately--to be of service and provide upliftment to humanity. This brings me the greatest joy."[citation needed]
Filmography
Stage
Antigone
Assassins (Chelsea Theatre in London)
1001 Nights (Robert Lopez’s Off-Broadway production)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
City Of Angels (Chicago’s Lakeshore Productions)
Cowboy Mouth (Theatre West in Chicago)
Baby
Company
Grand Hotel (University of Michigan)
Shoppers Carried By Escalators
The Music Man (University of Michigan)
Cabaret (University of Michigan)
Jesus Hopped the A Train
Born Guilty (University of Michigan)
References
External links
