Jessica Steen

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009) (Find sources: Jessica Steen – news, books, scholar)

Jessica Steen (born December 19, 1965) is a movie and television actress, noted for her roles in Homefront, Earth 2, Armageddon, NCIS, and Flashpoint.

Biography

Personal life

Jessica Steen was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[1]

In addition to her entertainment career, Steen is an environmentalist and animal rights supporter. She supports David Suzuki, The World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Western Canadian Wilderness Committee, amongst others. Steen is a certified diver. She is also skilled at several circus arts, including stilt-walking, fire-twirling, and fire-eating.

Career

At the age of eight, Steen was cast in her first role in the Canadian children's television series, The Sunrunners, co-starring with her mother.

In the 1986 TV movie Young Again she portrayed Tracy Gordon, the daughter of a character portrayed by Lindsay Wagner, who was a childhood idol of Steen's. In 1987, she was the only female regular on the syndicated series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, which lasted one year. For her performance in the Captain Power episode, "Judgment", she was nominated for the Gemini Award in the "Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role" category in 1988.

While in Toronto, she garnered roles on Canadian series and American made-for-TV movies until 1991, when she elected to move to New York City. Six weeks after arriving there, she was chosen to replace an actress who was on maternity leave on the soap opera Loving. Jessica's portrayal of Patricia Alden Sowolsky Hartman McKenzie caught the attention of ABC's casting department and led to her being cast in the series Homefront.

Set in a small Cleveland suburb immediately after World War II, Homefront was critically acclaimed for its writing, ensemble cast, and historical insights. Steen's character, Linda Metcalf, epitomized the growing changes and tensions in post-war America. Metcalf's late fiancé leaves her for a European war bride, and she loses her steady factory job to a returning serviceman; she then becomes a union organizer and working writer, at a time when women were discouraged from working outside the home. Much to the regret of fans the series only lasted two seasons.

In 1994, she became further well-known through her portrayal of Dr. Julia Heller, a genetically enhanced doctor, in the NBC science fiction series Earth 2. While the show was canceled in 1995, the attention brought by the show allowed Steen to land guest appearances on other series, including The Outer Limits, ER, Murder One, The Pretender, The Practice, Due South, and Touched by an Angel.

Also in 1994, Steen won the "Best Actress" Gemini Award, Canada's version of Emmy Awards, for her portrayal of Nora in the TV movie, Small Gifts, her self-proclaimed favorite role so far.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Jessica was cast as District Attorney Elizabeth Gardner in the movie Trial & Error, working with Jeff Daniels and Michael Richards, to whom she gave his first screen kiss. She prepared for the role with the help of a friend who was going through law school and by watching the closing arguments of Marcia Clark during the O.J. Simpson trial. Her portrayal of a small town lawyer without resorting to clichés resulted in a rave review from Roger Ebert on his syndicated show. This was the second time Jessica impressed the renowned critic; he first singled her out for praise in 1989's Sing.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recommended her for the role of the shuttle pilot in 1998's Armageddon because he fondly remembered her portrayal of Cpl. Jennifer 'Pilot' Chase in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.^{[citation needed]}

Jessica was cast as Dr. Elizabeth Weir in the two-part Season 7 finale of SG-1 entitled "The Lost City". She has also played lead roles in Slapshot 2 - Breaking The Ice and the Disney TV movies Smart House and Principal Takes A Holiday.

Jessica played Myra Teal in a 2002 episode of Monk, titled "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger". Steen played a recurring character on the CBS crime drama NCIS, that of Special Agent Paula Cassidy, from 2004-07. In the fall of 2007 she landed featured multi-episode roles on two Canadian series, jPod and Heartland, both based on popular books of the same names.

In 2009 Steen appeared in a six episode role, filling in for Julianna 'Jules' Callaghan, in the Canadian TV police drama Flashpoint, which is also broadcast on CBS in the U.S.

She is currently (July 2009) filming the third season of Heartland in which she has a featured role as Lisa Stillman, the wealthy girlfriend of series partriach Jack Bartlett.

References

External links

• Official website
• Jessica Steen at the Internet Movie Database