Jemima West (born 11 August 1987) is a French-English actress. She is bilingual and mostly grew up in Paris. She is best known for playing

Isabelle Lightwood This is a list of the main characters from ''The Mortal Instruments'' series by Cassandra Clare, including the novels '' City of Bones'', '' City of Ashes'', '' City of Glass'', '' City of Fallen Angels'', '' City of Lost Souls'', and '' City of ...

in the film adaptation of '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'' and Alice Whelan in the British drama series ''

Indian Summers ''Indian Summers'' is a British drama television series that began airing on Channel 4 on 15 February 2015. The show details the events of summers spent at Simla (the summer capital of British India), in the foothills of the Himalayas, by a gro ...

''. She also appeared in the second season of '' The Borgias'' as Vittoria.

Early life

West's parents are English. Her father is an accountant and her mother is a business interpreter. When she was five years old, her parents moved to Paris. She attended the Sorbonne and graduated in the history of art while taking acting classes in the evening. She can speak both French and English. She has described herself as completely English and has said that she has an easier time working in her mother tongue; she says Paris is her home.

Career

West made her acting début at the age of 12 when she appeared in the 1999 film ''Joan Of Arc'', directed by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French filmmaker. He directed and produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Associated with the '' Cinéma du look'' film movement, he h ...

. She later on starred in the short film ''I'm an Actrice'' directed by

Maïwenn Maïwenn Aurélia Nedjma Le Besco (; born 17 April 1976), known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker. Early life Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, the daughter of artist Cather ...

. She also starred in the third season of the Canadian television series, '' 15/Love''. West later went on to star in the French television shows ''Ben & Thomas'', ''Trouble Paradis'', ''R.I.S. Police Scientifique'' and ''Josephine Ange Gardien'' which was followed by her second film role in ''King Guillaume'', co-starring alongside

Florence Foresti Florence Foresti (; born 8 November 1973) is a French comedian and actress. Life and career Following her high school studies in literature, theatre and dramatic expression at Saint-Just de Lyon, Florence Foresti entered a school for cinemato ...

. In 2009, West starred in ''Paradis Criminel'', a two-part thriller mini-series entitled ''Who Killed Little Red Riding Hood'' as Louisa. The mini-series was written and directed by Serge Meynard and went on to win "Best mini-series" at the 2009 La Rochelle TV Film Festival, and garnered 3 million viewers on

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

on 22 August 2012. The mini-series thus ranks as 8th best-rated fiction of the year on the channel. In 2010, West had a role in the French mini-series '' Maison Close'', in which she starred as Rose, a young country girl forced to work for her freedom in a brothel. She stars alongside

Anne Charrier Anne Charrier is a French actress, who is credited with 7 films and 22 TV productions between 2000 and 2009. Career She is best known for her lead role in the film '' Paid'', made in 2006, where she played a French call girl from Netherlands. ...

and Valérie Karsenti. West played

in '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'', a film adaptation of the first book in ''The New York Times'' best-selling series ''

The Mortal Instruments ''The Mortal Instruments'' is a series of six young adult fantasy novels written by American author Cassandra Clare, the last of which was published on May 27, 2014. ''The Mortal Instruments'' is chronologically the third series of a planned s ...

'', written by

Cassandra Clare Judith Lewis (née Rumelt; born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series ''The Mortal Instruments''. Personal life Clare was born Judith R ...

. West co-starred alongside

Lily Collins Lily Jane Collins (born 18 March 1989) is an English and American actress. Born in Guildford and raised in Los Angeles, she began performing on screen at the age of two in the BBC sitcom ''Growing Pains''. In the late 2000s, she began acting a ...

Jamie Campbell Bower James Metcalfe Campbell Bower (born 22 November 1988) is an English actor and singer. He made his feature film debut in 2007 with a supporting role in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. He went on to feature in '' The Twilight ...

, and

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits (TV series), Misfits'', Darren Treacy in ''Love/Hate (TV series), Love/Hate'', and Number Four / The Séance (Klaus ...

. The film was released on 21 August 2013.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Jemima 1987 births Living people Actresses from Paris 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses French film actresses French television actresses French people of English descent French child actresses Place of birth missing (living people)