Jennie Jacques is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actress. She is known for her roles in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

drama ''

Desperate Romantics ''Desperate Romantics'' is a six-part television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, first broadcast on BBC Two between 21 July and 25 August 2009. The series somewhat fictionalised the lives and events depicted. Though heavil ...

'' (2009), the police procedural ''

WPC 56 ''WPC 56'' is a British television police procedural series, created and partly written by Dominique Moloney and broadcast on BBC One. The stories feature the first woman police constables (WPC) to join the fictional Midlands Constabulary at Br ...

'' (2013–2014), and the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'' (2015–2019).

Early life

Jacques was born in Walsgrave Hospital and grew up in Coventry,

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

. She is the eldest of seven children.

Career

Jacques made her television debut as Katie Fielding in an episode of the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

police series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

''. Her first major was as artists' model

Annie Miller Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an English people, English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship w ...

in the six-part

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

'' (2009) about the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

. Jacques made her feature film debut as Beth in the urban thriller ''

Cherry Tree Lane ''Cherry Tree Lane'' is a 2010 British drama horror- thriller film, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Plot In a house at Cherry Tree Lane, distant couple Christine (Rachael Blake) and Mike ( Tom Butcher) are eating dinner while th ...

'' and Ree Ree in the futuristic thriller '' Shank''. Jacques has also appeared in ''Casualty'' on BBC1, where she played Lily Knowles, the carer of Megan Roach, in the episode "Nice and Easy Does It" broadcast on 7 August 2010. In 2011, Jacques was featured in the promotional video for the

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

single ''Boadicea''. She also appeared in slasher film ''

Demons Never Die ''Demons Never Die'' (originally titled ''Suicide Kids'') is a 2011 British slasher film starring Robert Sheehan, Jennie Jacques, Jacob Anderson, Jason Maza, Emma Rigby, Ashley Walters (actor), Ashley Walters, Reggie Yates and Tulisa Contostavl ...

'' (2011), in which she appeared nude during a sex scene with

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'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...

. Jacques appeared in an episode of ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' in 2013, and was then cast as the lead actress in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

afternoon series ''

'', about a woman police constable in the male-dominated world of 1956. Both programmes were made by

BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from th ...

. Jacques portrays Judith, the fictional daughter of King Aelle, in the third through the fifth seasons of ''

'' (2014–2019). In 2015, she played the role of Tash in the

sitcom ''

The Delivery Man ''The Delivery Man'' is the 21st studio album by Elvis Costello, released on Lost Highway Records, B0002593-02. It was recorded with the Imposters at Sweet Tea Studio in Oxford, Mississippi. It peaked at No. 40 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Cont ...

'' (2015), which aired for six episodes. In 2019, Jacques starred in the first series of the drama series ''

London Kills ''London Kills'' is a British police procedural television series, written and created by Paul Marquess, that premiered on Acorn TV on 26 February 2019 in the United States. One of Acorn TV's first original commissions, ''London Kills'' centre ...

'', playing a homeless witness named Amber Saunders.

Personal life

Jacques is an ambassador for the

Open Medicine Foundation The Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is a US-based charity that funds research into the illnesses myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and long COVID. History The OMF w ...

. In a 2021 interview with ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', she opened up about the

ME/CFS Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

and

post-exertional malaise Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is a worsening of chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms that occurs after exertion. PEM involves increased fatigue, and an exacerbation of other symptoms. PEM is often severe enough to be disabling, and is triggered by o ...

she developed after coming down with a severe bout of

Epstein–Barr virus The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), formally called ''Human gammaherpesvirus 4'', is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types in the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is a double-stranded DNA virus. It is b ...

in early 2019. She had to put her career "on hold" as her condition affected her mobility. She has also been an advocate for those living with

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

as inspired by her sister. In 2021, Jacques was engaged.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques, Jennie Living people 1989 births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Coventry English film actresses English health activists English television actresses People with chronic fatigue syndrome ME/CFS activists