Jessica Tovey (born 10 November 1987) is an Australian actress. Tovey graduated from the

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts The Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary day school in the suburb of Newtown in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is among a small number of performing a ...

and has made appearances for various drama companies. She is best known for her role of Belle Taylor on the long-running Australian soap opera ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

''. Tovey joined the show in 2006 and was nominated for two

Logie Awards The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

during her time there. In 2009, she announced she had quit ''Home and Away'' and her character was killed off. Tovey became the face of American shoe company, Skechers. She appeared in '' Underbelly: The Golden Mile'' in 2010 and '' Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo'' in 2011.

Career

Born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Tovey graduated from the

, where she appeared in a number of stage productions. She has played leading roles at Australian Theatre for Young People, drama festivals and in The Global Shakespeare Festival, where she won acclaim for her performance in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. In 2005, she joined the cast of children's program '' Wicked Science'', as Nadine. After completing her schooling, Tovey joined the cast of ''Home and Away'' in 2006 as Belle Taylor. For her portrayal of the character, Tovey was nominated for Most Popular New Female Talent and Most Popular Actress at the 2007 and 2010

respectively. In April 2009, Tovey announced that she had quit ''Home and Away'' and her character was killed off. In 2008, American shoe company, Skechers announced that Tovey would be their new celebrity face. Tovey became the first non-American to feature in the brand's ad campaigns. Tovey joined the cast of '' Underbelly: The Golden Mile'' in April 2010, appearing as Constable Wendy Jones. In August, it was announced she had joined the cast of ''Panic at Rock Island'', a

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

telemovie drama. Tovey also made a guest appearance on police drama '' Cops L.A.C.''. She appeared in the 2011 ABC television miniseries '' Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo'' as Leslie Carpenter. Tovey was cast as Dani Varvaris in the romantic-comedy drama ''

Wonderland Wonderland may refer to: Places Municipalities * Wonderland, California, a ghost town in Plumas County * Wonderland, Ohio, a ghost town in Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Roads, streets, and trails * Wonderland Avenue, a roadway in Laurel Canyon, Los Ang ...

''. On stage, Tovey played in the world premiere of Lachlan Philpott's play ''Truck Stop'' for Sydney's Q Theatre Company in 2012. Further stage credits include Lola in a stage adaptation by

Tom Holloway Tom Holloway is an Australian playwright, based in Melbourne . Holloway's plays have been performed across Australia and internationally, including ''Beyond the Neck'' at Belvoir St Theatre (2007), ''Red Sky Morning'' at Red Stitch Actors Theat ...

of ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same ...

'' for the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2016, a touring production of '' Constellations'' by Nick Payne for the Queensland Theatre Company in 2017, and

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia Medication A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...

in Bell Shakespeare's touring production of '' The Merchant of Venice'' the same year.

Personal life

Tovey is the daughter of author

Libby Gleeson Libby Gleeson AM (born 1950) is an Australian children's author. Born in Young, New South Wales, she is one of six children, the sister of former ABC TV Washington Correspondent Michael Gleeson, and the mother of ''Home and Away'' actress Jess ...

and Euan Tovey, a New Zealand research scientist. She has two older sisters, Amelia and Josephine. Her sister Josephine is a journalist for '' The Sydney Morning Herald''. Tovey has been in a relationship with actor Damien Strouthos since 2017. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in October 2021.

Filmography

References

External links

*
"Girl wonder"
by Elissa Blake, '' The Sydney Morning Herald'', 15 September 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tovey, Jessica 1987 births Living people 21st-century Australian actresses Actresses from Sydney Australian film actresses Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian soap opera actresses Australian stage actresses People educated at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts