Jessica Dominique Marais (born 29 January 1985) is a South African-born Australian actress best known for her roles on Australian television in '' Packed to the Rafters'' and '' Love Child''. She also co-starred on the American drama series '' Magic City''.

Early life

Born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa, Marais and her family lived in Canada and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

before relocating to

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, when she was nine. Six months after arriving in Australia, Marais' father Tony died from a heart attack while returning from a family picnic. Marais and her younger sister Clara were raised by her mother Karen. She attended a Catholic co-educational school John XXIII College in Claremont for a year. Jessica attended the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

where she graduated in 2007. NIDA appearances included Ophelia in William Shakespeare's

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and Charity in

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

. While still completing her final year she won the role in Packed to the Rafters, along with co-star and fellow

NIDA Nida or NIDA may refer to: People * Nida Allam (born 1993), American politician * Nida Fazli (1938–2016), Indian Hindi and Urdu poet and lyricist * Nida Eliz Üstündağ (born 1996), Turkish female swimmer * Eugene Nida (1914–2011), American l ...

graduate

Hugh Sheridan Hugh Sheridan (born 30 June 1985) is an Australian actor, singer, television presenter who is known for their role as Ben Rafter in the television series '' Packed to the Rafters''. Sheridan is a four-time Logie Award winner, in the Logie Awar ...

Career

Marais was attending

when she was cast in the role of Rachel Rafter on the television series ''Packed to the Rafters''. The series became a success and was instantly renewed. In February 2011 it was announced that Marais had left the show, with her final episode airing on 23 August 2011. Marais starred in the series from

Season One Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

until Season Four from 2008 to 2012. Marais made cameo appearances in the final episode of season 4 on 20 March 2012 and in the series finale on 2 July 2013. After initially agreeing to reprise the role of Rachel Rafter in

Back to the Rafters ''Back to the Rafters'' is an Australian family comedy-drama television program which premiered on the Amazon Prime Video on September 17, 2021. The series is a spin-off and sequel to '' Packed to the Rafters'', which aired on Seven Network fr ...

, which premiered on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

on 17 September 2021, she pulled out before filming began for personal reasons. Marais also starred in

Rai Fazio RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many te ...

's film ''

Two Fists, One Heart ''Two Fists, One Heart'' is a 2008 Australian drama film directed by Shawn Seet and written by Rai Fazio, and is based on Fazio's own life growing up. The film is set and was shot in Perth, Western Australia. The film follows Anthony Argo, a ...

'' with fellow

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

actor Tim Minchin and

Daniel Amalm Daniel Amalm (born 16 February 1979) is an Australian actor and musician. Early life Amalm's mother is Maltese and his father is Swedish. Amalm's father introduced him to guitar from an early age. Amalm's first performances were as a busker ...

which was released in March 2009. Marais guest-starred in the American series, Legend of the Seeker filmed in

Auckland New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, playing the role of the

Mord'Sith ''The Sword of Truth'' is a series of twenty-one epic fantasy novels and 6 novellas written by Terry Goodkind. The books follow the protagonists Richard Cypher, Kahlan Amnell, Nicci, Cara, and Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander on their quest to defeat opp ...

Denna. After departing ''Packed to the Rafters'', Marais relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. Marais then went to Miami, to film US drama, '' Magic City''. The series lasted two seasons. After relocating back to Australia, Marais portrayed Australian transgender entertainer and activist Carlotta in a biographic

telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

for ABCTV Australia. Its worldwide premiere was on 19 June 2014. It was the No. 10 show of the night, and nationally won its timeslot with 811,000 viewers. Also in 2014, Marais had the lead role on Channel Nine's Love Child, where she played the character Dr Joan Millar. She has since appeared on all four seasons of this show. Since 2016, Marais had the lead role in Channel Ten's drama '' The Wrong Girl''. Marais was nominated for the

Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Personal life

Marais was engaged to former '' Packed to the Rafters'' co-star

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

in 2009. However, in May 2015 Marais announced that she and Stewart had ended their 5-year engagement amicably. Marais and Stewart have a daughter together born in May 2012. Marais was reported as saying she would return to work filming the second series of '' Magic City'' while Stewart would be the baby's full-time caregiver.

Filmography

Awards

Marais has won, and been nominated, for seven

Logies 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 ...

in her time. Her first success at the Logies was in 2009, when she won the Logie for "Most Popular New Female Talent" and the prestigious

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

Award for "Most Outstanding New Talent" for her role on '' Packed to the Rafters''. For her role on this show, she was nominated for the

in 2011 and nominated for "Most Popular Actress" in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2015, she was nominated for the "Most Outstanding Actress" for her role in ''Carlotta'', and also nominated for the "Most Popular Actress" award for her roles in ''Carlotta'' and ''Love Child''. Marais won "Most Popular Actress" in 2016 (for ''Love Child'') and 2017 (for ''Love Child'' and ''The Wrong Girl''). Also in 2017, she was nominated for the Gold Logie and "Most Outstanding Actress" in 2017 (also for her role in ''Love Child'').

References

External links

*
Jessica Marais Fan Site (unofficial)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marais, Jessica 1985 births Actresses from Perth, Western Australia Afrikaner people Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Living people Logie Award winners National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni People educated at John XXIII College, Perth People educated at St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls People from Johannesburg South African emigrants to Australia South African film actresses South African people of French descent South African television actresses