Jessica Oyelowo (née Watson; born 1978) is a British actress and singer.

Early life

She was born Jessica Watson in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and spent her childhood in Suffolk, England. She attended

Woodbridge School Woodbridge School is an independent school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, founded in 1577, for the poor of Woodbridge. It was later supported by the Seckford Foundation. Woodbridge School has been co-educational since September 1974. Histor ...

as a child and was a member of the

National Youth Music Theatre The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company (orig ...

Career

In 2006, she starred as Detective Sergeant Alex Jones in ''

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

'' and went on to appear in '' Murphy's Law'' alongside

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

, in 2007. She provided the voice of Mrs. Equiano (alongside her husband as

Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist from, according to his memoir, the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today southern Nigeria). Enslaved a ...

) in ''Grace Unshackled – The Olaudah Equiano Story'', a radio play adapting Equiano's 1789 autobiography ''

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano ''The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African'', first published in 1789 in London,

''. This was first broadcast on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

on 8 April 2007.

Personal life

Oyelowo resides in Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

with her husband, actor

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards ...

. They met while attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. They have four children. They formerly resided in Brighton, England. Both she and her husband are committed Christians. Oyelowo and her husband became naturalised

US citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

s on 20 July 2016. As the wife of a Yoruba tribal prince, Oyelowo is entitled to the honorific style ''

Olori Olori, otherwise appearing as Oloorì, is a title of honour within the chieftaincy system of the Yorubas of West Africa. It is typically translated from the Yoruba language as either queen consort or, more correctly, princess consort. Usage Olor ...

''. She currently doesn't make use of it, however.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage work

* ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' (as Roxanne) at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2006 * ''Ana in Love'' (play) at

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...

for Inside Intelligence 2007 * '' As You Like It'' (Rosalind) for Inside Intelligence 1997, her professional debut

References

External links

*
''Mayo''
at BBC {{DEFAULTSORT:Oyelowo, Jessica 1978 births English television actresses Living people English Christians People educated at Woodbridge School 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses British expatriate actresses in the United States Actresses from Greater Los Angeles Actors from Ipswich Actresses from Suffolk Naturalized citizens of the United States Yoruba princesses Princesses by marriage 21st-century American women