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Jessica Forrest
British actress (born 1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jessica Forrest (born 1990) is a British actress and writer. Raised in Colne, Lancashire, Forrest studied drama at Manchester University, but did not like the course as she believed that it was not practical enough. In 2010, Forrest left her course after she was cast as Leanne Holiday in the British soap opera Hollyoaks. Forrest remained in the role until 2013, when her character was killed-off. Following her departure, Forrest guest-starred in Playhouse Presents, Coronation Street and Dani's Castle, and she portrayed a main role in the third season of Dani's Castle. In 2016 and 2018, Forrest portrayed Jasmine in the theatre production Chip Shop Chips, and she co-wrote and performed in The Trolley Girls at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Forrest later moved to Italy and launched a project teaching children English through song and animation, and in 2022 she performed her one-woman show The Olive Tree, which was a memoir of her life.
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Early life
Jessica Forrest was born in 1990[1][2] and was raised in Colne, Lancashire.[2] Forrest enjoyed theatre from a young age, pursuing acting in school and joining her local dramatic society.[2] Forrest attended Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School and later Nelson and Colne College.[3] Forrest had wanted to act but felt that she had no proper experience.[4] Forrest later studied drama and screen studies at University of Manchester, but did not like the course as she found it too academic and realised that she would rather perform.[2][3][1]
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Career
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Hollyoaks
In July 2010, it was announced that 19-year-old Forrest had joined the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks.[3][5] Forrest's casting was announced alongside Sikander Malik as Jamil Fadel and PJ Brennan as Doug Carter.[5] The three were the focus of the Hollyoaks online spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers, which aired weeks before they began appearing in the main soap as regular characters.[5] Forrest was grateful that she had filmed Hollyoaks: Freshers before the main show as it allowed her to understand her role and working on set.[6][3] Forrest had won the role when she was talent scouted in the street and invited to audition; she then went to an open audition at the BBC and then was given a year long contract for Hollyoaks that same day, which led to her leaving her university course.[2][1] She was chosen out of thousands of candidates.[3] Hollyoaks: Freshers debuted on 26 August, with Forrest appearing in all six episodes.[5][7] Forrest initially commuted from Manchester to work, but she later moved to Liverpool, where the soap is filmed.[2][3][1] Forrest had watched Hollyoaks when she was younger and was happy to be cast in the soap.[3] Forrest was scared as she had not worked in television before, but she ended up finding it the "least intimidating place" that she had worked in and less scary than university.[1][6]
Whilst working on Hollyoaks, Forrest lived with several of her colleagues, including P.J. Brennan (left) and Alice Barlow (right).
Forrest revealed she received mixed reception regarding her character when she was recognised in public.[6] Forrest later lived with her castmates Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove, Alice Barlow and Brennan.[6] After the exit of Leanne's main love interest, Forrest was worried that she would be written off the soap, but new producer Gareth Philips assured her that he loved the character.[6] Leanne was involved in several wedding storylines; Forrest revealed to Inside Soap in 2013 that she had never been to a wedding and thus found it strange that her only experiences of it were through the role.[1][8] In 2018, Forrest reflected, "Looking back I realise how nervous I was. Being in Hollyoaks was like going to university for me. We went out twice a week and had a big house to share. It was just fun".[4] Forrest also portrayed Leanne in the 2012 Hollyoaks spinoff Hollyoaks: Chasing Rainbows.[9]
"I have done really well out of the Hollyoaks 18th birthday storyline. Obviously it means I can't come back... but every actress wants a good exit. I really enjoy the industry – anything from presenting, to interviewing, to filming. I have learnt so much since being on Hollyoaks."[3]
–Forrest on her Hollyoaks exit (2013)
In October 2013, Leanne made her unannounced final appearance as Leanne when she was killed off during the soap's 18th anniversary celebrations.[10] Forrest had filmed her exit scenes in August 2013, and had already filmed another project by the time her departure aired.[3] Forrest felt good about leaving the soap as she had had an "amazing" experience there and felt ready to leave as she believed that she had done a lot with the character and was ready for change.[10] She enjoyed her exit storyline and revealed that she had filmed 12-hour days for those scenes.[10] Forrest's departure had been finalised in June 2013, but she kept it a secret so that viewers could be surprised.[10] As Leanne was primarily a comedic character, Forrest was glad to show a different side to her in her final scenes and it made her feel confident due to now having experience in both fields.[10] Reflecting on her time in Hollyoaks, Forrest said that she could not have wished for a better experience and revealed that she had met some of her best friends whilst working there that she continued to see after leaving.[3] She believed that she had done a lot of growing up on the show.[3] Forrest attributed her experience to helping her become confident on a television set, learning more acting skills and becoming more confident overall.[10]
Since 2014
Following her Hollyoaks departure, Forrest took part in several auditions and said that she wanted to do some comedy and Children's television.[10] Forrest then had a small role as Charlotte in the 2014 one-off Sky Arts comedy drama The Cruise, part of Playhouse Presents.[11][3] Forrest had filmed this project prior to the broadcast of her Hollyoaks exit in October 2013.[3] Forrest later made a guest appearance as Siobhan Davies in an episode of rival soap opera Coronation Street, which was broadcast on 25 June 2014.[12][13] In 2015, Forrest portrayed leading character Clare in the third season of Dani's Castle (also known as Rich, Jimmy & Kait's Castle).[14] Whilst filming Dani's Castle, Forrest stayed in a Holiday Inn hotel in Belfast for 10 weeks.[2] Forrest has commented that she enjoys travelling for acting roles as she otherwise gets "itchy feet" if she stays in one place for too long.[2]
After Dani's Castle, Forrest took part in various theatre productions, which she believed changed her as an actress.[4] In 2016, Forrest portrayed teenager Jasmine in a five-week tour run of Chip Shop Chips, which was an immersive play where venues in England would be transformed into Fish and chip shops for the performance.[4] Chip Shop Chips was Forrest's theatre debut.[2] Forrest's agent called her about the role, with Forrest commenting, "I was having a really busy week - acting is like buses, the parts all come along at once. But I liked the idea and wanted to do it".[2] In 2016, Forrest wrote and performed in The Trolley Girls at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Olivia Nicholson, who is also from Colne; Forrest commented that she "really enjoyed" the writing side of the production.[15][4][16] Forrest added that she used her experiences as inspiration for "new material".[15] In 2018, Forrest reprised her role in Chip Shop Chips when the production returned for a 10-week run touring around England; Forrest was happy to return as she wanted to develop her character further.[4] In between acting jobs, Forrest worked as a nanny in London, where she had moved to prior to 2018, and she told the Lancashire Telegraph that she was developing a one-woman show based on her experiences in the job.[4][15] Forrest also began to do stand-up comedy, which she enjoyed.[15] In 2019, Forrest portrayed Bev in the pilot episode of Don't You Know Who I Am?[9]
In roughly 2021, Forrest moved to Foligno, Italy.[17][18] In 2022, Forrest returned to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and performed her one-woman show called The Olive Tree, a memoir based on her experiences as an actress and nanny and her journey from Manchester to Italy.[19][17] The show ran from 15–20 August and featured Forrest performing on stage underneath an olive tree branch.[20][17] Vivien Devlin from Edinburgh Guide praised the 50-minute show, calling it "Nostalgic, lyrical, dreamlike" and "minimalist and magical journey through love and loss" that had "enchanting imagery".[17]
Whilst living in Italy, Forrest launched a project called "Little English", which encourages the learning of the English language throughout the world through song and animation.[18] Forrest used her background as an educator and an entertainer to develop the project and create a curriculum with academic and entertainment sides.[18] Forrest had realised that she enjoyed working in the children's education side of entertainment when she worked on Dani's Castle, with Forrest commenting, "Giving back to children in an educational way is so important".[18] She worked with composer Filippo Ciccioli and illustrator Cath Appleton to develop the project, with other entertainers also contributing.[18] Forrest wanted to ensure that the music in the project could also be enjoyed by adults in addition to children.[18] In 2024, Forrest portrayed the role of Gilly in Brassic.[18][9]
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Personal life
Forrest wore braces when she was cast on Hollyoaks.[3] In 2010, Forrest told OK! that she had a boyfriend who designed t-shirts.[1] When Forrest joined Hollyoaks, her parents were happy for her and her mother would often check in on her.[1]
Philanthropy
In May 2013, it was announced that Forrest and television present Will Best had launched an anti-tobacco short-film competition.[21] The competition was run by the Deborah Hutton Campaign and Smoke and Mirrors youth anti-tobacco project and asked young people in North West England to research and make a two-minute short film on tobacco marketing and smoking in their area.[21]
Public image
Jack Stott from Lancashire Telegraph called Forrest "one of East Lancashire's most coveted actors".[18] A writer from Burnley Express wrote that Forrest's time on Hollyoaks "has seen her develop not just as an actress, but as a woman".[3]
Acting credits
Filmography
Theatre
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References
External links
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