Jessica Tovey (born 10 November 1987) is an Australian actress. Tovey graduated from the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts 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'' (''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 to Kangaroo Point, N ...

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

Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...

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 Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear and apparel company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is the third largest footwear brand in the world. History Skechers was founded in 1992 by R ...

. 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 States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Tovey graduated from the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, where she appeared in a number of stage productions. She has played leading roles at

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is the flagship youth theatre company located in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1963 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1963 and ...

, drama festivals and in The Global Shakespeare Festival, where she won acclaim for her performance in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. In 2005, she joined the cast of children's program ''

Wicked Science ''Wicked Science'' is an Australian television series, which debuted on 24 February 2004. The series focuses on Toby (played by André de Vanny) and Elizabeth (played by Bridget Neval), two teenagers who are mysteriously turned into Wizard (fant ...

'', 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,

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 Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and 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 the five main free-to-air television ...

telemovie drama. Tovey also made a guest appearance on police drama '' Cops L.A.C.''. She appeared in the 2011

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television miniseries '' Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo'' as Leslie Carpenter. Tovey was cast as Dani Varvaris in the romantic-comedy drama '' Wonderland''. 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 Theatr ...

of ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...

'' for the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

in 2016, a touring production of ''

Constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellations were likely defin ...

'' by

Nick Payne Nick Payne (born 1984) is a British playwright and screenwriter. Known for his work on the West End and Broadway stage as well as for his film and television work, he has received nominations for a Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award. P ...

for the Queensland Theatre Company in 2017, and Portia in

Bell Shakespeare Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. Founded by actor John Bell and based in Sydney, it is Australia's only national theatre company. Apart f ...

's touring production of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' the same year.

Personal life

Tovey is the daughter of author Libby Gleeson 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 ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''. Tovey has been in a relationship with actor Damien Strouthos since 2017. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in September 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
"Girl wonder"
by Elissa Blake, ''

'', 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