Jessica McNamee is an Australian star who found fame in her home country in shows such as Home and Away and Packed to the Rafters before taking on the United States, appearing in films such as The Meg, Mortal Kombat, Battle of the Sexes, and more. She has, however, kept in touch with her roots, appearing in Australian films such Black Water: Abyss and series such as Uptight. Her acting in the 2019 indie film Locusts saw her nominated for awards at film festivals on both sides of the Pacific. She has a massive social media audience, including over 188,000 Instagram followers.
McNamee was born in Sydney in June 1986. She comes from a creative family — her older sister, Penny, is also a successful actress — and she first got a taste of acting fame in 2007 when she appeared as Lisa Duffy in more than 30 episodes of the landmark Aussie drama Home and Away, but she truly arrived when she appeared in more than 50 episodes of the multi-award-winning Packed to the Rafters, one of the quintessential Australian series of the late 2000s. She followed this success with parts in other Australian shows such as The Time of Our Lives, and she got an early American break in 2012 when she was cast alongside Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum in the hugely successful rom-com, The Vow.
McNamee’s further success in the States came with roles in series such as Sirens as well as further film roles. In 2021, she co-starred as Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat, which became HBO Max’s most successful film launch ever.