Jessica Steen practically fell into a life in the theater, starting from the time she was a child in Toronto, Canada. "My extended family was always eager to ham it up, costumed to the hilt for our annual Christmas skit. Our house was always bustling with a bunch of wild and wacky people whom my dad (then a director) and mom would bring home from the theater. When you grow up surrounded by such animated and exciting people where it seems that the circus is always in town, its hard not to resist becoming part of the act."

Jessica, who was born in Toronto, was 8 years old when she found her first performing role, in the childrens Canadian TV series "The Sunrunners." Later, when she was 18, her parents moved to Montreal and she remained in Toronto - or "Hollywood North," as it is sometimes called - and continued working. In the mid-1980s she appeared as the daughter of the character played by Lindsay Wagner in the TV movie "Young Again" (with fellow Canadian Keanu Reeves, a former schoolmate).

Jessica found abundant roles in Toronto, especially with guest spots on Canadian-produced series such as "The Littlest Hobo," "Night Heat," "Sweating Bullets," and "Street Legal" among many others. In 1989, she co-starred in the musical "Sing" and decided it was time to move to New York. "I wanted to see if the grass was really greener on the other side of the border." Ironically, she spent more time flying back and forth between California and Canada than she did in New York. During one five-week stint she subbed for pregnant actress Noelle Beck on the daytime drama "Loving," long enough to "give birth" to the character's baby until the actress could return. More important, the limited gig raised her profile enough to result in a co-starring role as Linda, the union organizer, on the critically acclaimed drama series "Homefront," in 1992-93.

Jessica's Canadian motion picture credits include "Flying," "Still Life" and "John and the Missus." She was a regular cast member on the syndicated series "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future." Among her TV movies are "High Country" and "Small Gifts," (for which she received a Gemini Award for "Best Actress") both for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and "Workin' for Peanuts" and "The Truth about Alex" for HBO. She has guest-starred on such TV series as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and was in the pilot of the hit TV series "Wiseguy."

During 1994-95, Jessica portrayed a genetically enhanced doctor in the NBC TV science-fiction series "Earth 2." Since that time, Jessica has landed guest appearances on such TV series such as "The Outer Limits," "ER," "Murder One," and "Touched by an Angel."

In 1997, Jessica landed one of her biggest roles yet in the movie "Trial & Error" that starred Jeff Daniels and Michael Richards. How did Jessica prepare to play tough-as-nails District Attorney Elizabeth Gardner, who prosecutes one of the slimiest characters in the eleven western states? "A friend of mine was going through law school, and we went down to the courts together. She took me through the whole scene down there, and then she gave me a tape of Marcia Clark's closing arguments in the O.J. Simpson case," says Jessica.

In 1999 Jessica had 2 movies come out, including the TV movie "Smart House" for The Disney Channel and the award winning independant film " Question of Privilege." Also in 1999 Jessica appeared in TV series episodes of "The Pretender," "The Outer Limits" and "The Practice."

Jessica recently completed work on a TV movie for TBS titled "On Hostile Ground" which aired in June 2000 as well as another episode of "The Outer Limits" which aired in July 2000 on Showtime.

Jessica prefers to space out her acting assignments to allow time to maintain ties with her large family back home. In addition, she enjoys "getting as far away from the city as possible," which means kayaking, mountain-biking, rock-climbing, and traveling. As an artistic endeavour, she keeps a photo and video journal of friends and family. She is an avid admirer of David Suzuki, a Canadian environmentalist, and has volunteered to work within his organization.