The South African actress thought differently, believing she didn’t stand a chance after her audition. “My initial reaction was that I was completely different to the character, but on closer inspection of Lucy and looking at the finer detail I actually had more in common with her than I thought. I definitely had to work hard at certain aspects of the role, and some parts were easier than others.”

John Malkovitch (Burn After Reading) plays her father, DavidLaurie, in the film. Among otherthings, Jessica says he taughther how to step into the life of acharacter and how to make theperfect parmesan soufflé. Shesays, “He gave me a copy ofWilliam Faulkner’s Nobel Prizeacceptance speech and said itbrought him to tears every timehe read it. He often played musicand related the song to the easein which a character shouldcome to you. He played variousforms of music like Jim Morrison,classical and 50 Cent.”

In Steven Silver’s 2010 release, The Bang Bang Club, Jessica plays the love interest of Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch). “My character, Allie, was more like a foil to soften the severe and self destructive character of Kevin,” she says of the part. The film, which details the true-life experiences of four combat photographers capturing the final days of Apartheid, also stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman and South African actors Neels van Jaarsveld and Frank Rautenbach.

The last few months have seen Jessica travelling the world to promote Disgrace. She has also been hard at work on a theatre piece for the Carthage Theatre Festival in Tunisia where she is based.

Next up, Jessica can be seen in AMCtv’s The Prisoner where she plays 554 opposite Sir Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings).

Watch The Prisoner trailer here. Watch the Disgrace trailer here.


Sally Fink