Enter the Fat Dragon star, Jessica Jann has a lot on her plate juggling her acting career, influencer marketing agency Explosive, and skincare clinic Jessica Beauty in Tsim Sha Tsui.
By the age of 30, actress Jessica Jann already has an extensive list of movie credits under her belt. While most eight-year-olds were playing on the swings and slides, Jann was co-starring alongside Hollywood heavyweight Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4. Since then, the California-born, Hong Kong-based screen siren has appeared in other films such as Easy A, starring Emma Stone and a string of Nickelodeon and Disney favourites like iCarly and the Jonas Brothers movie.
With a mentor like Donnie Yen, it’s no wonder she never tires even while juggling her personal life and auditions, and running Explosive, a full-service influencer marketing agency, which boasts clients such as Netflix, Marvel and Bloomingdales, and spearheading operations for her beauty center, Jessica Beauty which specialises in aesthetic treatments from hydro peels to meso skin therapy and laser hair removal. She blogs too, using her platform eatwithjess.com to recommend the tastiest treats around the city.
With high hopes to one day work with Mindy Kaling and Ron Howard, she talks to Tatler about her most painful scene, funny fan encounters, the wildest thing she’s ever had to do to book an acting job.
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What does Hong Kong mean to you?
Hong Kong is an amazing city filled with energy, opportunities and amazing food. Hong Kong is definitely my home now. I remember moving here almost 10 years ago from Southern California (ah, time flies!) and being in complete awe of the high-rise buildings and the fast-paced life. My move was not supposed to be a long-term thing. I gave myself a year back then and now it has nearly been a decade.
What did you study?
In university I double majored in theatre (my passion) and business (to be more realistic). I’m so glad I did that because as much as I love acting, I also love trying new things and business is such a fun yet difficult challenge. From opening Jessica Beauty [a beauty centre and skincare clinic in Tsim Sha Tsui] at the end of 2018 in Hong Kong to also co-founding Explosive, an influencer agency, at the end of 2016, the whole experience has been such a huge learning curve for me.
What was your first job?
Warner Brothers’ Lethal Weapon 4. I filmed my first movie when I was 8 years old and it was also my very first audition. I was very lucky. My parents saw an open casting call in the newspaper and decided to take my sister, cousins and me to it. I still can’t believe my lucky stars. They chose me out of thousands of kids. It was amazing. I missed two or three weeks of school (of course, there was on set schooling), but it was still the best job. I still get paid residuals to this day for my part in the movie.
What made you decide to get into acting?
It was definitely because of Lethal Weapon 4. After the movie, I went back to school and it wasn’t until high school that I tried out for all the school plays and musicals. It was then that I decided I really wanted to get an agent. From there my mom and dad, who were so supportive, drove me from audition to audition, rejection to rejection, until I started booking projects. I filmed lots of commercials, had roles on Nickelodeon and Disney, and even shot a few movies. I was so lucky to work on iCarly, Leverage, the Jonas Brothers movie and many more.
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