Jessica Lee Rose (born April 26, 1987) is an American actress who first gained popularity after playing the role of lonelygirl15, a fictional teenage homeschooled character named Bree who appeared in YouTube video blogs, beginning in June 2006.[1] In September 2006, the Los Angeles Times outed the character, destroying any mystery surrounding the possible fictionality of lonelygirl15, which thrust Rose into the mainstream spotlight while also increasing the viewership of the series. In 2007, Rose won a Webby for this role.
Jessica Lee Rose | |
|---|---|
Rose at the 1st Streamy Awards in March 2009 | |
| Born | April 26, 1987 Salisbury, Maryland, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
After leaving lonelygirl15 in August 2007, Rose played "Jen K." on ABC Family's Greek. She went on to appear in various movies, such as Perfect Sport and SyFy's Ghost Town, and other web series, such as Hooking Up and Sorority Forever. She signed on to do the independent movie Look at Me with her Lonelygirl15 co-star Yousef Abu Taleb in March 2010.
Early life
editRose was born in Salisbury, Maryland, and moved to Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand when she was eight.[1] She attended Mount Maunganui College in 2000–2003 for part of her secondary school education. Afterward, she attended an acting class at Studio 111 in Auckland.[2] In January 2004, she moved to Auckland to study at the Academy of Film and Television Make Up.[3]
During the course of her studies, Rose's film career included doing make-up and costume work on a New Zealand short film titled Us,[4] as well as doing extras' make-up on the set of Peter Jackson's King Kong.[5] She played a leading role in a short film titled Dearly Beloved[6] and played a supporting role in the short film Unleash the Fury.[7]
After Rose's parents separated, she returned to Salisbury in May 2005[1], right after her 18th birthday, to live with her father. She then enrolled in the New York Film Academy (NYFA) at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.[6] In her search for acting jobs, she found a listing for an independent film project, titled The Children of Anchor Cove, on Craigslist.[1] She auditioned for the lead part and was offered the role of Bree. Rose signed a non-disclosure agreement and was told that the project would consist of a series of videos released to the World Wide Web over the Internet.[1] The idea concerned her at first, as she was afraid the project was pornography,[8] but she was convinced otherwise and agreed to partake. Although initially unpaid, as lonelygirl15 grew popular, she and co-star Yousef Abu-Taleb received salaries.[8]
YouTube fame
edit
The lonelygirl15 video blogs, which first appeared in mid-2006, featured Rose as a 16-year-old girl named Bree posting under the alias lonelygirl15. The videos, which seemed genuine and presented lonelygirl15 as an actual person, initially dealt with typical teenage angst issues but soon after introduced a bizarre narrative surrounding secret occult practices within her family. The series was an immediate hit and became the most subscribed channel on YouTube[9] but suspicions arose as to whether the videos were genuine or some sort of a promotional gimmick.[10]
An investigation by the Los Angeles Times would reveal, in September 2006, that the lonelygirl15 videos were a work of fiction.[11] A firestorm ensued in the news media through September 2006, during which Rose and the creators of lonelygirl15 gained international attention and were interviewed by various magazines and television shows.[2] In October 2006, the United Nations chose Rose, via her character Bree, to participate in an ad campaign to promote the UN's antipoverty cause.[12]
In August 2007, Rose landed a role on Greek as "Jen K.", Rusty Cartwright's girlfriend.[13] On the show, her character referenced the actress's breakout role stating "It's like I'm living with lonelygirl15!"[14] "Weeping Willow", a November 2006 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, was inspired by the lonelygirl15 videos.[15]
On June 16, 2016, on the tenth anniversary of the series debut, lonelygirl15 reappeared. The video has Bree reassuring an unnamed 15-year-old subject about being selected, as Bree had been.[16][17][18]
Post-YouTube career
editAfter her departure from lonelygirl15, Rose was signed by United Talent Agency,[1] and was cast in the ABC Family series Greek in the role of "Jen K", and in the 2007 Chris Sivertson film I Know Who Killed Me, which starred Lindsay Lohan.[19] She then played "Tina", an aspiring wrestler,[20] in the award-winning sports drama Perfect Sport.[21] In January 2009, Rose appeared in the music video for The White Tie Affair's song "Candle (Sick and Tired)",[22] and that October she appeared in the Syfy television movie, Ghost Town.[23]
On April 4, 2008, it was announced that she would star in a web television series called Blood Cell,[24] about "a young woman [who] must race against the clock to stop a sadistic madman after receiving a disturbing late-night phone call from a friend in danger."[25] The series was released in October 2009 through theWB.com to little media fanfare.[26] She also starred in another web series called Sorority Forever from Big Fantastic. The series followed three incoming freshman in "the hottest sorority on campus" with some Gossip Girl and Veronica Mars elements to it.[27] Additionally, she appeared in Hooking Up, a 10 episode web series from HBO featuring other recognized faces from the web including video bloggers sxePhil and KevJumba.[28]
In November 2008, Rose teamed up with friend and fellow Sorority Forever star Taryn Southern to form a web production company called Webutantes, to potentially produce female-driven comedy web series.[29] The two presented together at the 2009 Streamy Awards.[30] In 2009, Rose appeared in the web series Poor Paul, which is produced by former lonelygirl15 co-star Yousef Abu-Taleb,[31] and the second season of the web series The Crew.[32]
Aside from acting, Rose is an Anaheim Ducks fan and periodically blogs for NHL.com.[33] She reappeared as Bree on Lonelygirl15 in June 2016.[16][17][18]
Personal life
editIn March 2016, Rose became engaged to her partner and fellow actor Tim Phillipps.[34] They married at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in early 2017.[35] She gave birth to their first child, a son, in September 2019.[36]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | I Know Who Killed Me | Marcia | |
| 2008 | Perfect Sport | Tina | |
| 2009 | Ghost Town | Chloe | TV film |
| 2011 | ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining | Aroree | Short film |
| 2013 | Look at Me | Elizabeth | |
| Casting Couch | Alex |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–2008, 2011 | Greek | Jen K. | 11 episodes |
| 2008 | Casanovas | Jess | "The Strip Tease" (season 1: episode 13) |
| Blood Cell | Julia | 9 episodes | |
| Hooking Up | Meg Henley | 10 episodes | |
| 2009, 2011 | Poor Paul | Beatrice | 8 episodes |
| 2009 | The Crew | Map | "A Pirate's Life" (season 2: episode 3) "Mis-Guided" (season 2: episode 4) |
| 2010 | BlackBoxTV | Julia Anderson | "Cats Got Your Tongue?" (season 1: episode 7) |
| 2010–2011 | The Temp Life | Tammy Roeder | "The Other Roeder" (season 5: episode 3) "The Counselor's Counselor" (season 5: episode 4) "The Hungover" (season 5: episode 5) |
| 2012 | Chronicles of a Man Child | Dana | "For the Bible Told Me So" (season 1: episode 1) |
Web
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2007, 2016 | Lonelygirl15 | Bree Avery | 150 episodes |
| 2006 | Opaphid | Bree Avery (voice) | "Everyone Hates Cassie: What a Poor, Lonely Girl." (season 1: episode 8) |
| 2008 | Sorority Forever | Julie Gold | 40 episodes |
| 2010 | The Webventures of Justin & Alden | Vampira | Episode: "Back to the Present" |
Awards and recognitions
edit- Streamy Awards
- Nominated: Best Female Actor in a Dramatic Web Series (2009), Sorority Forever[37]
- VH1
- Webby Awards
- Won: Best Actress (2007), lonelygirl15
- Additional recognitions
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gentile, Gary (14 September 2006). "Sudden Fame Amazes 'Lonelygirl15' Star". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
- 1 2 Atkinson, Kent (13 September 2006). "Lonelygirl15 revealed as 19-year-old NZ actress". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
- ↑ "TVNZ LAUNCHES ?SORORITY FOREVER,? A NEW ORIGINAL DIGITAL SERIES AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE, FROM". TVNZ. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Borama, Jennifer (12 December 2019). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Jessica Lee Rose". TVOvermind. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- 1 2 Rowan, Juliet (24 February 2007). "Fame game takes some getting used to for Lonelygirl". Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- 1 2 Hutcheon, Stephen (13 September 2006). "Lonelygirl: a Rose by any other name". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
- ↑ Rose, Jessica Lee (Actor). Unleash The Fury (YouTube video) (Short film). New Zealand: Obstruction Productions. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- 1 2 Davis, Joshua (December 2006). "The Secret World of Lonelygirl". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Gannes, Liz (24 January 2007). "Carmen Electra in Lonelygirl15's Bedroom". NewTeeVee. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ Sternbergh, Adam (20 August 2006). "Hey There, Lonelygirl". New York Magazine. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman (13 September 2006). "Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ Vranica, Suzanne (9 October 2006). "U.N. Enlists Internet Star for Antipoverty Pitch". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
- ↑ Frankel, Daniel (4 October 2007). "LonelyGirl15". Variety. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
- ↑ Rose, Jessica Lee (Actor) (3 September 2007). Greek (Television production). ABC Family. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
It's like living with lonelygirl15!
- ↑ Starr, Michael (24 November 2006). "L&Onely Girl: Abducted web mystery gal". New York Post. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
- 1 2 "lonelygirl15". YouTube. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- 1 2 lonelygirl15 (16 June 2016), Whatever Happened To lonelygirl15?, archived from the original on 18 December 2021, retrieved 20 June 2016
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - 1 2 "Today in History". 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016.
Today in History ... Thursday, June 16, the 168th day of 2016 ... Ten years ago: ... "Lonelygirl15," a fictitious video blogger played by actress Jessica Lee Rose, made her online debut.
- ↑ "Lonelygirl15 Co-Stars With Lohan in I Know Who Killed Me". 16 February 2007. Archived from the original on 21 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "Jessica Rose, aka lonelygirl15, wants to wrestle boys". LA Times Blog. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "Award Winning Independent Film, Perfect Sport, is Released on DVD". PR.com. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "The White Tie Affair – Candle (Sick And Tired)". The Worm. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "Saturday's TV Highlights: 'Always and Forever' on Hallmark". Los Angeles Times. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ↑ "NZ's Lonelygirl15 takes another crack at web stardom". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
- ↑ Moore,Debi (12 March 2009). "Blood Cell Web Series Will Star LonelyGirl15". DreadCentral.com. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Hustvedt, Marc (29 October 2009). "'Blood Cell' Quietly Rings TheWB.com". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ↑ Perera, Iman (15 September 2008). "Sorority Forever: Lonelygirl15's New Web Series". Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Shea, Danny (8 September 2008). "HBO Launches Web Series "Hooking Up" Starring Lonelygirl15". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
- ↑ Hustvedt, Marc (18 November 2008). "Jessica Rose and Taryn Southern Team Up As 'Webutantes'". Tubefilter.tv. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "1st Annual Streamy Awards". Getty Images. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Hustvedt, Marc (1 September 2009). "Jessica Rose Joins 'Poor Paul' Cast". Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ↑ Hustvedt, Marc (7 October 2009). "'The Crew' Gets Babelgum On Board For Season 2". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ↑ Rose, Jessica. "Celeb Blogger Profile: Jessica Rose". NHL.com. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "Neighbours star Tim Phillipps engaged". TV Week. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Simich, Ricardo (8 April 2017). "The McCaws in Melbourne for celeb wedding". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ↑ West, Amy (30 September 2019). "Former Neighbours star Tim Phillipps welcomes first child with wife Jessica". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ↑ "The Official Streamy Awards Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
- ↑ "40 GREATEST INTERNET SUPERSTARS #1 – #40". VH1. Archived from the original on 6 April 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Ewalt, David M. (23 January 2007). "The Web Celeb 25". Forbes. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ↑ "30 Inspirational Women Under 30". Jane Magazine. May 2007.
- ↑ "Jessica Rose is Today's Girl on Maxim". MaximOnline.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
- ↑ Koenig, Jeff (November 20, 2009). "The Five Hottest Stars of Web Series". VideoSurf Blog. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
External links
edit- Jessica Lee Rose at IMDb
- Interview with MTV News (video)
- "Candle (Sick and Tired)" – music video by The White Tie Affair featuring Rose
- "My YouTube Story: Jessica Rose" on YouTube