Jessica St. Clair has been cracking you up for years! The 40 year-old actress has been an absolute scene-stealer in hilarious movies like It’s Complicated, She’s Out Of My League, and Bridesmaids and TV shows like Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Key and Peele. She recently revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and managed to return to work on her show Playing House while still undergoing radiation therapy! We’ve got everything you need to know about Jessica here.
1.You totally recognize her from Bridesmaids.
You might remember Jessica as the uptight wedding gown consultant Whitney in Bridesmaids from the scene when Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph got food poisoning. She’s also guest starred in a ton of fan favorite shows. She was on Parks and Recreation where she played Denise Burkiss and The Office when she was Casey Dean. She’s stepped into the spotlight on Playing House. She stars in the show with her “best friend/comedy wife, Lennon Parham” on USA. The third season will kick off on June 23rd!
2. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Jessica revealed her heartbreaking cancer diagnosis in a powerful essay for Stand Up To Cancer on May 9. “On September 15, 2015, I was diagnosed with stage 2b estrogen positive breast cancer,” she wrote and honestly described her experience. She praised her husband Dan O’Brien and Lennon for helping her through chemotherapy after receiving a double mastectomy. “To say I was afraid of chemo is the understatement of the year,” she admitted, but explained that her “cancer hacks” helped keep side effects to a minimum. “I lost enough hair that when the new hair started to grow in, I resembled Dog the Bounty Hunter. But all these “chemo hacks” made it possible for me to fake it enough that my daughter [Isobel, 3] never knew I was sick, so she was never afraid. And for that, I am eternally grateful,” she wrote.”
3. Jessica is a New Jersey native.
She was born in Westfield, New Jersey and went to Middlebury College before she dove into the comedy world. Jessica was a part of the famous improvisation and sketch comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade. Tina Fey, Aubrey Plaza, and Rachel Dratch have been just a few other famous alumni!
Click Here To See More Photos Of Jessica On ‘Playing House’
4. Jessica has been married since 2006.
She married poet and playwright Dan in 2006. They had their daughter Isobel on Oct. 1, 2013. The changes Jessica’s body went through after breast-feeding helped her realize something was wrong and that led to her diagnosis. “I was feeding my daughter Cheerios the morning I found it. I used to joke that since breastfeeding my boobs looked like an old athletic sock with some loose change at the bottom, so when I felt a lump the size of a marble I knew something was terribly wrong,” she wrote in her essay.
5. Her character on Playing House will be diagnosed with cancer this season.
Jessica made the huge decision to include a version of her personal cancer story on the show. “In the new season, my character, Emma, gets diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes the exact treatment I did,” she wrote. “We were worried about bringing such serious subject matter to a comedy show, but we’ve always written what we’ve lived. And our real story is that with the help of her best friend, and the people who love her, my character is able to get through the treatment and actually emerge somehow happier and more fulfilled than she was before she was diagnosed.”
HollywoodLifers, do you think Jessica’s story is inspiring? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!