Jessica Leccia

Jessica Leccia Biography

Jessica Leccia (, ; born January 8, 1976) is an American actress. She is known for her portrayals of Natalia Rivera on Guiding Light from 2007 to 2009 and of Inez Salinger on One Life to Live since 2010.

Career

Leccia is best known for her portrayal of Natalia Rivera Aitoro on the American daytime drama Guiding Light. Prior to joining Guiding Light, Leccia had a recurring role on the television show Rescue Me starring Denis Leary. Leccia also guest-starred on the American daytime drama As the World Turns.

Leccia joined the cast of Guiding Light on April 25, 2007 as Natalia Rivera, Gus Aitoro's (Ricky Paull Goldin) long lost high school sweetheart. Leccia's character Natalia was paired with Crystal Chappell's character Olivia Spencer as the popular same-sex supercouple known by the portmanteau Otalia during the last several months of Guiding Light, which ended its 72-year run on 18 September 2009.

Leccia is working with ex Guiding Light castmate Chappell again on Chappell's new webseries, Venice: The Series, in which she plays Ani, a photographer and ex girlfriend of Crystal Chappell's character, Gina. Along with Chappell and Leccia, other ex Guiding Light stars Jordan Clarke, Tina Sloan and Gina Tognoni joined the cast of Venice. Venice aired its first episode December 4, 2009.

Leccia has also made appearances in the prime time shows Law & Order: Trial by Jury and Love Monkey.

Since June 2010, Leccia has been portraying Inez Salinger on One Life to Live. And also stars as Ivy on The Grove: The Series with and created by Crystal Chappell

Personal life

Leccia was born in New York City, New York. She received a B.A. from Bloomsburg University. Graduated from East Stroudsburg High School - South (East Stroudsburg, PA), Class of 1994, as Jessica Rodriguez. She was 1 of 5 candidates for 1993 Homecoming Queen. Her extracurricular activities included the Welcoming Club 12, Float Committee 10-12, Drama Club 9, and Soccer Manager, 12. Raised by a young, Hispanic (Puerto Rican), single mother.

She has been married to Brian Malloy since May 3, 2008. The couple welcomed their daughter Ivy Lola Malloy, on June 10, 2009.

Leccia has said that she enjoys watching the television series Lost and that her favorite singer is Stevie Wonder.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Snipes	Receptionist
2005	Preaching to the Choir	Groupie
2006	Slippery Slope	Stacy
2006	The Wedding Album	Jasmine	TV Movie
2013	Tio Papi	Daniella

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Hope Newhall	Episode: "Pattern of Conduct"
2005	Rescue Me	Mary Magdelene	4 episodes
2006	Love Monkey	Detective Aida Perez	Episode: "Opportunity Knocks"
2006	As The World Turns	Innocencia	1 episode
2007	Queens Supreme	Erin Glover	Episode: "Case by Case"
2007-2009	Guiding Light	Natalia Rivera	247 episodes
2009-Present	Venice: The Series	Ani Martin
2010	Mercy	Camilla	Episode: "We All Saw This Coming" Episode: "Too Much Attitude and Not Enough Underwear"
2010-2011	One Life to Live	Inez Salinger	59 episodes
2012	NYC 22	Sarah	Episode: "Schooled"
2012	30 Rock	Maria	Episode: "There's No I in America"
2012	The Grove	Ivy
2013	The Carrie Diaries	Woman in Bar	Episode: "Read Before Use"

Awards

Nominated

2008 ALMA Award Outstanding Performance in a Daytime Drama Series (Guiding Light)