Jessica Steen Biography

Jessica Steen (born December 19, 1965) is a Canadian film and television actress, noted for her roles in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Homefront, Earth 2, Armageddon, Left Behind: World at War, NCIS, and Flashpoint.

Personal life

Jessica Steen was born in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of Joanna Noyes, an actress, and Jan Steen, a director and actor. She is of Dutch and Scottish ancestry.

In addition to her entertainment career, Steen is an environmentalist and animal rights supporter. She supports David Suzuki, The World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Western Canadian Wilderness Committee, among others. She is also a certified diver, and is skilled at several circus arts - including stilt-walking, fire-twirling, and fire-eating.

Career

At the age of eight, Steen was cast in her first role in the Canadian children's television series, The Sunrunners, co-starring with her mother. In the 1986 TV movie Young Again she portrayed Tracy Gordon, the daughter of a character portrayed by Lindsay Wagner, who was a childhood idol of Steen's. In 1987, she was the only female regular on the syndicated series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, which lasted one year. For her performance in the Captain Power episode, "Judgment", she was nominated for the Gemini Award in the "Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role" category in 1988.

In 1989, Steen broke onto the big screen with the movie musical Sing.

While in Toronto, she garnered roles on Canadian series and American made-for-TV movies until 1991, when she elected to move to New York City. Six weeks after arriving there, she was chosen to replace an actress who was on maternity leave on the soap opera Loving. Her portrayal of Patricia Alden Sowolsky Hartman McKenzie caught the attention of ABC's casting department and led to her being cast in the series Homefront. Set in a small Cleveland suburb immediately after World War II, Homefront was critically acclaimed for its writing, ensemble cast, and historical insights. The series lasted two seasons.

In 1994, she was cast as Dr. Julia Heller, a genetically enhanced doctor, in the NBC science fiction series Earth 2. While the show was canceled in 1995, the attention brought by the show allowed Steen to land guest appearances on other series, including The Outer Limits, ER, Murder One, The Pretender, The Practice, Due South, and Touched by an Angel.

Also in 1994, Steen won the "Best Actress" Gemini Award, Canada's version of Emmy Awards, for her portrayal of Nora in the TV movie, Small Gifts, her self-proclaimed favorite role so far.

In 1997, she was cast as District Attorney Elizabeth Gardner in the movie Trial & Error, working with Jeff Daniels and Michael Richards, to whom she gave his first screen kiss. She prepared for the role with the help of a friend who was going through law school and by watching the closing arguments of Marcia Clark during the O. J. Simpson trial. Her performance earned a rave review from Roger Ebert on his syndicated show, Siskel & Ebert. This was the second time Steen impressed Ebert; he first singled her out for praise in 1989's Sing.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recommended her for the role of the shuttle pilot in 1998's Armageddon because he remembered her portrayal of Cpl. Jennifer 'Pilot' Chase in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.

In 2004 Steen played Dr. Elizabeth Weir in "Lost City", the two-part finale of season 7 of Stargate SG-1. In Stargate Atlantis the part was instead played by Torri Higginson.

Steen played lead roles in Slapshot 2 - Breaking the Ice and the Disney TV movies Smart House and Principal Takes a Holiday.

She played Myra Teal in a 2002 episode of Monk, titled "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger". Steen played a recurring character on the CBS crime drama NCIS, that of Special Agent Paula Cassidy, from 2004-07. In the fall of 2007 she landed featured multi-episode roles on two Canadian series, jPod and Heartland, both based on popular books of the same names.

In 2009, Steen appeared in six episodes of the Canadian TV police drama Flashpoint (which is also broadcast on CBS in the U.S) as Strategic Response Unit Specialist Donna Sabine, filling in for Julianna 'Jules' Callaghan (played by Amy Jo Johnson), who was shot. She is also currently playing the same character during a 2011 episode where she gets married and her husband is shot the same day. She reprised the role in the final episode of the third season. In the fall of 2010 she was nominated for a Gemini Award for the season two episodes.

As of July 2010, she is filming her fourth season of Heartland in which she has a featured role as Lisa Stillman, the wealthy girlfriend of series patriarch Jack Bartlett.

She also played Sheriff's Deputy Kathleen Hudak in the Supernatural season 1 episode "The Benders".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Threshold	Tracy Vrain
1983	Gentle Sinners	Donna
1986	'	Melinda Coverdale
1986	Flying	Carly Simmons
1987	John and the Missus	Faith
1989	Sing	Hannah Gottschalk
1990	Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder	Nellie Ambrose
1996	Dog Watch	Janet	Video
1997	Trial and Error	Elizabeth
1998	Armageddon	Co-Pilot Jennifer Watts
1999	Question of Privilege	Andrea Roberts
2000	'	Clara	Short film
2001	Apocalypse IV: Judgment	Victoria Thorne
2002	Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice	Jessie Dage	Video
2003	Flip Phone	Sue	Short film
2005	Chaos	Karen Cross
2005	Left Behind: World at War	Carolyn Miller
2008	Transit Lounge	Roberta	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Hangin' In	Darcy	Episode: "I've Got a Secret"
1983	SCTV Channel	College Student	Episode: "It's a Wonderful Film"
1984	When We First Met	Gail Pennoyer	TV movie
1984	'	Elaine	Episode: "Enemy of Weston"
1985	Workin' for Peanuts	Mellisa Stotts	TV movie
1985	Home Free	Daughter	TV movie
1985	'	Leslie 'Torque' Davidson	Episode: "Torgue"
1985	Striker's Mountain	Lowni Striker	TV movie
1985	Night Heat	Michelle Parker	Episode: "The Source"
1986	Night Heat	Angela Rivera	Episode: "Fighting Back"
1986	Kay O'Brien	Lindsay	Episode: "Little White Lies"
1986	'	Kay	TV movie
1986	'	Elaine	Episode: "What Goes Up"
1986	'	Amanda Sims	Episode: "Blinded by Love"
1986	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	Tracy Gordon	Episode: "Young Again"
1986	Easy Prey	Wendy Robinson	TV movie
1987	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Kate	Episode: "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book"
1987	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Sally Carlyle	Episode: "Man on the Edge"
1987	Wiseguy	Tracy Steelgrave	Episode: "Pilot"
1987-1988	Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future	Corporal Jennifer 'Pilot' Chase	22 episodes
1989	C.B.C.'s Magic Hour	Jennifer McPhail	Episode: "High Country"
1989	'	The Rocket Boy's Girlfriend	TV movie
1990	Christmas in America	Eileen Morgan	TV movie
1990	Knights of the Kitchen Table	Marla McDermott	TV movie
1990	Street Legal	Karen MacNeil	Episode: "Softsell"
1991	'	Kate Hightower	TV movie
1991	Tropical Heat	Patricia Poston Phd.	Episode: "Dead Men Tell"
1991	Loving	Patricia 'Trisha' Alden Sowolsky Hartman McKenzie	TV series
1991-1993	Homefront	Linda Metcalf	42 episodes
1993	Herman's Head	Heather	Episode: "When Hairy Met Hermy"
1994	Small Gifts	Nora	TV movie
1994	To Save the Children	Kathi Davidson	TV movie
1994-1995	Earth 2	Dr. Julia Heller	21 episodes
1996	ER	Karen Hardy	Episode: "True Lies"
1996	'	Gina Beaumont	Episode: "The Refuge"
1997	Murder One	Paige Weikopf	4 episodes
1997	Touched by an Angel	Sarah Bingham	Episode: "Full Moon"
1998	Principal Takes a Holiday	Celia Shine	TV movie
1999	'	Rachel	Episode: "The Assassin"
1999	Due South	Constable Maggie MacKenzie	Episode: "Hunting Season"
1999	Smart House	Sara Barnes	TV movie
1999	'	Brianna Hatfield	Episode: "Marooned"
1999	'	Stephanie Sawyer	Episode: "Essence of Life"
2000	On Hostile Ground	Allison Beauchamp	TV movie
2000	'	Kathrine	Episode: "The Grid"
2001	'	Dr. Sarah Ford	Episode: "Inter Arma Silent Leges"
2002	Society's Child	Terry Best	TV movie
2002	Untitled Secret Service Project	Maureen Gage	TV movie
2002	Monk	Myra Teal	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger"
2002	'	Det. Anne-Marie Marrone	TV movie
2003	'	Susan Holme	TV movie
2003	L.A. Dragnet	Amy Wenzel	Episode: "The Cutting of the Swath"
2003	Mutant X	Dr. Sara Stanton	Episode: "The Taking of Crows"
2003-2005	NCIS	NCIS Special Agent Paula Cassidy	5 episodes
2004	Stargate SG-1	Dr. Elizabeth Weir	Episode: "Lost City: Part 1" Episode: "Lost City: Part 2"
2004	Nip/Tuck	Amy Connors	Episode: "Kimber Henry"
2005	Charmed	Ruth Brody	Episode: "Ordinary Witches"
2005	Kojak	Kate	Episode: "Pilot"
2005	Eyes	Holly Gibson	Episode: "Shots"
2005	Killer Instinct	Dr. Francine Klepp	7 episodes
2006	Supernatural	Officer Kathleen	Episode: "The Benders"
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Donna Basset	Episode: "Toe Tags"
2006	Rapid Fire	Linda	TV movie
2007	NCIS	NCIS Special Agent Paula Cassidy	Episode "Grace Period"
2007-2012	Heartland	Lisa Stillman	30 episodes
2008	Canooks	Katherine 'Kat' Baines	Episode: "Pilot" Episode: "The City LA"
2008	jPod	Freedom	3 episodes
2008	Vipers	Dr. Collins	TV movie
2009	My Nanny's Secret	Julia	TV movie
2009-2011	Flashpoint	Donna Sabine	10 episodes
2012	Republic of Doyle	Sonja Sterling	3 episodes
2012	Bullet in the Face	Eva Braden	6 episodes