Jennie Jacques

Jennie Jacques (born 28 February 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC Two drama Desperate Romantics, the police procedural WPC 56 (2013–2014), and the History Channel series Vikings (2015–2019).

Early life Jacques was born in Walsgrave Hospital and grew up in Coventry and Leamington Spa, West Midlands, and Warwick, Warwickshire. She is the eldest of seven children.

Career Jacques made her television debut as Katie Fielding in an episode of the ITV police series The Bill. Her first major role was as artists' model Annie Miller in the six-part BBC Two period drama Desperate Romantics (2009) about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Jacques made her feature film debut as Beth in the urban thriller Cherry Tree Lane and Ree Ree in the futuristic thriller Shank. Jacques has also appeared in Casualty on BBC One, where she played Lily Knowles, the carer of Megan Roach, in the episode "Nice and Easy Does It" broadcast on 7 August 2010.

In 2011, Jacques was featured in the promotional video for the Mason single Boadicea. She also appeared in slasher film Demons Never Die (2011), in which she appeared nude during a sex scene with Robert Sheehan. Jacques appeared in an episode of Father Brown in 2013, and was then cast as the lead actress in the BBC afternoon series WPC 56, about a woman police constable in the male-dominated world of 1956. Both programmes were made by BBC Birmingham.

Jacques portrays Judith, the fictional daughter of King Aelle, in the third through the fifth seasons of Vikings (2014–2019). In 2015, she played the role of Tash in the ITV sitcom The Delivery Man (2015), which aired for six episodes. In 2019, Jacques starred in the first series of the drama series London Kills, playing a homeless witness named Amber Saunders.

Personal life Jacques is an ambassador for the Open Medicine Foundation. In a 2021 interview with The Sunday Times, she opened up about her experiences with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome, together known as ME/CFS, and the post-exertional malaise she developed after a severe bout of Epstein–Barr virus in early 2019. She stated that she needed to put her acting career "on hold" as her condition affected her mobility.

Inspired by her sister, she is an advocate for those living with epilepsy.

In 2020, Jacques stated on Twitter that she had a husband, and in a since-deleted Instagram post that she had been married for a year. The following year, she mentioned having a fiance during her Sunday Times interview.

Filmography + Film roles Year Film Role Notes 2010 Shank Ree Ree 2010 Nocturn Nina Short film 2010 Cherry Tree Lane Beth 2011 Demons Never Die Jasmine 2012 Truth or Dare Eleanor also known as Truth or Die in the United States

+ Television roles Year Show Role Notes 2009 The Bill Katie Fielding Episodes: "Teenage Kicks, Part One & Two" 2009 Desperate Romantics Annie Miller Main role 2010 Lark Rise to Candleford Emily Mullins Episode #3.10 2010 Stanley Park Raggedy Ann Pilot for BBC Three 2010 Casualty Lily Knowles Episode: "Nice and Easy Does It" 2012 Love Life Tilly Television miniseries 2013Father Brown Violet Parnassus Episode: "The Wrong Shape" 2013–2014 WPC 56 WPC Gina Dawson Main role (series 1–2) 2015–2019 Vikings Judith Recurring role (seasons 3–5) 2015 The Delivery Man Tash Main role 2019 London Kills Amber Main role (series 1)

Music video appearances + Year Title ArtistRef.2026"Boadicea" Róisín Murphy