Jessica Bianca Sula (born 3 May 1994)[1] is a Welsh actress. On television, she is known for her roles in the third generation of the E4 series Skins (2011–2012), the ABC Family series Recovery Road (2015–2016), the VH1 series Scream: Resurrection (2019) and the Amazon Prime series Panic (2021). Her films include Split (2016) and Malum (2023).[2]

Jessica Sula
Sula in 2012
Born (1994-05-03) 3 May 1994 (age 32)
EducationGorseinon College
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Early life and education

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Sula was born in Swansea[3] to Trinidadian mother Shurla Blades, who has Afro-Trinidadian and Chinese ancestry, and to Steven Sula, a father of German and Estonian heritage.[4] She grew up in Gorseinon, Wales, where she completed her A-levels in Spanish, French and Drama at Gorseinon College.[2]

Career

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Sula made her television debut in 2011, portraying Grace Blood in the fifth and sixth series of the E4 teen drama Skins.[5] Afterwards, she gained a supporting role in comedy drama Love and Marriage which was broadcast on ITV in 2013.[6] In 2015, Sula was cast as the lead character, Maddie Graham, in the Freeform drama Recovery Road, alongside Skins co-star Sebastian de Souza.[7]

Her first big screen leading role was in Honeytrap, the story of a 15-year-old girl who sets up the murder of a boy who is in love with her.[8] In 2017 she filmed the independent feature Big Fork, in which she played the main character, Emily.[9]

Sula had a recurring role in the 2017 limited series Godless. That same year, it was announced that she would be a series regular for the third season of the series Scream, portraying high school cheerleader Olivia "Liv" Reynolds.[10][11] The season premiered on VH1 on 8 July 2019.[12]

Personal life

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Sula plays the guitar and practices karate.[13]

Filmography

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Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Honeytrap Layla
2016 Split Marcia
2017 The Lovers Erin
2017 The Lost Tina Harmon Short film
2019 All the Little Things We Kill Katy Walker
2020 Big Fork Emily
2023 Malum Jessica Loren
2026 Michael La Toya Jackson

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2011–12SkinsGrace BloodMain cast (series 5-6)
2013Love and MarriageScarlett QuilterSupporting cast
2015Eye CandyMorganEpisode: "YOLO"
2016Recovery RoadMadeline "Maddie" GrahamMain cast
2016LuciferAmy DoddEpisode: "Everything's Coming Up Lucifer"
2017GodlessLouise HobbsRecurring role
2019Scream: ResurreccionOlivia "Liv" ReynoldsMain cast (season 3)
2019Epic NightJessica2 episodes
2021PanicNatalie WilliamsMain cast

References

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  1. Richards, Dakota Blue (3 May 2015). "Happy Birthday". twitter.
  2. 1 2 March, Polly (29 January 2011). "Swansea actress beats 8,000 to Skins role". BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  3. Molloy, Kate (2012). Skins A-Z. John Blake Publishing Ltd. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-84358-392-9.
  4. Sula, Jessica [@JessSula] (19 February 2012). "@j0anne_ I am ultimately mixed raced my mama is from Trinidad however she is half hispanic & chinese & my dad is half German,Estonian" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 September 2024 via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. "New Skins star Jessica Sula talks about landing her first TV role". Wales Online. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  6. "Love and Marriage". itv.com. ITV. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  7. Andreeva, Nellie (10 February 2015). "ABC Family Series 'Recovery Road' Tweaks Cast; Jessica Sula To Play Lead". Deadline. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. "'Skins' star Jessica Sula to play lead in new film 'Honeytrap'". Digital Spy. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  9. "Big Fork". Big Fork. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  10. Petski, Denise (13 September 2017). "'Scream': Keke Palmer, RJ Cyler, Jessica Sula, More Round Out Season 3 Cast". Deadline. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  11. Lenker, Maureen (18 September 2017). "Keke Palmer to lead third season of Scream on MTV". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  12. Samhan, Jamie (24 June 2019). "'Scream' Reboot Gets Trailer With Cameo From Paris Jackson". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  13. "Jessica Sula plays Grace". Channel 4 Press Info. January 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
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