Australian actress Jessica Marais was born on January 28, 1985 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She lived in Canada and New Zealand with her family until they settled in Perth, Australia when she was nine years old. She was educated at John XXIII College before transferring to St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls. In 2007, she graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art. There, she appeared in productions of Hamlet and Sweet Charity.
Marais started out with a role in the film Two Fists, One Heart in 2009. She then followed it up with roles in shows like Legend of the Seeker and Packed to the Rafters. For her role there as Rachel, she won the Logie for "Most Popular NEw Female Talent." She was also given a Graham Kennedy Award. Later on, she continued her acting career with a role in the short film Fish Lips and in the movie Needle. In 2011, she was cast as Lily in the Starz period-drama Magic City, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Olga Kurylenko.