Who is Jessalyn Wanlim?
An actress with nearly 40 acting credits to her name, who rose to prominence portraying Evie Cho in the Primetime Emmy-awarded series “Orphan Black”, Jessalyn Corsino Wanlim, was born under the zodiac sign of Virgo, on 3 September 1982, in Calgary, Alberta Canada; she holds Canadian citizenship and her ethnicity is mixed as she comes from a family of Filipino, Indonesian, and Chinese descent. Besides the mentioned role, Jessalyn is perhaps known best for her starring in movies such as “The Good Guy”, “Five” and “Frenemies”, among others.
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Early life and education
Jessalyn was raised in Calgary, by her Filipino mother and Chinese-Indonesian father, whose names and professions she hasn’t revealed, also she hasn’t spoken about having any siblings, thus most of her fans believe that she was raised as an only child.
Jessalyn had an interest in ballet from an early age, thus at the age of 12, she enrolled at the National Ballet School of Canada, in Toronto, and after graduating, she moved to New York City, USA to enroll at the prestigious Juilliard School, where she studied dance.
In one of her interviews, Jessalyn talked about how she got into acting, sharing with her fans that she felt that her body couldn’t take dancing anymore, and that while she was at Juilliard she was exposed to all sorts of performing and entertainment, thus she fell into acting.
The only way that her parents would let her stay in New York City was if she continued studying, thus she enrolled at The City College of New York, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Advertising in 2004. She started auditioning while there, and soon got her first role.
Roles in movies
Jessalyn made her acting debut starring in “Let’s Be Friends” in 2005, and then two years later, she was seen as Singer in “The Assassin”, followed by her role as a Woman in “My Sassy Girl” in 2008.
In the same year, Jessalyn was cast to play Amy in “The New Twenty”, and after that, she portrayed Sales Clerk in the TV movie “Loving Leah”, followed by her portrayal of Jordan in “The Good Guy” in 2009.
Three years later, she was seen as Cherie in “Frenemies”, alongside Zendaya, Bella Thorne and Mary Mouser, and then she was cast to play Paramita Megawati in the action crime mystery “Alex Cross”, also starring Tyler Perry, Rachel Nichols, and Matthew Fox.
In the following years, Jessalyn was seen in the TV movie “In My Dreams” in 2014, and then in 2020, she was cast to play Joanie in “Pink Skies Ahead”, which was her most recent movie role.
Roles in series
Making her first television appearance as Rachael in the romantic mystery drama “All My Children” in 2006, in the following years, Jessalyn continued to be cast in other quite popular series, such as “The Border”, “Do Not Disturb”, and “Gossip Girl” in 2009.
In the same year, she had guest roles in “Psych”, “CSI: NY”, and “Bones” before she was cast to play Patty Hong in “Scoundrels” in 2010, followed by her roles in “The Chicago Code”, “Melissa & Joey”, and “The Closer”, in 2011.
Two years later, Jessalyn was seen as Daisy in “NCIS: Los Angeles”, and as Fiona in “Modern Family”, before her roles in “Instant Mom”, “Matador” and “Kirby Buckets” in 2014.
In the following year, she was cast to play Giselle Vickers in the action comedy drama “Lab Rats”, followed by her most notable television role so far as Evie Cho in “Orphan Black”, the science-fiction thriller which had 96 award nominations and won 69, including a Primetime Emmy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtE-ZPS1oXY
Jessalyn next guest-starred in “Colony”, “9-1-1” and “The Affair”, and in 2017 she got her chance to portray Jenny Matthews in “Workin’ Moms”, a comedy drama also starring Catherine Reitman, Dani Kind and Philip Sternberg. The series is currently airing, and Jessalyn once said about it: ‘Workin’ Moms is great just because diversity aside, I think it really hones in on the reality of how tough it is to be a mom and also pursue a career at the same time. It’s exhausting. I mean, I’m doing it right now. I have an almost fourteen-month-old and I’ve never been busier in my life.’
Love life and relationships
Jessalyn hasn’t been the subject of any rumors and controversies concerning her love life; she prefers to keep her private life away from the media’s attention, and has managed to keep her love life a secret.
However, in 2010, it was revealed that she was in a relationship with actor Brett Howell, and 10 years later the two are still together. They became parents of a lovely boy named Cameron Howell, who has his own Instagram account under the name ‘smile4-the-cam’ run by his parents.
The two aren’t married, however, they live and raise their son together in their residence in Los Angeles, California, and according to her Instagram posts, are enjoying their love.
She posted several photos on Brett’s birthday, with the description saying: ‘Happy birthday to my handsome hubs! I’m so proud to call you the father to our child, the hard work you put in for our family, and loving this Virgo like she’s not super annoying most of the time. I love you with all my ❤ ’
Speaking about Brett, he’s perhaps known best for his roles in “iMurders”, “Car Dogs” and “Machine Head”, he prefers to keep his private matters a secret, thus there is no information regarding his life before he started acting.
Other interests
Besides her acting career, and raising her son, Jessalyn and Brett are co-owners of the company ‘Be in the Smokies’, which rents out vacation cabins in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
She is active on her Instagram account, which has been followed by over 25,000 people, and posts daily updates about her work and her life. There are dozens of photos featuring her son and her partner.
Jessalyn has established her Twitter account in February 2011, and it’s today followed by over 4,000 people, however, she is more active on her Instagram since 2019; she also has a Facebook profile, which has over 2,500 followers.
Age, measurements, and net worth
This 39year-old actress and former dancer has dark brown hair and brown eyes; she weighs around 120lbs (55kgs) and is 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with vital statistics of 34-26-33.
As of April 2022, her net worth has been estimated at $500,000, mostly earned through her acting career and her business ventures.
