Jess Bush | |
|---|---|
 Bush in November 2022 | |
| Born | 26 March 1992 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Awards | Muswellbrook Art Prize (2017) |
Jess Bush (born 26 March 1992) is an Australian actor, model, reality television personality, and visual artist. Her television work includes competing on the seventh season of the reality TV series Australia's Next Top Model , and playing Nurse Christine Chapel on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .
Jess Bush was born on 26 March 1992, [1] and is from Keperra, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. [2] In speaking with The Daily Beast in mid-2023 about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' LGBTQ+ representation—and her portrayal of a bisexual character—Bush unhesitatingly told the interviewer, "I'm queer". [3]
Originally a visual artist from childhood through her mid-20s, [4] Bush began selling her pieces professionally at age 19. She is also a jewellery designer, and some of her pieces appear on Strange New Worlds. [5] In April 2017, Bush's studio was in Sydney's "infamous Hibernian House", she had recently returned from painting two commissioned murals in New York City, and she had received 2017's Muswellbrook Art Prize — New South Wales' second biggest art prize. [6]
In 2019, Bush began developing and exhibiting her ongoing Bee Totem series. She collects dead honey bees from beekeepers, and preserves them in spheres of crystal resin and attaching fine jewellery chains. Her exhibitions collaborate with projection artists and sound designers to hang the many preserved bees at different heights to create shapes and experiences in three-dimensional space. [5]
For herself, Bee Totem is about recognizing and emphasizing the importance of the bees that, not only make the human world livable, but then "live by the thousands and die quietly by the thousands." The individual preserved bee in the sphere is amplified and magnified, showing its intelligence and beauty; it causes the observer to "pause and think about the moment that it died, because its frozen in that moment after its death, so its kind of like a memorial." The installation then amplifies "that impact of thousands dead at the same time". [5] [7]
Having received several rounds of funding from the Australian Government by 2022, [7] Bush described it as "the most significant work that [she's] ever made" with a goal of doing so "probably forever". She would like to build a cathedral for thousands of preserved bees, to allow people to quietly sit and reflect in the immensity of sacrifice. [5] While acting, Bush takes a hiatus from her visual art work, though she has taken her materials when shooting. [8]
Bush's first television appearance was [8] competing on the seventh season of the reality TV series Australia's Next Top Model ; [9] she told the programme that she entered modeling for the challenge, competitiveness, travel, and variety. [10] In Australia, she has also performed on Home and Away and Playing for Keeps. [7]
In the early 2020s, she was "very close to stopping acting" before booking a role on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . [4] The 2022 Star Trek spin-off was her first television role outside Australia. [7] Bush co-stars as Christine Chapel (the second actor in the role after Majel Barrett in the original Star Trek). Heavy described Bush's interpretation of the character as "very different [...] fun, irreverent, and a bit of a live wire." [11] Bush eschews her native Australian accent for the performance, a dichotomy that helps her get into character physically and mentally. [5]
| Award | Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn Award | 2022 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series | Nominated | [12] [13] |
| 2024 | Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series | Nominated | [14] [15] |
Bush's work on Star Trek ignited a passion for the real-world space industry; by 2023, she was collaborating with NASA and Redwire at the Kennedy Space Center. [4]
Jonathan Scott Frakes is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of William Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films and series. He has also hosted the anthology series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, voiced David Xanatos in the Disney television series Gargoyles, and narrated the History Channel documentary, Lee and Grant. He is the credited author of the novel The Abductors: Conspiracy, which was ghostwritten by Dean Wesley Smith.
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Nichelle Nichols was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in Star Trek and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on American television. From 1977 to 2015, she volunteered her time to promote NASA's programs and recruit diverse astronauts, including some of the first female and ethnic minority astronauts.
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Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. A younger version of Chapel appears in the 2022 series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Jess Bush.
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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. It is the main setting of the original Star Trek television series (1966–69), and it is depicted in films, other television series, spin-off fiction, products, and fan-created media. Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, the Enterprise carries its crew on a mission "to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present) depicts the Enterprise under the command of Kirk's predecessor, Captain Christopher Pike.
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Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Cullen Bohannon in the AMC western drama series Hell on Wheels, as Jim Steele on the NBC series Conviction (2006), as the Marvel Comics superhero Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, and as Captain Christopher "Chris" Pike in the Star Trek television series Discovery, Short Treks (2019), and Strange New Worlds (2022–present). He also starred opposite Britney Spears in the coming-of-age film Crossroads (2002). He is a member of the board of directors of METI International.
Paul Thomas Wasilewski, known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for starring as Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) and James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present).
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an American science fiction television series created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet for the streaming service Paramount+. It is the 11th Star Trek series and debuted in 2022 as part of Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. A spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery, it follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.
The first season of the American television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series. The season was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, H M R X Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serving as showrunners.
The second season of the American television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series. The season was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, H M R X Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serving as showrunners.
The third season of the American television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series. The season is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, H M R X Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serving as showrunners.
The out stars of 'Strange New Worlds' discuss what the show's unapologetic depiction of queerness and gender means to them and the 'Star Trek' franchise's history of allyship.
Things are looking good for the future of the Aussie art scene.
The Australian actor on putting a new spin on a legacy character and smacking Spock.
Jess Bush read as much as she could about Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and Nurse Chapel.
Kathryn Leigh Scott, Julie Plec, and more were also given special awards.
The Star Trek franchise swept the board at the 51st Annual Saturn Awards, with some big wins for Picard, Strange New Worlds, and The Next Generation.
The Star Trek actor gets physical pairing art and music.
Media related to Jess Bush at Wikimedia Commons| Authority control databases: Artists |
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