Jessica Blank

Last updated
Jessica Blank
Born
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • playwright
  • novelist
  • director
Spouse
​
(m. 2001)​

Jessica Blank [1] is an American actress, writer, and director who works in film, television, and theater. She is also a consultant and public speaker on story and social change.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Blank there and in Washington, D.C. She attended Macalester College and the University of Minnesota.[ citation needed ]

Career

Acting

As an actress, Blank appeared regularly in CBS' "Made in Jersey". She has also appeared on "Blue Bloods", "Elementary", "The Following", "The Mentalist", HBO's "High Maintenance", "Bored to Death", "Rescue Me", "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", "The Bronx Is Burning", and several other shows. In film, she has appeared in The Namesake , Slender Man , The Exonerated , and You're Nobody 'til Somebody Kills You , and over a dozen indies including "Creative Control" (Grand Jury Prize, SXSW 2015) and "On the Road With Judas" (Sundance). She has acted in theaters throughout New York City. In 2015 she played the role of Heather Drake in the 16th episode of the fifth season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods on the episode "In The Box"

Play writing and directing

Blank and Jensen co-wrote The Exonerated , [2] a play based on interviews they conducted with more than 40 exonerated death row inmates. In spring 2002, they co-directed The Exonerated at The Actors' Gang Theater. [3] That production was nominated for five Ovation Awards and three NAACP Awards, won the Ovation for Best World Premiere Play, and has toured universities nationally. The New York production of The Exonerated ran for more than 600 performances off-Broadway, toured nationally, and won the Outer Critics Circle, Lortel, and Drama Desk awards, as well as awards from Amnesty International, American Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and more. [4] It was adapted as a movie for Court TV starring Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Delroy Lindo, Aidan Quinn, and Susan Sarandon. [5] The play has been produced internationally in Dublin, [6] Edinburgh, [7] and London, in the United Kingdom; [8] and in Japan, Mexico, France, China, Thailand, Iran, and Italy. It has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and Japanese. Blank and Jensen's book Living Justice (2005), a memoir about the making of "The Exonerated", was published by Simon & Schuster. [9]

Blank and Jensen also co-wrote the documentary play Aftermath, based on interviews they conducted in 2008 with Iraqi civilian refugees in Jordan. Blank directed Aftermath off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop; it was nominated for Drama League Awards and toured internationally for two years. They have a new documentary play under commission at The Public Theater with original music by Grammy-winning songwriter Steve Earle.

Their play, "How To Be A Rock Critic" (based on the writings of Lester Bangs), received a commission from Center Theatre Group and was produced at the Kirk Douglas Theater, South Coast Repertory, ArtsEmerson, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and Off-Broadway at The Public Theater, with Jensen starring and Blank directing. [10] They are at work on a new documentary play, under commission from the Public Theater, in collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Earle entitled Coal Country at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City.

"Liberty City," a play co-written by Blank and April Yvette Thompson, was produced Off-Broadway by New York Theatre Workshop in 2008, with Blank directing. It has toured to Miami and elsewhere. It was nominated for Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, and won Chicago's Jeff award in 2015.

Blank and Jensen wrote "The Line" in 2020, which tells the story about New York City health-care workers fighting against COVID-19. The one-hour documentary-style production was directed by Blank, produced and presented by the Public, and streamed on YouTube until September 1, 2020. [11]

Other work

Blank's novel, Almost Home , was published in October 2007 by Hyperion. [12] In 2016, Almost Home was made into a feature film, adapted and directed by Blank and Jensen. [13]

Her second novel, Karma For Beginners, was published by Hyperion in 2009.

Her third novel, Legacy, was published by Penguin in 2018. Her writing has also been published in magazines and journals including The Believer , [14] The Dramatist, Another Magazine, and Theatre History Studies.

Blank is also a coach for professional writers, a professor at Juilliard School, and a consultant and frequent speaker on story, neuroscience and social change. [15] Blank writes for television with Erik Jensen. In 2015, she wrote a pilot for "The Negotiator" for Gaumont International Television.

Personal life

In 2001, she married the actor, writer and director Erik Jensen.[ citation needed ] They frequently collaborate professionally, primarily as writing partners for theater, film and television.

Filmography

Film

YearTitle RoleNotes
2003 Undermind Saleslady / Carrie
2006 The Namesake Edith
2007 On the Road with Judas Choreographer
2012 You're Nobody 'til Somebody Kills You Felicia Roman
2015 Creative Control Lucy
2015#HorrorMom
2016Cassanova Was a WomanDr. Weinstein
2016C StreetSenator Huxter
2017 Police State Beat Cop Davidson
2018 After Everything Monica
2018 Slender Man Hallie's Mother
2018 Wetware Virginia

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2004 One Life to Live Mary BarnesEpisode #1.9195
2004 Rescue Me GloriaEpisode: "Inches"
2004, 2007 Guiding Light Krista / Noelle2 episodes
2005 The Exonerated PaulaTelevision film
2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Sheila DwyerEpisode: "Proud Flesh"
2007 The Bronx Is Burning DarcyEpisode: "Past Combatants"
2009 Bored to Death Miriam ThompsonEpisode: "The Case of the Missing Screenplay"
2012 Made in Jersey Deb Garretti Keenan6 episodes
2013The Happy Mommy HustleKatieEpisode: "ADHD"
2013 The Mentalist Carol MathewsEpisode: "Black-Winged Redbird"
2014Good MedicineTina5 episodes
2015 Elementary Tabitha LairdEpisode: "The One That Got Away"
2015 Blue Bloods Heather DrakeEpisode: "In the Box"
2015 The Following Dr. Ann YorkEpisode: "Flesh & Blood"
2016 High Maintenance TaliEpisode: "Tick"
2017ShelterSarah MastersTelevision film
2020 For Life Kathy O'ReillyEpisode: "Witness"
2020 Ramy MaryEpisode: "Bay'ah"
2021 Prodigal Son Greta SwannEpisode: "Head Case"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Margulies</span> American playwright

Donald Margulies is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Dinner with Friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LisaGay Hamilton</span> American actress (born 1964)

LisaGay Hamilton is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama The Practice (1997–2003). She also portrayed Melissa Thoreau on the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011), Celia Jones on the Netflix series House of Cards (2016), Suzanne Simms on the Hulu series Chance (2016), and Kayla Price on the Hulu series The First (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonya Pinkins</span> American actress

Tonya Pinkins is an American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature film Red Pill was an official selection at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Feature at The Mykonos International Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Luléa Film Festival, and is nominated for awards in numerous festivals around the globe. Her web-series The Red Pilling of America can be heard on her podcast "You Can't Say That!" at BPN.fm/ycst

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel</span> American actress

Lucille Lortel was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina!, and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put Off-Broadway on the map."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rubinstein</span> American actor, composer, director (b. 1946)

John Rubinstein is an American actor, composer and director.

<i>The Beauty Queen of Leenane</i> 1996 Irish comedy by Martin McDonagh

The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a 1996 dramatic play by Martin McDonagh which was premiered by the Druid Theatre Company in Galway, Ireland. It also enjoyed successful runs at London's West End, Broadway and Off-Broadway.

<i>The Exonerated</i> American TV series or program

The Exonerated is a made-for-cable television film that dramatizes the stories of six people, some of whom, were wrongfully convicted of murder and other offenses, placed on death row, and later exonerated and freed after serving varying years in prison. It was based on a successful stage play of the same name written by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank and first aired on the former CourtTV cable television network on January 27, 2005. It is directed by Bob Balaban and was produced by Radical Media.

Laila Robins is an American stage, film and television actress. She has appeared in films including Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), An Innocent Man (1989), Live Nude Girls (1995), True Crime (1999), She's Lost Control (2014), Eye in the Sky (2015), and A Call to Spy (2019). Her television credits include regular roles on Gabriel's Fire, Homeland, and Murder in the First. In 2022, she portrayed Pamela Milton in the final season of The Walking Dead.

Jeff Calhoun is an American director, choreographer, producer and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enda Walsh</span> Irish playwright (born 1967)

Enda Walsh is an Irish playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anslem Richardson</span> American actor

Anslem Richardson is an American film, television and theater actor, filmmaker, and visual artist of Trinidadian descent. He is best known for his role as Mike in The Locksmith and Governor Khaled on NCIS: Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deirdre O'Connell (actress)</span> American actress

Deirdre O'Connell is an American character actress who has worked extensively on stage, screen, and television. She has won a Tony Award and been nominated for Drama Desk Awards, among other awards and nominations.

Mark Brokaw is an American theatre director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for How I Learned to Drive.

John Douglas Thompson is an English-American actor. He is a Tony Award nominee and the recipient of two Drama Desk Awards, three Obie Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Lucille Lortel Award.

Sergio Trujillo is a theater director, choreographer, dancer and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is now an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud and the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He is the first ever Hispanic recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

Erik Jensen is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director.

<i>Once</i> (musical) 2011 musical

Once is a musical based on the 2007 film of the same name by John Carney. Like the film, music and lyrics were by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, including the Academy Award-winning "Falling Slowly". The book for the musical was written by Enda Walsh. The musical premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2011, before transferring to Broadway in 2012. The production received eleven 2012 Tony Award nominations, and won eight including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Book. The musical also won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It has since spawned a London production, with a North American Tour which started on 1 October 2013. In the musical, the cast also serves as the orchestra. A minimalist set is used, including a bar in center stage with chairs lining stage left and right. Exiting cast members simply step to the side of the stage and sit down. They serve as the orchestra from these chairs. The bar is used before the show and at intermission as a working bar for theater patrons.

Stephen Karam is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays Sons of the Prophet, a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and The Humans were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, respectively. The Humans won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, and Karam wrote and directed a film adaptation of the play, released in 2021.

The Exonerated is a 2000 play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen that debuted Off-Broadway in October 2000 at 45 Bleecker Theater and ran for over 600 performances. It won numerous awards including the Lucille Lortel Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. It was adapted into a 2005 film by the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyna Majok</span> Polish-American playwright (born 1985)

Martyna Majok is a Polish-born American playwright who received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Cost of Living. She emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New Jersey. Majok studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School. Her plays are often politically engaged, feature dark humor, and experiment with structure and time.

References

  1. ↑ "Jessica Blank". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  2. ↑ Brantley, Ben (2002-10-11). "THEATER REVIEW; Someone Else Committed Their Crimes" . The New York Times . Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  3. ↑ exonerated Archived 2012-01-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Culture Project". Archived from the original on 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  5. ↑ "monterey media: The Exonerated - DVD - Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  6. ↑ The Exonerated at Liberty Hall Theatre - 2006 (archive) Dublin Theatre Festival, Dublin [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (2005-08-11). "The Exonerated". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  8. ↑ The British Theatre Guide: The Exonerated in London Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Simon & Schuster: Living Justice: Love, Freedom, and the Making of The Exonerated (Trade Paperback)
  10. ↑ Petrusich, Amanda (9 January 2018). "Lester Bangs and the Soul of Rock Criticism". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  11. ↑ Schwartz, Alexandra (27 July 2020). "American Tragedy and Comedy, Streaming on YouTube". The New Yorker. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Blank, Jessica (2007). Almost Home . Hyperion. pp.  256 pages. ISBN   978-1-4231-0642-5.
  13. ↑ Hannah Marks, "Most Home Movie", Deadline, 11 November 2016
  14. ↑ The Believer - Contributors: Jessica Blank
  15. ↑ "one on one". Jessica Blank. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.