Jessica Jann

“People like to try and define you for their own purposes, so I let that happen but I try really hard to be positive” JESSICA JANN

WE’RE SITTING IN the make-up truck when Jessica Jann bursts in, apologising profusely for being late (she wasn’t). Jann then proceeds to introduce herself to every person in attendance, asking for their names and responsibilities in return. Clearly, the actress, food blogger and beauty business owner has not allowed her many successes to get in the way of good old-fashioned manners.

Some take on a certain persona at work, another when with family and still another with friends. Switching between these different “selves” can make it difficult to unearth your true nature, but Jann’s bubbly personality is shared with everybody. Her friendly, easy-going disposition is evident as she sits down for make-up and her interview.

“I open up quite easily,” she says. “My inner critic tells me I’m not good enough – which I really, really don’t like – so I always try to do more.”

Growing up in Orange County, Jann was a stone’s throw from Hollywood and before long she was looking to pursue a career in acting. But the journey was tougher than expected. “When I fi rst started out acting professionally, I went to so many auditions,” she says. “You need to be thick-skinned because there’s so much rejection. I remember this one casting on the Warner Brothers lot. It was my fi rst time there as an adult and I was so nervous that I just cried in the audition.”

All the disappointment and hard work paid off in the end, however, as Jann now has multiple fi lms under her belt, including

Enter the Fat Dragon released last year. But despite fame in the entertainment industry and having her own skincare brand,

Jessica Beauty, Jann remains humble.

“I’m proud of the person I’ve become and I’m really proud of my relationships,” she says. “I’m really close with my family and have a lot of close friends. I’m really, really proud of that. I love having good relationships. They’re my greatest achievement.”

Championing exploration, Jann encourages people to express their needs and desires however they see fit. “I think there will always be labels,” she says. “People like to try and defi ne you for their own purposes, so I let that happen but I try really hard to be positive.

I just like to be positive, but also I love seeing followers be really positive. And when they say things like, ‘ Your positivity really affects me’, that makes me so happy.”

So what does the future have in store for Jann? Maybe something a little out of character. “I think I’m very Type A. I like to be in control, I hate being late, which is why I was freaking out earlier,” she says.

“But because we haven’t been able to travel or do much recently,

I just want to break free. For me, going skydiving would be the ultimate uncharacteristic thing to do.”