Born February 7, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York City, Deborah Ann Woll is an American actress best known for her role as Jessica Hamby on HBO’s True Blood. She made her acting debut in 2007, appearing as a guest on one episode of the television series Life. She also had guest roles in ER, CSI, My Name is Earl and The Mentalist. Her biggest role to date is in the HBO series True Blood, where she appears as Jessica Hamby, a young vampire that Bill (Stephen Moyer) “made” as a punishment for a misdeed. On the big screen, she has been cast in Highland Park, Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You and Seven Days in Utopia.
Deborah Ann Woll, who is of Irish and German descent, grew up in Brooklyn, New York and went to high school in the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn. Her father is an architect and mother is a teacher. She was shy and often bullied as a child. Woll began dying her hair red in her early teens. Graduated in 2007 from the University Of Southern California School Of Theatre with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting and has since moved to Los Angeles. She also attended Carnegie Mellon University’s pre-college intensive program in theater.
Deborah Ann Woll’s earliest artistic leanings went toward dance and music, but not acting. Growing up, she simultaneously learned how to play the piano and how to dance to the rhythm of swing and Latin music. While she developed her skills in both areas through the majority of her childhood, Deborah Ann Woll did not feel that she was good enough at either one to keep going, but she did come to relish the energy of performing and the fear that came along with it.
Hungry for more fear and a new art form, Deborah Ann Woll turned her focus in high school to acting and began performing in school plays. Upon graduation, she hooked up with a New York theater company that specialized in classical productions. Through the process of acting as a whole, Deborah Ann Woll enjoyed the idea of playing characters who were either close by or completely far removed from her, but were all connected to her through their simple humanity. After completing a Shakespeare intensive class at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, Deborah Ann Woll moved to California to obtain a theater degree from USC. With that, her acting backbone was securely in place
Woll received her breakout role as Bill Compton’s vampire progeny Jessica on the HBO television series True Blood. To help prepare for the role, she watched a lot of animal attack footage. Her roles include Mother’s Day, which is directed by Darren Bousman, Little Murder, which co-stars Josh Lucas, and the indie film Highland Park. She received a Special Achievement Award for Best Ensemble Television for True Blood in 2009.
Deborah’s boyfriend, Edward “E.J.” Scott and his family are afflicted with choroideremian, which is a condition that slowly blinds its victim. She uses her celebrity status to help advocate for them and others with the disease. She has been quoted as saying that her boyfriend’s bravery in fighting his disability has inspired her own battle with coeliac disease, which makes her body intolerant to foods containing gluten.
Deborah Ann Woll Photo Gallery
