Jessica Paré

Paré was born in Montreal, Quebec,{{Cite web|title=Megan Draper - Jessica Paré {{!}} Mad Men Bios|url=https://www.amc.com/shows/mad-men/cast/megan-draper--48890|access-date=July 23, 2021|website=AMC|language=en}} the daughter of Anthony Paré, former chair of the education department at McGill University, and Louise Mercier, a conference interpreter. She grew up in the Montreal neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce with three brothers.{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/P/Pare_Jessica/2000/09/06/760718.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101041059/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/P/Pare_Jessica/2000/09/06/760718.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 1, 2013|title=CANOE -- JAM! Movies - Artists - Paré, Jessica : Fresh face of Stardom|work=canoe.ca}} She speaks English and French. Her family is of French Canadian and Irish descent. [http://www.ballyhoo.ca/uploads/2/2/6/9/22695826/the_seeds_searchable.pdf The Seeds: The Life Story of a Matriarch, by Lucy Griffith Paré (with Antoine Paré), Les Entreprises de Carpent Perdu Inc., Ste-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Québec, Canada, 1984, page 305.]{{Cite interview |url=http://www.vulture.com/2012/05/vulture-transcript-jessica-par-on-mad-men.html |title=The Vulture Transcript: Jessica Paré on Mad Men, Being Canadian, and Ice Loves Coco |first=Jessica |last=Paré |interviewer=Jada Yuan |date=May 21, 2012 |work=Vulture}}

Paré's father was an actor and drama teacher who toured with a theatre company, and her mother acted in amateur productions; her uncle Paul was a comedian with the sketch comedy troupe Radio Free Vestibule.{{cite news|title=Vestibules get past the front door|work=Montreal Gazette|date= March 20, 1999}} Paré watched her father at rehearsals as a child and became interested in acting while helping him learn his lines for a production of The Tempest.{{cite web|url=http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/33/04/kaleidoscope/index.html|title=Bracing for Stardom|work=McGill Reporter|publisher=McGill.ca|date=October 19, 2000}}

Her relatives include great-grandfather Al Paré and great-great-uncles Noah and Henry Timmins.[http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/genealogy_canada_pedigree.aspx?pid=1353620&lng=fr Généalogie du Québec] Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française, "Généalogie Jessica Paré". Retrieved January 28, 2018. 18th-century Irish dramatist, fiction writer, essayist and actress Elizabeth Griffith is also Paré's ancestor through her son, politician Richard Griffith.[http://www.ballyhoo.ca/uploads/2/2/6/9/22695826/the_seeds_searchable.pdf The Seeds: The Life Story of a Matriarch, by Lucy Griffith Paré (with Antoine Paré), Les Entreprises de Carpent Perdu Inc., Ste-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Québec, Canada, 1984, page 305.]

Paré attended Villa Maria, a private Catholic high school in Montreal. She studied drama at TheatreWorks and appeared in over half a dozen amateur theatre productions as a teenager, including roles as Maid Marian in Robin Hood and Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.{{cite web|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm%3DTCE%26Params%3DM1ARTM0012184 |title=Cannes Film Festival 2000 |access-date=October 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209084911/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012184 |archive-date=December 9, 2007 }}

Paré landed a small role in the television film Bonanno: A Godfather's Story during her final year in high school, which convinced her to pursue acting as a career.{{cite web|url=http://www.flare.com/entertainment/asks/article.jsp?content=20041213_113646_5096 |title=FLARE.com: Flare.com Asks - Jessica Paré - Pg.1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318022431/http://www.flare.com/entertainment/asks/article.jsp?content=20041213_113646_5096 |archive-date=March 18, 2009 }} She also had small roles in an episode of the horror television series Big Wolf on Campus and the French film En Vacances (1999). She dropped out of the fine arts program at Montreal's Dawson College and pursued acting for two years. At one point, she worked as a photographer's assistant on automotive photo shoots.{{cite interview|url=http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2010/10/jessica-pare-interview.php |title=Q&A – Jessica Paré (Megan) |publisher=amc.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019092859/http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2010/10/jessica-pare-interview.php |archive-date=October 19, 2010 |first=Jessica |last=Paré |interviewer=AMCtv.com |date=October 17, 2010}}

After Paré auditioned for a bit part for the independent film Stardom (2000), director Denys Arcand chose her to star in the film. She played a naive ice hockey player propelled to international stardom as a supermodel. The comedic satire closed the 2000 Cannes Film Festival with mixed reviews from critics.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/jessica-par-278459/bio|title=Jessica Paré movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography |publisher=AllMovie}} Paré became the Canadian film industry's "it girl" following the film's release. She was also voted one of the 25 Most Beautiful People of 2012, by People,{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/25/people-magazine-most-beautiful-women-2012_n_1451814.html |title=People's Most Beautiful Women 2012: Magazine List Includes Beyonce, Jessica Paré|last=Kelsey |first=Sarah |date=April 25, 2012 |website=The Huffington Post Canada |access-date=November 15, 2018}} one of only a few Canadian citizens to have ever been granted this designation.

Paré next starred in Lost and Delirious (2001), a story of two young lovers set in a girls' boarding school. The film debuted to mixed reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. The performances of Paré and her co-stars Mischa Barton and Piper Perabo were, however, widely praised.{{cite web |url=http://www.murphysmoviereviews.net/Archive/lostdelirious.html |title=Lost and Delirious |publisher=murphysmoviereviews |date=December 21, 2001 |access-date=May 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927221109/http://www.murphysmoviereviews.net/Archive/lostdelirious.html |archive-date=September 27, 2013 }} Paré appeared in the television miniseries Random Passage (2002), based on a series of award-winning novels by Bernice Morgan.{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/From+sea+to+sea%3a+Montreal.-a030274257 |title=From sea to sea: Montreal |date=September 22, 2000 |magazine=Take One|via=The Free Library}} Also that year, she appeared in the television miniseries Napoléon as the emperor's mistress and had a cameo appearance as a pop singer in Deepa Mehta's Bollywood/Hollywood (2002). The following year, she starred in the girl gang thriller film Posers (2003), after which she appeared in the CTV film The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton, in the title role of murdered heiress Nancy Eaton.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/tvs-12-month-season-is-a-mixed-bag/article1137569/ |title=TV's 12-month season is a mixed bag |access-date=January 23, 2019|date=May 17, 2004}}

Paré made her Hollywood debut in the film Wicker Park (2004). That year, she also starred in the television miniseries Lives of the Saints, was in the mockumentary See This Movie (2004), and had a role in The WB teen drama series Jack & Bobby, about two brothers, one whom grows up to be the President of the United States; Paré's character grows up to be the First Lady.

Paré shot the CBS pilot Protect and Serve in 2007,{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/548735 |title=Blood, guts and rock 'n' roll |work=The Star | location=Toronto |author=Demara, Bruce|date=December 5, 2008}} co-starred in the independent French-Canadian romantic comedy Jusqu'à toi,{{cite news |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/four-fitted-bilingual-shoe-149014|title=Four fitted for bilingual 'Shoe'|agency=Associated Press|date=August 29, 2007|work=The Hollywood Reporter}} and had a small role in The Trotsky (2008), a comedy filmed in Montreal.{{cite web |url=http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/magazine/20080929/trotsky.html|title=Tierneys team up on Trotsky|work=Playback|date=September 29, 2008}}

She filmed Suck (2008), a vampire horror-comedy written and directed by Rob Stefaniuk,{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mcdowell-pare-foley-sink-teeth-122831|title=McDowell, Paré, Foley sink teeth into 'Suck'|agency=Associated Press|date=November 12, 2008|work=The Hollywood Reporter}} for which role she learned to play the bass guitar. Suck premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Contemporary World Cinema programme. Paré was nominated for a 2010 Canadian Comedy Award for best female performance in film for the role.{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiancomedy.ca/media/releases/1277308800.pdf|access-date=December 28, 2015|publisher=Canadian Comedy Awards|title=2010 Canadian Comedy Award Nominees Are Announced!|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025922/http://www.canadiancomedy.ca/media/releases/1277308800.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}

Paré played a groupie in the comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine (2010).{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/03/26/hot_tub_takes_trip_back_to_80s_crude_humor/|title='Hot Tub Time Machine' movie review |work=The Boston Globe|publisher=Boston.com | first=Ty|last=Burr|date=March 26, 2010}} That year, she also appeared in the Canadian comedy Peepers, about pleasures in voyeurism. Peepers competed in the Just for Laughs film festival in Montreal in July 2010.{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/lean+mean+laugh+machine/3259689/story.html |title=A lean, mean laugh machine |access-date=July 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015055148/http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/lean%2Bmean%2Blaugh%2Bmachine/3259689/story.html |archive-date=October 15, 2010 }}

Also in 2010, Paré joined the cast of the AMC television series Mad Men, playing Don Draper's second wife, Megan Calvet.{{cite magazine|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2010/08/20/mad-men-watch-weekend-update/|title=Mad Men Watch: Weekend Update|magazine=Time | date=August 20, 2010}} Paré's character had a prominent role in the Season 5 opener of Mad Men, in which she danced and sang a version of the 1960 Gillian Hills hit "Zou Bisou Bisou".{{cite news |title='Mad Men' Premiere: A History of 'Zou Bisou Bisou,' Megan's Sultry Song to Don |first=Lauren |last=Streib |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/26/mad-men-premiere-a-history-of-zou-bisou-bisou-megan-s-sultry-song-to-don.html |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=March 25, 2012}}{{cite news |title=Jessica Paré gets the world humming 'Zou Bisou Bisou' |first=Bill |last=Keveney |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/story/2012-03-26/mad-men-jessica-pare/53791528/1 |newspaper=USA Today |date=March 26, 2012}} Her recording of the song was subsequently released as a download and on vinyl.{{cite news |title='Mad Men' Actress Lip-Synced 'Zou Bisou Bisou' |first=Sheila |last=Marikar |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/03/mad-men-actress-lip-synced-zou-bisou-bisou/ |newspaper=ABC News |date=March 26, 2012 |access-date=March 26, 2012}}

In 2011, Paré appeared in Beholder. The short film, directed by Nisha Ganatra, premiered as part of the ITVS/PBS series FutureStates.{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/movies/2011/03/on-location-the-making-of-the-beholder-part-2 |title=On Location: The making of "Beholder" (Part 2) |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723025352/http://www.afterellen.com/movies/2011/03/on-location-the-making-of-the-beholder-part-2 |archive-date=July 23, 2012 }} She also starred in The Mountie (also known as The Way of the West, and filmed under the working title of Red Coat Justice in 2009),{{cite web|url=http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=171131|title=Jessica Paré|work=NOW Magazine|date=September 1, 2009}} a western about the North-West Mounted Police, filmed in a remote location outside of Whitehorse, Yukon,{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/with-the-mountie-wyeth-clarkson-gives-a-canadian-icon-a-reboot/article2080651/|title=With 'The Mountie,' Wyeth Clarkson gives a Canadian icon a reboot|work=The Globe and Mail | location=Toronto|date=August 24, 2012}} and in the comedic short Sorry, Rabbi, directed by Mark Slutsky.{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/hear+about/4965906/story.html |title=Did you hear the one about ...? |access-date=September 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010081633/http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/hear%2Babout/4965906/story.html |archive-date=October 10, 2011 }}

In 2012, Paré appeared on stage with The Jesus and Mary Chain, singing "Just Like Honey", for two concerts in Buffalo, New York and Toronto.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/mad-men-star-jessica-pare-jams-with-jesus-and-mary-chain-20120806|title='Mad Men' Star Jessica Paré Jams With Jesus And Mary Chain|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=August 6, 2012|access-date=August 22, 2017|archive-date=August 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808212227/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/mad-men-star-jessica-pare-jams-with-jesus-and-mary-chain-20120806|url-status=dead}} That same year, she filmed the romantic comedy, Standby, in Luxembourg and Ireland; she plays the female lead, Alice.Cummins, Steve (August 16, 2012). "{{cite web |url=http://www.iftn.com/locationsireland/services/transporthire/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285243&tpl=archnews&force=1 |title=Exclusive: 'Mad Men' Actress Jessica Paré to Shoot 'Standby' in Dublin | the Irish Film & Television Network |access-date=December 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125201201/http://www.iftn.com/locationsireland/services/transporthire/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285243&tpl=archnews&force=1 |archive-date=January 25, 2013 }} It was released in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645916/releaseinfo|title=Standby (2014) Release info|work=IMDb.com}}

In 2017, Paré was added to the main cast of the CBS television series SEAL Team as Amanda Ellis, the team's CIA liaison.{{cite web |title=Jessica Paré Cast In CBS' Navy SEAL Drama Pilot |url=https://deadline.com/2017/03/jessica-pare-cast-cbs-navy-seal-drama-pilot-1202043654/ |website=Deadline |date=March 15, 2017}} The series was renewed for a fourth season in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/05/cbs-renewals-1202927097/|title=CBS Renews 18 Series, Including Freshmen 'FBI: Most Wanted', 'Bob ♥ Abishola', 'All Rise' & 'The Unicorn'|work=Deadline Hollywood|first1=Peter|last1=White|first2=Nellie|last2=Andreeva|date=May 6, 2020|access-date=May 6, 2020}}

Paré married writer and producer Joseph M. Smith in 2007. They divorced in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/arts/tv/upfronts/2012/jessica-pare-2012-5/|title=Jessica Paré on 'Mad Men,' Being Recognized, and More|last=Yuan|first=Jada|work=New York|date=May 13, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2015}}

In 2013 she was dating musician John Kastner.{{cite web|first=Brendan|last=Kelly|url=http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/04/02/jessica-pare-ready-for-more-music-after-zou-bisou-bisou/|title=Hot on the heels of Zou Bisou, Bisou, Mad Men star Jessica Pare says there might be more music coming|work=Montreal Gazette|date=April 2, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2015|archive-date=October 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016135330/http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/04/02/jessica-pare-ready-for-more-music-after-zou-bisou-bisou/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Kelly|first=Brendan|url=http://blogs.mydesert.com/2013/03/25/jessica-pare-and-john-kastner-palm-springs-weekend/|title=Jessica Pare and John Kastner: Palm Springs weekend!|work=MyDesert.com Blogs|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629222630/http://blogs.mydesert.com/2013/03/25/jessica-pare-and-john-kastner-palm-springs-weekend/|archive-date=June 29, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=60d0502f-5a1d-449e-83df-9a2d13490d50|last=Kelly|first=Brendan|date=June 2, 2012|work=The Gazette|title=Doroschuk says Hats' new album reflects 'general unease'|access-date=March 21, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017143757/http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=60d0502f-5a1d-449e-83df-9a2d13490d50|archive-date=October 17, 2014}} On March 19, 2015, she gave birth to a son, Blues Anthony Paré Kastner.{{cite news|last1=Leon|first1=Anya|last2=Garcia|first2=Jennifer|title=Jessica Paré Welcomes Son Blues Anthony|url=http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/03/21/jessica-pare-welcomes-son-blues-anthony/|access-date=March 21, 2015|work=People|date=March 21, 2015|archive-date=March 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322064248/http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/03/21/jessica-pare-welcomes-son-blues-anthony/|url-status=dead}}

Paré is Catholic.{{cite tweet |user=TelevisionAcad |number=600058330254553088 |title="I'm Catholic, so I had a very low shame threshold." Jessica Paré of Zou Bisou, Bisou #MadMen |date=May 17, 2015 |access-date=May 10, 2016}} She identifies as a feminist, telling Fashion magazine, "Of course I'm a feminist... If you're not for the equal treatment of men and women, then you're a fascist."{{Cite news|first=Jessica|last=Wakeman |url=http://www.thefrisky.com/2014-02-17/jessica-pare-of-course-im-a-feminist/|title=Jessica Paré: "Of Course I'm A Feminist"|magazine=Fashion|via=thefrisky.com|date=February 17, 2014|access-date=April 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519135640/http://www.thefrisky.com/2014-02-17/jessica-pare-of-course-im-a-feminist/|archive-date=May 19, 2017|url-status=dead}}

File:Jessica Pare at TIFF 2009.jpg

• "Zou Bisou Bisou" – single – music download, vinyl special edition – released March 26, 2012

{{Reflist}}

;Other sources

• "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080617125523/http://www.encoremtl.com/jessica_pare.htm Jessica Paré]". Encore Entertainment. Retrieved on October 3, 2007.

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Category:Canadian film actresses

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Category:People from Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

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