Morris is known for her role as Jennifer Rappaport on the defunct ABC daytime drama series One Life to Live. “That was a while back, but it was a long run. I was on for five years. It was pretty incredible. I got to live in New York City, which was fun,” she said. “New York was really great. It was a fun time in my life.”
When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy, she said, “Luckily, I’ve never really had a problem with memorizing lines, which is really helpful especially on a soap opera since sometimes you have 40 pages of dialogue a day. Once you start to know your character better, that makes it easier for you.”
She plays the lead role in the Emmy-nominated series Ladies of the Lake on Amazon. The second season Ladies of the Lake: Return to Avalon is available for streaming now. “That is so fun,” she admitted. “Everyone is very professional, and we are all friends when we are not shooting. Hopefully, we will have more coming for you.”
Morris is also starring in the horror film, The 6th Friend, opposite Dominique Swain and Chantelle Albers. It was released in select cities on January 11, as well as on VOD on January 15. “That was great. I ended up becoming really good friends with Chantelle [Albers] and Jamie [Bernadette]. We all spent a night in the cabin where we filmed, so it felt like a big slumber party,” she said.
On her daily motivations, Morris said, “I’ve always had a passion for expressing myself.” “Every day, I try to push that forward and I keep creating. That’s what drives me,” she said. “Without that, I would feel aimless.”
She also remembered the late soap actor Kristoff St. John, whom she co-starred with in the ION movie A Christmas Cruise with Vivica A. Fox. “Kristoff really was a wonderful guy,” she said. “He was so kind and it is really sad that he is gone.”
Morris also appeared in the second season of The Bay on Amazon Prime. “That was great, especially since I’ve worked with all those actors from the soap world. It feels like a reunion when you are working on a show like that,” she said.
On her plans for 2019, she said, “I still have a lot of writing projects in development, and I am working on more TV work and pushing my indie projects forward. It’s going to be a fun year.”
Her advice for aspiring actors is to have something else as a back-up. “Have something on the side, so that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” she said. “Remember that you are doing it because you love it and that you are having fun. Think of the long-term picture of yourself and where you want to be.”
Digital transformation of the entertainment industry
On the impact of technology on the entertainment business, Morris said, “Technology has really allowed for a lot more indie projects and indie series to have an outlet. Technology is wonderful for actors. It creates so many more opportunities these days.”
She shared that as an actress she reads her scripts digitally. “The days of having a hard copy script are out the window. This is great because it saves trees,” she said, prior to adding that she is also able to film auditions on her phone.
For Morris, the word success means being “happy” in life. “To be truly happy is something that we all struggle with. If you can get to the point where you are at peace, whatever that means for you, then that’s being successful,” she said.
To learn more about actress Jessica Morris, follow her on Instagram and on Twitter.
