The more keen followers of celebrities and their lifestyles will have likely heard of the name Jennifer Holland years ago. The actress has, after all, been dating director James Gunn, following his failed marriage to actress Jenna Fischer.
In more recent times, though, her stock has risen to being more than just the partner of a famous director. In fact, she is now a recognized actor, who can lay claim to fame purely because of her work.
Holland first rose to global attention proper thanks to her portrayal of the character Emilia Harcourt in the DCEU superhero film of 2021, The Suicide Squad. The movie was directed by Gunn, who was very specific in his casting choices.
The director handpicked most of his cast, including comedian Pete Davidson in the role of Blackguard, John Cena as Peacemaker, and of course Holland in this watershed role of her career. The actress is also now a central part of the subsequent spin-off show, Peacemaker on HBO max.
This is not to say that Holland is a rookie when it comes to screen performance: Here is a background of her acting portfolio, dating all the way back to 2004.
Jennifer Holland Played Nurse Blackwell In Ryan Murphy's 'American Horror Story: Asylum'
Since she was young, Holland always dreamt of a career on the screen. Born in Chicago, Illinois in November 1987, she then moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16 to pursue her goal of becoming a professional actor.
Her first ever screen role was in a horror-drama film titled The Sisterhood in 2004. In the same year, she featured in one episode of the sitcom Drake & Josh on Nickelodeon. 2005 was an equally formative period, as she made a cameo in one episode of CSI: Miami and in the movie House of the Dead 2 by Mark A. Altman (Room 6, Necessary Roughness).
Holland's other early roles came in the films Zombie Strippers and American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, as well as episodes of Cougar Town, Bones, Rizzoli & Isles and Days of Our Lives.
In 2012, she played a character called Nurse Blackwell in Asylum, the second season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series American Horror Story on FX. She was still somewhat struggling to establish herself, until her first major role arrived in 2017.
Jennifer Holland Loved Portraying Becky Phillips In CMT's 'Sun Records'
Holland was cast as Becky Phillips in the CMT musical mini-series, Sun Records. Based on a real-life character, Becky was the wife of legendary record producer Sam Phillips, who was known for producing the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.
The eight-part limited series also featured Drake Milligan as Elvis, Kevin Fonteyne as Johnny Cash and Chad Michael Murray as Sam Phillips himself.
The role of Becky had practically been nearly 15 years in the making for Holland. Despite having to portray a character she felt was the mirror opposite of her, she loved every minute it.
"Becky is very different from me! She is traditional, and straight-laced, religious and hasn't really figured out who she is yet," Holland told Maxim magazine at the time. "The way I approached [this] character was completely different, since she was a real person in history. It's been a lovely challenge."
In a way, Becky in Sun Records was Holland's proper coming-of-age role, at least going by the parts that she has landed since.
Jennifer Holland Has Taken On A Central Role As Emilia Harcourt In 'Peacemaker' On HBO Max
In September 2019, James Gunn took to Twitter to announce the final cast line-up for The Suicide Squad. He cautioned fans not to 'get too attached,' which was originally interpreted to mean that there could be changes to these choices.
As it would turn out, he was hinting at the fact that there would be a bloodbath of character deaths as the story unfolded. In a list of 24, Holland's name was also present in the graphic posted by Gunn on the social media platform.
Emilia Harcourt is described as a 'cool-headed and sardonic A.R.G.U.S. agent, [who] acted as support for the Suicide Squad, and was later the field handler of Peacemaker on Project Butterfly.'
After her slightly limited, but star-turn appearance as Emilia in The Suicide Squad, Holland in the character has taken on a much more central role in Peacemaker, the film's spin-off show currently streaming on HBO Max.
Gunn spoke about how he drew inspiration from shows such as Better Call Saul for the project, while also emphasizing the complicated nature of Emilia and Peacemaker's relationship. "They're not really a love relationship... But they're not not that either," he said. "So it's just a much more complicated relationship."
