In 2021, the audience recognized Jennifer Holland for her role of the ironic special agent Emilia Harcourt in the "superhero" action movie "Suicide Squad." A year later, the actress repeated this role in the series "Peacemaker" and was announced in another DC studio project.
Jennifer Holland
Holland worked hard for this success for several years, trying not to lose optimism because of unsuccessful roles. Thanks to her simplicity and vital energy, Jennifer’s heart was won not only by Hollywood, but also by one of the bachelors of American show business - the famous director James Gunn, who shot both the second "Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker". In 2022, he proposed to the actress.
Childhood and Family
The actress Jennifer Holland was born on November 9, 1987 in Chicago, Illinois. As a child, the girl became interested in gymnastics, engaged in pole vaulting and tried to please her parents. For example, in the sports team she always chose the number 7 for performances, because this is her mother's favorite number.
Jennifer Holland with brother as a kid
Jennifer did not even consider acting as a career, although she enjoyed classes in the school theater, and teachers noted her ability to transform and self-confidence.
Her mother was a housewife who devoted all her free time to raising her daughter and eldest son Bill. Her father worked as a handyman in a fast food chain.
Jennifer Holland in school years
Her parents were religious people, so Jennifer and her brother went to a Catholic school. But over the years, the parents became addicted to alcohol. Jennifer did not say how their lives turned out, she only noted in an interview that both her father and mother died due to alcohol.
Jennifer Holland's parents
Holland experienced the horror of constant parental drunkenness as a child, so she did not try alcohol in general and forever remained an adherent of a sober lifestyle. After graduating from school in 2002, the girl moved out and enrolled at the University of San Francisco where she studied management.
First Roles
Jennifer never graduated from university, quickly realizing that she was not interested in management. After a few months of thinking, she moved to Los Angeles, remembered her childhood classes at the school theater and began signing up for all suitable auditions in film projects.
Jennifer Holland in her youth
In 2003, she received her first roles – these were minor appearances in the multi-part projects "Days of Our Lives" and "C.S.I.: Miami". But for Jennifer, it was a useful experience of acting and the opportunity to see the shoots "from the inside", right from the set.
A year later, she starred in one of the main roles in the full-length horror film "The Sisterhood", but the movie would not reach a large audience, so the tape was not even released. Holland was patient with projects that could not be called successful, agreeing to any job.
The producers invited a pretty blonde with expressive eyes either to roles in youth melodramas, or to typical female characters in horror films. So, in 2005, the actress appeared in episodes of the series "Dante's Cove" and the horror "House of the Dead 2", and the following year she starred in a small role in the TV project "Bones".
A snapshot from Zombie Strippers!
In 2008, Holland played one of the heroines of the comedy horror film "Zombie Strippers!", starred with Robert Englund. Critics poorly appreciated the film, considering its black humor too vulgar.
Jennifer did not get upset because of the negative reviews, but continued to work hard: over the next 3 years, she appeared in small roles in episodes of the TV series "Cougar Town", "Rizolli & Isles", "The Glades", "Supah Ninjas".
The Heyday of her Career
In 2012, Holland got the role of Nurse Blackwell in season 2 of the popular TV series "American Horror Story". Her bright negative character was remembered by fans of the project.
Jennifer Holland in American Horror Story
A year later, Jennifer also appeared in the TV series "Perception", and in 2016 she starred in the multi-part action movie "Rush Hour". In 2017, Jennifer received an important role in the musical series "Sun Records" about the record label of the 50s in America. Together with her, Chad Michael Murray and Margaret Ann Florence starred in the episodes.
Her character in Sun Records
2019 brought her a new appearance in a horror movie. This time Holland starred in David Yaroveski's film "Brightburn". The main roles in the horror were played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman. The film about a married couple who found a small child, gradually turning their life into a nightmare, got into the ratings of the best pictures of 2019.
The actress in Brightburn
But the real success for Holland was the role in the action movie "Suicide Squad" in 2021 based on DC comics. Jennifer played Emilia Harcourt, an employee of the National Security Agency, who at a crucial moment sided with the main characters and helped protect humanity together with the "bad guys".
Jennifer Holland as Harcourt (Suicide Squad)
Her slightly comical, but tough and desperate heroine harmoniously fit into the ironic character of the action movie. At the same venue, the actress worked with Idris Elba, Margot Robbie and John Cena.
Jennifer Holland’s Personal Life
In 2015, Jennifer met director James Gunn, who had recently thundered with the film "Guardians of the Galaxy". Their mutual friend Michael Rosenbaum, who played the role of Lex Luthor in the TV series "Smallville", was dating Jennifer's girl-friend at the time. He showed Gunn a photo of the actress, after which the director immediately became interested in the girl. Rosenbaum arranged a blind date for them.
Jennifer Holland and James Gunn
Gunn was struck by Jennifer's charm from the very first minutes of the meeting. "I saw a flower that I had never seen before," the director recalled. Holland, though embarrassed by the director's admiration, appreciated his sparkling sense of humor and politeness. Even with the waiters in the restaurant, James spoke with an accentuated intelligence – and this is the very quality by which the actress is used to judging a person's soul. They had a lot in common, for example, they both turned out to be big animal lovers.
James Gunn & Jennifer Holland - premiere of The Suicide Squad
Very soon after the first date, the actress and the director met again, and soon they began to live together. The age difference (Gunn is 21 years older than his beloved) did not interfere with them.
In her free time from filming, the actress is engaged in handmade and reads a lot – most of all, Jennifer loves comics and textbooks on astronomy and astrophysics.
She has a net worth of $4 million (approx.).
Jennifer Holland Now
In 2022, The Peacemaker series, directed by James Gunn, was released. The project became a spin-off of the movie "The Suicide Squad". Holland returned to the role of Emilia Harcourt: this time her heroine, along with her Agency colleagues, helped the character of John Cena to expose the conspiracy of alien beings against humanity. "Peacemaker" with Gunn's trademark humor received laudatory reviews from viewers and critics, and was renewed for a second season with an expected release date of early 2023.
Jennifer Holland in Peacemaker
Jennifer will play the character that is loved by the audience in at least one more film from the DC universe – "Black Adam". The premiere of the action movie starring James Moyer and Dwayne Johnson was scheduled for July 2022.
Jennifer Holland Interview: Peacemaker
Holland's long-term romance with James Gunn also reached a new stage: in February 2022, the director proposed to his beloved. The director himself told subscribers about the engagement, posting on social networks a photo of the actress with an impressive diamond on her ring finger.
