Biography

Jessica Ruth "Jessie" Mueller, born in Evanston, Illinois, is a Tony Award-winning actress known for her work on Broadway portraying Carole King in Beautiful; the Carole King Musical and Jenna Hunterson in Waitress. She was born into a family of actors. Her parents, Jill (Shellabarger) and Roger Mueller, were actors in Chicago, and her three siblings also went on to pursue the performing arts. Jessie attended Evanston Township Highschool where she first developed an interest in theatre, she then went on to major in Musical Theatre at Syracuse University. Following this, Jessie returned to Chicago where she pursued her career in theatre from the years 2005 to 2011 over this time she played an incredible breadth of roles and always secured raving reviews from critics who very much foreshadowed her Broadway career. In 2006 Mueller performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon as Lady Mortimer in Henry IV. In 2009 Jessie received her first Joseph Jefferson Award for her portrayal of Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel, she would go on to receive two more nominations in 2011, she won again, this time as a lead actress - Amelia Balash, She Loves Me. During a production of 'Shout! The Mod Musical' Jessie landed her first Broadway show. A 'revisal' of 'a On A Clear Day You Can See Forever' alongside Harry Connick Jr. On 11th December 2011 Jessie made her Broadway debut as Melinda Wells, the show was short lived and ultimately unsuccessful, however Jessie's performance received radiant reviews and she got her first Tony Nomination. Jessie made her TV debut as Carrie Pipperidge in Live at Lincoln Centre's production of Carousel. Staying in New York, she performed in an Off-Broadway production of Into the Woods, as well as the Broadway productions of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Nice Work If You Can Get It. In 2014 Jessie originated the role of Carole King in Beautiful; the Carole King Musical - the role which would secure her spot as one of Broadway's finest. For this role she received the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Actress and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Sara Bareilles, who was writing Waitress the musical at the time, attended opening night of Beautiful and immediately imagined Jessie as her leading lady, a role which Jessie undertook on a Broadway in 2016 earning her a 3rd Tony nomination and a 2nd Grammy nomination. Mueller is scheduled to return to Broadway 28th February 2018 as Julie Jordan in Carousel. Since 2016, Mueller has been seen to be branching out more into television and film making TV guest appearances in 'The Family' and 'Blue Bloods'. Additionally she will make her motion picture debut in the Spielberg film, 'The Post' - staring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Jessie often appears on TV as herself on either talk shows or televised concerts, her performance at Chicago Voices, earned her a Chicago / Mid-Western Emmy Nomination in 2017. Additionally Mueller performed at the 2014 and 2016 Tony's as well as appearing as a presenter in 2015.
- IMDb mini biography by: Ann Stephenson