Amy Jackson

Early life and modelling career

Jackson hails from the Isle of Man, born to British Christian parents, Alan and Marguerita Jackson. She is the younger sibling to her sister, Alicia. Two years post her birth, her family relocated to Woolton, Liverpool, their parents' hometown. This was primarily so her father could pursue his profession as a producer for BBC Radio Merseyside. Jackson sought education at St Edward's College, where she acquired ten GCSEs. Subsequently, she pursued advanced studies in English language and literature, along with philosophy and ethics during sixth form.

After winning the Miss Teen Liverpool and Miss Teen Great Britain pageants, she won the title of Miss Teen World in 2009. Jackson won eighteen prizes, which included a modelling contract in the US on a $50,000 scholarship. She won Miss Liverpool in 2010. She competed at Miss England in 2010 and was crowned the runner-up to Jessica Linley. Jackson was contracted by the Boss Model Management in 2009, and she was subsequently signed on by the agency Models 1 and modelled all over Europe.

Acting career

In 2010 Indian film producers spotted Jackson on the Miss Teen World website and invited her to audition for the Tamil period-drama film Madrasapattinam. Despite having no previous acting experience, she was cast as the female lead opposite Arya. The film, set against the backdrop of 1947 India, tells the story of a British Governor’s daughter who falls in love with a village boy. Jackson admitted that it was very difficult to learn the Tamil dialogues. The film released in July 2010 and was acclaimed by critics, and performed well at the box office, eventually becoming the seventh highest grossing Tamil film of the year. After the film was eventually released on 9 July 2010, it was a critical and commercial success, with Jackson gaining praise for her performance. Sify wrote, "It is an out and out Amy Jackson show. She is simply amazing to deliver lines in Tamil, and is one good reason to see the film". Behindwoods wrote, "The one who walks away with the top honours is Amy Jackson for a beautiful portrayal of a lady torn between her love and the mighty empire. She looks absolutely beautiful, emotes well through her expressive eyes and is able to earn the sympathy of the audiences during tough times". Rediff wrote, "Amy Jackson is almost perfect as the wide-eyed young girl who is seeing India for the first time, fascinated by its culture". She received a nomination for the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress for her role in the film.

In 2011, she was signed by Gautham Menon to play the female lead opposite Prateik Babbar in the Hindi remake of the 2010 hit romantic drama film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. She essayed the role played by Trisha in the original, Jessie Thekekketu, a Malayali Nasrani Christian who falls in love with a Hindu boy, but is prevented from pursuing the romance by her father. The film released in February 2012 to mixed to negative reviews, and underperformed at the box office. However, Jackson received praise for her performance, and chemistry with Babbar, with BehindWoods stating that "she has done wonders," and the Times of India saying that "she never disappoints." Jackson later said she was disappointed with some of the comments, but was happy with her performance and stated that it was a South Indian style film so the North Indian audiences did not take to it. Jackson was ranked #7 in the Times of India's list of most promising debutantes of 2012.

In September 2012, Jackson made her return to Tamil cinema with a supporting role in Thaandavam, starring opposite Vikram and Anushka Shetty. She was signed for the film in 2011 and shooting took place in India and London, allowing Jackson to return and see her family and friends. It was her second collaboration with director A L Vijay, after Madrasapattinam. She played the role of Sarah Vinayagam, a British-born Indian girl who wins the Miss London title. She reportedly dubbed her own dialogues in Tamil. She received her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Tamil at the 60th Filmfare Awards South ceremony.

She made her début in Telugu cinema with the Vamsi Paidipally film Yevadu alongside Ram Charan and Shruti Haasan, playing the role of Shruti. The film's release date was repeatedly reset, and released on 12 January 2014. She next starred as super model Diya in Shankar's romantic thriller film I, her biggest project in her career. The making of the magnum opus, one of the costliest Indian films till date, took over two and a half years, with a major part of the film being shot in China. The film was released on 14 January 2015 to mixed critical response, although Jackson's performance received favourable reviews. Deccan Chronicle wrote that she was "simply superb. She is another highlight of the film and has given a mature performance. She is beautiful and gorgeous in the film", while Sify noted that she "the biggest surprise packet in the film" and "perfect eye candy". She subsequently was ranked #1 in The Times of India, Chennai Edition list of most desirable woman of 2014.

Jackson had signed up to be part of Venkat Prabhu's supernatural thriller Masss but opted out of it later when the script and her character were changed. She instead signed up two other Tamil projects to be directed by Thirukumaran and Velraj and won positive reviews for her work in Velraj's Thanga Magan, where she portrayed an Anglo-Indian girl. She has also been shooting for a "gritty BBC drama series", which she has declined to further elaborate on. She then portrayed the lead female role in Atlee's Theri,featuring alongside Vijay for the first time in her career where she portrayed the role of a Malayali teacher. Her performance received positive reviews and her role as a teacher was well appreciated. upon release, the film went on to become of the most profitable Tamil films of all time.

Jackson has been signed on for two Hindi films, Prabhu Deva's Singh Is Bling opposite Akshay Kumar. She began shooting for the film in April 2015. Jackson has also been signed up to play the lead role in Shankar upcoming film 2.0 alongside Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar.

Personal life

As of 2012, Jackson lives in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She has a pet cat named Alfie, with whom she posed in a PETA ad campaign promoting the adoption of animals from shelters. In addition to her work with PETA, Jackson supports charities such as the St Jude's Hospice. Jackson is also the celebrity endorser for such brands as Yardley and Ponds.

Amy Jackson is a Christian. Jackson made special posts on her social media profiles about starting her observance of Lent on its first day, Ash Wednesday.

In 2012, Jackson was in a relationship with Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, with whom she stayed in a flat at Bandra, Mumbai. Later in 2012, the relationship ended.

In 2013, she was dating boxer Joe Selkirk. On 8 December 2013, she was reportedly assaulted by Joe Selkirk outside the Malmaison Hotel in Liverpool. Although Jackson was not willing to pursue the case, the Crown Prosecution Service decided a prosecution was necessary. After pleading guilty, Selkirk was given a 12-month community supervision order and ordered to pay £300 costs.

In 2017 Jackson was setting up a restaurant in London with her mother Marguerita. It was scheduled to open its doors by the end of August. She said, “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I love visiting new restaurants and trying different cuisines all over the world. I’d always wanted to do something in the hospitality space. I particularly like fine-dining because of the way you are treated. My love for food has inspired me to open this restaurant, I love cooking and I can cook really well according to my family and friends."

Other honours