Jessica Steen (born December 19, 1965) is a Canadian actress in both film and television, who may be best known for her recurring role as Lisa Stillman, on the CBC primetime drama series Heartland (2007–present).
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Personal life
Jessica Steen was born in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of Joanna Noyes, an actress, and Jan Steen, a director and actor. She is of Dutch and Scottish ancestry.
Career
In 1987, Steen was part of the main cast of the syndicated series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, which ran for one season. For her performance in the episode "Judgment", she was nominated in 1988 for a Gemini Award for Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role. That same year, she played Tracy Steelgrave on Wiseguy.
While based in Toronto, Steen appeared on various Canadian television series and in American made-for-TV films. In 1991, shortly after relocating to New York, she joined the cast of the soap opera Loving. She subsequently starred as a regular throughout the two-season run of the series Homefront.
In 1994, she was cast as Dr. Julia Heller, a genetically enhanced physician, in the science fiction series Earth 2. Following the show's cancellation in 1995, Steen guest-starred on single episodes of several series, including The Outer Limits, ER, Murder One, Due South, and Touched by an Angel. In 1994, she also won the Gemini Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Nora in the television film Small Gifts.
Steen portrayed District Attorney Elizabeth Gardner in the 1997 comedy film Trial & Error, earning praise from film critic Roger Ebert on Siskel & Ebert. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer subsequently recommended her for the role of the shuttle co-pilot in the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon, having remembered her performance as Cpl. Jennifer "Pilot" Chase in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. During this period, she also took leading roles in Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice as well as the Disney television films Smart House and Principal Takes a Holiday.
In 2004, Steen was cast as Dr. Elizabeth Weir in "Lost City", the two-part finale of season 7 of Stargate SG-1. She was initially told that Weir would recur and transition into a central role in the spin-off Stargate Atlantis, and was advised to keep her schedule clear of conflicting weekly commitments.
However, Steen's tenure on the franchise was short-lived. She later noted that she may have overwhelmed the production team with hyper-specific technical inquiries, driven by extensive background research, while deliberately avoiding prior episodes or the original film to play Weir as a genuine "fish out of water." At the same time, Steen was deeply committed to the annual Burning Man festival — an event she had been personally and professionally connected to since 1998, organizing community camps and experiences, and which she considered akin to family. Because of the stigma surrounding the event at the time, her agent advised her to cite a mandatory family reunion to attend. Months later, she was released from her contract; her agent informed her that the producers felt her commitment to the festival outweighed her dedication to the series. Steen was subsequently replaced by Torri Higginson, dispelling long-standing fan speculation that her departure was due to an unwillingness to relocate to Vancouver.
Outside of the science fiction genre, Steen played Myra Teal in the 2002 Monk episode "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger", and had a recurring role as Special Agent Paula Cassidy on the CBS procedural NCIS from 2004 to 2007. In the fall of 2007, she appeared on the Canadian series jPod, and later that year debuted as Lisa Stillman in the third episode of Heartland, continuing in the recurring role into the show's nineteenth season.
From 2009 to 2012, Steen recurred as Strategic Response Unit Constable Donna Sabine on the police drama Flashpoint. Her work on the episodes "Clean Hands" and "The Perfect Family" earned her a 2010 Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series, followed by a 2013 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Performance in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series for the episode "A New Life".
Between 2018 and 2020, Steen appeared in several television films for Hallmark and Lifetime, including A Midnight Kiss, Matching Hearts, Chateau Christmas, The Babysitter (also known as The Baby Monitor Murders), and Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story.
