Jessica Amy Knappett is an English comedy writer and actress. She is best known for playing Meg in the TV sitcomDrifters, which she created, and Lisa in The Inbetweeners Movie.
Early life
Knappett was born and brought up in Bingley, West Yorkshire, where she attended Woodhouse Grove School, before studying at the University of Manchester. She was a founder member of Lady Garden, a sketch group who met in Manchester in 2005 and performed their first show at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, returning in 2009 and 2010. During this period, the group toured throughout England, and performed at Sheffield, Manchester, Brighton, Comedy Festivals in 2008, were 2009 Hackney New Act & Laughing Horse Finalists, and won an Argus Angel for their show in the Brighton Fringe in May 2009.
Career
Knappett was the creator, writer, executive producer and star of sitcom Drifters for E4 in which she played the role of Meg. Due to the popularity and success of the first series, it was quickly repeated on Channel 4 and later commissioned for a further three. Knappett was nominated for an RTS award for Best Comedy writer and Broadcast award for Drifters series 2. Series 4 aired on E4 and Channel 4 at the end of 2016. Knappett played Lisa in The Inbetweeners Movie and appeared in Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge Movie Alpha Papa and the TV MovieIrreversible alongside David Schwimmer. Other credits include Drunk History for Comedy Central, Mid-Morning Matters for Sky One, Twenty Twelve for BBC Two, E4's Meet the Parents for Objective Productions, How Not to Live Your Life and Lunch Monkeys for BBC3. She also played the role of Carly in the BBC Radio 4comedy seriesShedtown alongside Johnny Vegas. She has also recorded a string of pilots, including Everything Happens for No Reason written by Richard Herring, alongside Noel Fielding. Knappett makes frequent appearances on panel shows, including: 8 Out of 10 Cats and contributes to The Guardian, The Independent, Glamour, ShortList and NME. She was also a contestant on series 7 of Dave comedy/gameshow Taskmaster, with James Acaster, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang and Rhod Gilbert.
Personal life
Knappett married American musician and writer Dan Crane in September 2016. Their first child was born in summer 2017. Her brother is the comedy producer Ben Knappett. She has in interviews mentioned that Drifters was a semi-autobiographical, therapeutic re-writing of history.
