Jessica Salgueiro
Actress
Born in Winnipeg.
Based in Toronto.
We went to a Casa de Fado and I was stunned… with how this music seems to lend itself to the vocal range that body sits at naturally. And also the passion, the putting it all out on the table. That kind of artistry… is everything I adore about being a performer and what I personally seek in the roles that I play – Jessica Salgueiro.
Jessica Salgueiro discovered her passion for performing as a child participating in ranchos folclóricos and other cultural acts in the Portuguese community of Winnipeg. She has successfully pursued an acting career in Toronto, where she has been cast in multiple internationally-popular shows shot in that city.
Biography
Jessica Salgueiro was born in 1987, in Winnipeg. Her father, who is from Alcanena, in central mainland Portugal, immigrated to Canada when he was 17 years old to avoid being drafted into the Colonial Wars; his sister, who was living in Winnipeg, sponsored him. Jessicas mother is from Santa Barbara, near Faro in the Algarve, and migrated to Canada when she was 18 old; her family also fled the Colonial Wars.
Jessica is the youngest of three children. Her parents owned a furniture business,. For a while, her father was the head of a local Portuguese association and was very active in its administration, which meant that the family spent every Friday night at its hall. Jessica’s love of dancing started there, when she and her sisters were members of the local rancho folclórico. She also took dance classes and danced in school plays. Later, Jessica enrolled in the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto, where she completed a degree in musical theatre. After she graduated, Jessica visited Portugal and spent some time in Lisbon, where she further connected with her roots.
Jessica earned her first writing credit in 2013 with the play In Adagio, performed in Winnipeg and Toronto by the theatre company Art & Lies. Two years later, she wrote the short film Attic for Rent. Jessica has over 50 acting credits, including with the popular drama series The Boys, Workin’ Moms, The Expanse, Letterkenny, Tiny Pretty Things, and Orphan Black – where she played a Portuguese-Canadian character. She was deemed a “rising star” at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival for her role in Mouthpiece. She also has a voice acting credit in the 2021 video game Far Cry 6.
Jessica launched her blog “Bitches Be Witches” in 2017, with which she seeks to “reinvent, reinterpret, and redefine what it means to be a womxn in two-thousand-and-something.” She has been a vocal advocate for women’s rights, anti-racism, and other social justice causes.
Hora dos Portugueses