Childhood & Early Life
Born on August 11, 1985, in Manama, Bahrain, to Elroy and Kim Fernandez, Jacqueline grew up in a multi-ethnic family. Elroy Fernandez, a musician, left his native country Sri Lanka due to the 1980s civil unrest between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. Kim, an air hostess, is part Malaysian and part Canadian. After marriage, they settled down in Bahrain. Jacqueline is the youngest of their four children. Besides her, they also have two sons and another daughter.
Fernandez harboured acting aspirations since she was a child and wanted to be a Hollywood star. When she was 14 years old, she began hosting television shows. She received her early education at the Sacred Heart School in Bahrain and later enrolled in the University of Sydney to study mass communication. After she graduated, she moved to Sri Lanka where she began working as a television reporter. She also learned Spanish and refined her French and Arabic at the Berlitz school of languages.
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Reporting & Modelling Career
Jacqueline Fernandez has fond memories of the time when she worked as a reporter for a Sri Lankan news channel. As her university education was in the field of investigative journalism, she truly enjoyed her job at the news channel. She has stated that she sometimes still misses her reporting days as it was “adventure every day, coming to work, finding out what the latest news is, working with the team. It was like being a little detective.”
While she was still employed as a reporter, she started accepting modelling gigs. In 2006, she emerged as the winner of the Miss Universe Sri Lanka pageant and subsequently went on to represent Sri Lanka at the world Miss Universe 2006 pageant in Los Angeles. She was a professional model for the next three years and participated in various commercial campaigns.
Acting Career
In 2009, Jacqueline Fernandez travelled to India for a modelling assignment. During her stay, she took acting lessons under British-Indian theatre director Barry John. She later successfully auditioned for the fantasy romance ‘Aladin’, landing the role of the female protagonist, Jasmine. Also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sahil Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, and Sanjay Dutt, the film was released on October 30, 2009.
The movie was a critical and commercial failure and Fernandez herself received harsh criticism for her acting. Despite this, she was awarded the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female for the film.
She shared screen space with Deshmukh once more in her next release, the 2010 science fiction romantic comedy ‘Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai’. She portrayed Tara, an alien girl from Venus who comes to Earth looking for love. This film too was a flop. In fact, film critic Anupama Chopra compared Fernandez to “a pin-prick on a balloon” in her scathing review of the film. That year, she also did the item number ‘Aapka Kya Hoga Janabe Ali’ (Dhanno) in the film ‘Housefull’.
In 2011, she was cast in ‘Murder 2’ which proved to be a major hit. After the success of this film, she appeared as one of the female leads in ‘Housefull 2’ (2012). She played Bobby, the love interest of John Abraham’s character, Max. While the film was critically panned, it was one of the most successful movies at the box office that year. Fernandez returned in 2016 for ‘Housefull 3’, playing a character named Ganga "Gracy" Patel this time, the love interest of Akshay Kumar's Sandy.
In 2013, she portrayed Omisha, a femme fatale character in the 2013 action thriller ‘Race 2’. Starring alongside Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, and Abraham, Fernandez learned fencing and some acrobatics to flesh out her character. Despite this, she once more was at the receiving end of negative reviews for her performance. In Prabhu Deva’s directorial venture ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’, she made a special guest appearance as herself in the song ‘Jaadu Ki Jhappi’.
The 2014 release ‘Kick’ is the biggest blockbuster of her career till date. The film also starred Salman Khan, Randeep Hooda, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Fernandez played Dr Shaina Mehra, a psychiatrist living in Warsaw, Poland and was allowed to retain her own voice for the first time in a film. The movie was about a thrill seeker named Devi Lal Singh, who, using the pseudonym Devil, becomes an infamous thief.
Her next project was Vikramjit Singh’s ‘Roy’, a 2015 romantic thriller. She also appeared in two other Indian films that year, ‘Bangistan’ and ‘Brothers’. In the horror thriller ‘Definition of Horror’, Fernandez portrayed Sarah Fording, a psychology student. Besides being her first British film, it was also her first outing as the main protagonist.
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In 2016, she did many films including ‘Housefull 3’, ‘Dishoom’ and ‘A Flying Jatt’. Fernandez made her debut in Sri Lankan cinema in 2017 with the English-language film ‘According to Matthew’. In the 2017 action comedy ‘A Gentleman’, she worked with Siddharth Malhotra.
She then acted in ’Judwaa 2’, the remake /sequel / reboot of the 1997 film ‘Judwaa’ which was directed by David Dhawan, who had also directed the original. A huge box-office success, the film saw Fernandez portraying Alishka Bakshi, one of the two female protagonists.
Fernandez made a special guest appearance in ‘Baaghi 2’ (2018) in the song ‘Ek Do Teen’. First featured in the 1988 film ‘Tezaab’, the song was originally performed by veteran actress Madhuri Dixit. Fernandez’s rendition did not go down well with celebrities and fans alike. Inevitably, there were comparisons, with many labelling the new version as “unimpressive” and “crass”.
Fernandez served as one of the judges in the ninth season (2016-17) of Colors TV’s dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’. She is set to appear in the action comedy ‘Drive’ and the third instalment of the Race film franchise.
She has been the brand ambassador of HTC One since early 2013. She previously was the face of Indian Bridal Fashion Week—IBFW of 2013. That year, she was picked as the spokesperson for Forevermark Diamonds designed by Gareth Pugh in Mumbai and was present at the inaugural opening of the Forever 21 store in the city. Fernandez also attended the launching of the Gillette Shaving System along with Arbaaz Khan and Aditya Roy Kapur.
Major Works
The psychological horror slasher film ‘Murder 2’ was not only the breakthrough film in Jacqueline Fernandez’s career but it was also the movie in which she gave her best performance. A quasi-sequel to the 2004 film ‘Murder’, the movie was directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mukesh Bhatt. Fernandez played Priya (with Mona Ghosh Shetty as the Hindi dubbing voice), a beautiful but depressed model who is in love with Arjun (Emraan Hashmi), a former police officer turned criminal.
The film, made with an original budget of Rs. 12.7 crore (US$1.9 million), was a commercial success, earning Rs.100 crore (US$15 million) at the box-office. For her performance, Fernandez garnered much praise, with critics raving about her boldness and the sexual appeal she demonstrated in the film.
Philanthropic Works
Jacqueline Fernandez is involved with several charities and causes. In 2011, representing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), she penned a letter to the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner requesting him to ban the horse-driven carriages in the city. She also spoke to the consulate general of the Philippines, William John T Perera in Colombo in early 2013 about the transfer of an elephant from its insufficient housing in the Manila Zoo to a safe habitat. PETA honoured her with the "Woman of the Year” accolade in 2014.
She auctioned a breakfast in Mayfair, London in 2013 to raise funds for children’s primary education. In March 2016, she led the "Jacqueline Builds" campaign, which accumulated funds for the victims of the 2015 South Indian floods.
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Facts About Jacqueline Fernandez
Jacqueline Fernandez is a certified nutritionist and has a deep passion for health and wellness.
She often shares her favorite healthy recipes and workout routines on social media.
In addition to her successful acting career, Jacqueline is also a talented painter.
She enjoys creating abstract art in her free time and finds it to be a therapeutic outlet for her creativity.
Jacqueline is fluent in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Spanish, and French.
She has a keen interest in learning new languages and cultures, which has helped her connect with fans from around the world.
Despite her glamorous image, Jacqueline is known for her down-to-earth and friendly personality.
She is often seen engaging with fans on social media and participating in charitable initiatives to give back to the community.
Jacqueline is a huge animal lover and advocates for animal rights.
She has worked with several animal welfare organizations to raise awareness about the importance of adopting pets and providing them with a loving home.
