Childhood & Early Life
Jill was born Jill Suzanne Wagner, on January 13, 1979, in Winston–Salem, North Carolina, US. She lost her mother shortly after her birth and was raised by her father, David Wagner, a US Marine, and her grandmother. She has an elder brother.
Jill studied in the ‘Ledford Senior High School’ in Wallburg, North Carolina, and she then obtained a bachelor's degree in business management in 2001 from the ‘North Carolina State University.’
She also attended the internationally renowned ‘Barbizon Modeling and Acting School’ in its Raleigh center and graduated from there. Thus, she earned the name ‘Miss Barbizon.’
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Career
Jill had resolved to step into the entertainment industry and thus, relocated to California to commence her career in modeling.
In 2003, she landed up as a cast member of the MTV series ‘Punk'd.’ The show was created by Jason Goldberg and Ashton Kutcher, and it featured practical jokes, filmed by hidden cameras. Jill featured as ‘Field Agent’ in the show and appeared in six of its episodes, taking part in around a dozen of its sketches.
Following this exposure, she featured in the British men's magazine ‘Stuff.’ She achieved another feat when the international men's magazine ‘Maxim’ ranked her number 90 on its list of ‘Hot 100 Women of 2004.’
In 2004, she appeared in three television series. These include an episode of the comedy-drama ‘Monk,’ titled ‘Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month,’ which aired on August 6; two episodes of the drama ‘Dr. Vegas,’ titled ‘Dead Man, Live Bet’ and ‘All In,’ which aired on October 8 and October 15 respectively; and an episode of the sitcom ‘Quintuplets,’ titled ‘Thanksgiving Day Charade,’ which aired on November 24.
From 2005 to 2011, she featured in various TV advertisements, as the spokesmodel of ‘Mercury,’ a brand of the multinational automaker ‘Ford.’ Such ads, of the now defunct brand, led her to be known as ‘The Mercury Girl.’
The 2005 American comedy-drama film ‘Junebug,’ starring Embeth Davidtz, Amy Adams, Scott Wilson, and Benjamin McKenzie, featured Jill in the bit role of Millicent.
She landed up with the role of ‘Krista Starr,’ one of the main characters in the American live-action superhero TV series ‘Blade: The Series,’ which aired on ‘Spike TV,’ from June 28, 2006, to September 13, 2006. That year, she appeared on the now defunct UK monthly lifestyle magazine for men, ‘FHM,’ in the July issue of its American publication.
She played ‘Larrin,’ a leader amongst the ‘Travelers’ in two episodes of the Canadian–American adventure and military science-fiction TV series ‘Stargate Atlantis.’ The episodes, titled ‘Travelers’ and ‘Be All My Sins Remember'd,’ were aired on October 26, 2007, and January 4, 2008, respectively, in the fourth season of the series.
Although a few years old in the entertainment industry, she got her real breakthrough as the "on-location" presenter of the game show series ‘Wipeout,’ that premiered on ‘ABC’ on June 24, 2008. She remained the co-host of the show from its first to its fourth season, and again for its sixth and seventh seasons, encompassing 65 episodes. The show turned her into an ace co-host, garnering her immense recognition and popularity.
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‘The Man in the Outhouse,’ the third episode of Season 4 of the popular American crime procedural drama ‘Bones,’ which aired on ‘Fox,’ on September 10, 2008, featured Jill in the role of ‘Holly Markwell.’
She then landed up with the starring role of ‘Polly Watt’ in the American horror film ‘Splinter.’ The film, which released on October 31, 2008, received positive critical reviews and grossed $478,931 at the box office.
In 2009, she appeared in an episode of the American dance competition TV series ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ titled ‘Round Ten: Final Results.’
In 2011, she was seen as the co-host of the American news magazine TV show ‘Inside the Vault,’ in ten of its episodes. That year, she was cast as ‘Kate Argent’ in the American television series ‘Teen Wolf.’ Seasons 1 and 4 of the series saw her in a recurring role, while she featured in a guest role in seasons 3 and 6, appearing in a total of 20 episodes.
Moving on, she featured as ‘Sandy’ in the 2014 blockbuster American drama-thriller film ‘Road to Paloma.’
Apart from TV series and shows, Jill has also featured in several TV films, such as ‘Autumn Dreams’ (2015), ‘Christmas in the Smokies’ (2015), ‘Christmas Cookies’ (2016), ‘A Harvest Wedding’ (2017), and ‘Karen Kingsbury's Maggie's Christmas Miracle’ (2017).
Since 2015, she has been hosting the original series ‘Handcrafted America,’ that airs on ‘INSP.’
She appeared in an episode of the American reality television cooking competition ‘Hell's Kitchen,’ titled ‘It's All Gravy,’ in 2017.
The upcoming Canadian action-thriller film ‘Braven,’ that is slated to release on February 2, 2018, will see her in the role of Stephanie, wife of a major character, Joe Braven, played by Jason Momoa.
