Jess Chanliau

The Body as a Working Tool

Jess Chanliau did not break into television by following the style guide of Los Angeles modeling agencies. Their training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland gave them a technical foundation far removed from empty improvisation. But it was their time in circus arts and physical theater that truly defined their presence on camera.

With that ability to control every muscle, she stood out in a crowded market of interchangeable faces. In 2020, she played Sheila in the series Brave New World. It was a big-budget production for Peacock in which she had to navigate a dystopia that demanded an almost mechanical coldness.

The screen doesn't lie.

Chanliau understands the craft from a place of resilience. Their non-binary identity is not a promotional label in their career. It is a reality that runs through their artistic choices and the way they inhabit characters. But above all, there is their ability to hold the gaze in close-ups without resorting to overacting.

Breaking Into the Big Leagues

In 2022, they appeared in the film The Woman King under the direction of Gina Prince-Bythewood. Filming in South Africa was a trial by fire because of the weather conditions and the demanding combat choreography. Chanliau played one of the warriors in a story that grossed 94 million dollars at the global box office.

That was the moment of truth.

Soon after came the role of Ihvon in the second season of The Wheel of Time, which premiered in 2023. In this adaptation of Robert Jordan's novels, they play a Warder bound to an Aes Sedai. The role demands a mix of absolute loyalty and precisely choreographed violence. Their past at the Scottish conservatoire was therefore essential in handling bladed weapons with ease.

In 2022, they also joined the cast of the espionage series In From the Cold for Netflix. There they played a computer technician with a much drier, more pragmatic tone. Because Chanliau prefers to work from silence rather than media noise.

The industry took notice.

In 2023, filming of the second batch of episodes of The Wheel of Time mobilized more than 11,000 extras and required a technical crew of several hundred people on locations in Morocco and the Czech Republic. Jess Chanliau closed that year with an active role in the series' international promotion in London. The production contract for this fantasy franchise was signed for several seasons under a strict confidentiality clause.