Jessica Hamby

Jessica Hamby  is a fictional character in the True Blood series. In the series, which chronicles the life of human waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her friends after vampires make themselves known to humans, Jessica is a newly made vampire who must learn to deal with her vampiric abilities and altered lifestyle. She has been portrayed by American actress Deborah Ann Woll since her first appearance in 2008.

Character biography
In her human life, Jessica was raised in a strict devout Christian family in Shreveport, Louisiana. Jessica and her younger sister Eden were homseschooled and only allowed to go to Bible Study and clarinet lessons. Her father would often beat Jessica with his belt to punish her for her faults. Jessica's mother was oblivious to his abuse. In a later episode, Jessica attributed this to her mother's "stupidness". Jessica resented the restrictions of her life dearly and secretly developed a rebellious attitude to her father's dominance. Shortly before her appearance in True Blood, she chooses to sneak out after her bible study to attend a friend's party. In events off-screen, she was subsequently captured by vampires and brought to the scene of a vampire trial, where the Magister, the enforcer of vampire justice, intended to use her as part of a sentence for a vampire on trial.

Season 1
While she was still human, Jessica is brought to a vampire trial. At this trial, the Magister (enforcer of vampire law) is reviewing the case of one of True Blood's protagonists, Bill Compton, the vampire boyfriend of main character Sookie Stackhouse who murdered another vampire to stop him from killing Sookie. The Magister decides that as a punishment for his deeds, Bill is to "create" a new vampire, and therefore presents him with the human Jessica. Bill is reluctant but unwillingly goes along with the sentence, draining the struggling Jessica of all her blood and burying her underground with him for one night. This process transforms Jessica into a vampire successfully, but she is under the reign of her "maker", Bill, to which she does not take kindly. Jessica has difficulty understanding what it means to be a vampire and initially cheers over her new-found freedom and enhanced abilities. Bill teaches her to drink synthetic blood, as opposed to human blood, but Jessica doesn't like the synthetic blood. Eventually, she becomes such an obstacle to Bill that he leaves her to his vampire sheriff, Eric Northman. However, Eric grows tired of her as well and once again leaves her with Bill.