Jaime Pressly

Jaime Elizabeth Pressly is an American actress and model. She is widely known for starring as Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl (2005–2009), a role that earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is also recognized for her portrayal of Jill Kendall on the CBS sitcom Mom (2014–2021), which earned her a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.

Pressly was born on July 30, 1977, in Kinston, North Carolina, to Brenda Sue, a dance instructor, and James Liston Pressly, a car salesman. She grew up alongside her brother, James Jr., and her sister, Jessica. During her childhood and early teenage years, she trained extensively as a gymnast, which eventually led to modeling opportunities. At age 14, she appeared on the cover of Teen Magazine and became the spokesmodel for the International Cover Model Search. After moving with her family to Costa Mesa, California, in 1992, she was legally emancipated from her parents at age 15 to pursue a modeling contract in Japan.

Pressly began her acting career with appearances in Baywatch in 1995 and Mercenary in 1996, followed by a starring role in the 1997 film Poison Ivy: The New Seduction. She made guest appearances on series such as Push and gained a leading role in the WB drama Jack & Jill (1999–2001). Around this time, she appeared in a series of teen and comedy films, including Can't Hardly Wait (1998), Poor White Trash (2000), Not Another Teen Movie (2001), Tomcats (2001), and Joe Dirt (2001). She subsequently starred in the horror film Demon Island (2002) and the action thriller Torque (2004).

From 2005 to 2009, Pressly achieved widespread recognition playing Joy Turner in My Name Is Earl. Alongside her work on the sitcom, she produced and starred in the independent feature Death to the Supermodels (2005), appeared in the martial arts film DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), voiced a role in the animated film Horton Hears a Who! (2008), and co-starred in the successful comedy I Love You, Man (2009). Her media profile during this era also included hosting the VH1 Rock Honors and an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2006.

Pressly continued with prominent television and film projects throughout the 2010s. She starred in television films such as Beauty & the Briefcase (2010) and Smoke Screen (2010), and took on main roles in the sitcoms I Hate My Teenage Daughter (2011–2012) and Jennifer Falls (2014). Her film credits included 6 Month Rule (2011), The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012), A Haunted House 2 (2014), and Making the Rules (2014). From 2014 to 2021, she starred as Jill Kendall on the Chuck Lorre sitcom Mom. In August 2022, she joined the main cast of the Fox sitcom Welcome to Flatch for its second season.

Beyond acting, Pressly launched her own clothing and lingerie lines, J'aime by Jaime Pressly in 2003 and the J'aime Collection in 2008, before concluding her fashion ventures later that year. In May 2026, she launched an account on OnlyFans. In her personal life, Pressly has three children: a son born in 2007 with Eric Calvo, and twin sons born in 2017 with Hamzi Hijazi. She was also married to entertainment lawyer Simran Singh from 2009 to 2011.