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Jessie Cave
Cave in 2022
Born	Jessica Alice Cave Lloyd (1987-05-05) 5 May 1987 (age 37) London, England
Alma mater	Kingston University
Occupations	Actress cartoonist YouTuber author
Years active	2007–present
Partner	Alfie Brown (2014–present)
Children	4
Relatives	Bebe Cave (sister)

Jessica Alice Cave Lloyd (born 5 May 1987) is an English actress, comedian, YouTuber, author and cartoonist, known for her role as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter film series and for her shows in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has also published a book of cartoon doodles called Love Sick, some of the designs in which have appeared on greeting cards. A comedic play based on her life and relationships, Sunrise, was first performed in 2019. Cave's first novel, Sunset, was published in 2021.

Early life

Cave was born on 5 May 1987 in London, the second of five siblings. Her father works as a general practitioner. Her mother Deborah is the daughter of former Chief Secretary to Hong Kong, Tasmanian-born Sir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave. Her youngest sister Bebe Cave is also an actress.

She attended Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith for Sixth Form. A former county-level swimmer and ex-national tennis player, she studied illustration and animation at Kingston University, dropping out aged 19. Her tennis career was cut short by injury when she was 15. In 2020, she revealed that she had been raped by her tennis coach at the age of 14. She had originally intended to study stage management at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and worked in London as a stagehand, before deciding to pursue acting.

Career

Cave made her acting debut in the drama Summerhill, shown on CBBC in early 2008.

She won the role of Lavender Brown in the film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince through an open casting call held on 1 July 2007. Cave, who came from an agency, beat over 7,000 girls who turned up for the audition. She also performed the voice of Lavender in the video-game adaptations of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

In June 2009, she made her West End début, playing Thomasina in a revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre. That December, Cave had a minor role in the 2009 film Inkheart as a water nymph.

She appeared in the play Breed at Theatre503, playing the role of Liv, from 21 September to 16 October 2010. She won the Off West-End stage award for People's Choice for Female Performance.

On 4 February 2011, she appeared as a one-off character, Hermione, on the CBBC children's drama Sadie J.

Cave runs the website Pindippy, and its associated YouTube channel of the same name, which features short videos written by and starring Cave herself, with occasional appearances from some of her Harry Potter costars, including her close friend, Evanna Lynch.

She played the title character in a 2012 production of J. M. Barrie's Mary Rose at the DogOrange Theatre, in London. That same year, she appeared as Zazzy in the final episode of season 2 of Grandma's House, which aired on 24 May 2012, and in the role of Elder Biddy in 2012's Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and directed by Mike Newell. During the filming of Great Expectations, Cave worked alongside her younger sister Bebe (who played the younger Biddy) and was also reunited with her Harry Potter costars Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, and Ralph Fiennes. By June 2012, Cave had amassed over 30,000 followers on her Twitter account.

Cave has had several minor television roles. She appeared as a waitress named Angela in a medieval restaurant in the second series of BBC Three's Pramface, which aired on 8 January 2013. She appeared as Theodora Snitch, a character in YouTube's one-off revival of the TV series Knightmare; as Denise in episode 2 of Coming Up Series 8; as Alicia Ferguson on the CBBC series Wizards vs Aliens, in the two-part episode "The Thirteenth Floor"; as Anne-Marie Bonner in series 2 of The Job Lot; and as Annie Maddocks in the E4 drama Glue in 2014. She has appeared as herself on game shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in 2017 and Richard Osman's House of Games in November 2021.

In August 2012, Cave made her debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show Bookworm, which is described as "a charming hour of character comedy and loving literary silliness inspired by the obsessive Potter fans" Cave encountered while starring in the Harry Potter films. In the show, Cave stars as the bossy leader of a book club named Bookworms United, whose sidekick is played by her younger sister, Bebe. Cave's character expresses her enthusiasm for topics ranging from Babar to Andre Agassi's autobiography through a combination of homemade props and shadow puppetry, which conceal the character's neurosis and contrast with a subplot about an ex-boyfriend.

Her 2018 Edinburgh Fringe show Sunrise was described as an "emotionally intelligent honest" performance. and has since been published as a playtext by Nick Hern Books. She also does regular comedy shows at venues in Soho, London.

Other activities

In 2012, Cave created a fashion range of colourful boho-chic harem-style pants, called "Cave Pants". She also published a book of cartoons called Lovesick on 2 July 2015 through Ebury Publishing. These cartoons have also been made into a greeting card range published by Cardmix.

Cave and her sister, actor Bebe Cave, began a podcast in 2020, We Can't Talk About That Right Now.

Personal life

Cave is in a relationship with comedian Alfie Brown, son of composer Steve Brown and impressionist Jan Ravens. They have four children: a son born in October 2014, a daughter born in July 2016, a second son born in October 2020, and a third son born in March 2022.

The couple's relationship inspired Cave's 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe comedy show I Loved Her. They broke up after the birth of their second child, and Cave explored their breakup and co-parenting experience in her 2018 show Sunrise. In 2018, Cave and Brown, who were separated at the time, took part in Comedy Central's Roast Battle. The couple eventually reconciled.

In January 2021, Cave's third child was treated in hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. In February 2022, Cave tested positive for COVID-19 while pregnant with her fourth child. The following month, she was admitted to hospital where she gave birth.

Filmography

Television

Film

Video games

Authored works

• Sunset, Welbeck Publishing Group, 2021. ISBN 9781787395299

References

1. The Medical Register, 2002, part 3, pg 2572
2. Kat (4 October 2014). "Special Guests". MuggleNet. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
3. Maxwell, Dominic (15 November 2018). "Jessie Cave: From Harry Potter to comedy's queen of oversharing". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
4. "HADDON-CAVE - Deaths Announcements". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
5. Furness, Hannah (20 May 2015). "From A-list to A-Levels: a British teenager's Cannes fairy tale". The Daily Telegraph.
6. ^ Liz Hoggard (23 November 2011). "Chic geek: Jessie Cave and her quirky fashion label". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
7. ^ Saner, Emine (2 August 2021). "Jessie Cave on body image, bereavement and being relentless: 'I don't have any secrets'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
8. "Graduate makes movie magic". Kingston University London. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
9. ^ Jones, Alice (16 August 2012). "Jessie Cave: Bookworm, Underbelly, Edinburgh". The Independent.
10. Young, Sarah (28 August 2020). "HARRY POTTER STAR JESSIE CAVE SAYS SHE WAS RAPED BY HER TENNIS COACH AGED 14". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
11. Kappala-Ramsamy, Gemma (29 July 2012). "Jessie Cave: 'People whose lives are dictated by books intrigue me'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
12. "Move over Hermione: Hopefuls disappointed as tap-dancing actress claims Harry Potter role". Evening Standard. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
13. Matthew (7 January 2007). "7,000 show up for Lavender Brown auditions". Veritaserum. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
14. Wolf, Matt (10 June 2009). "A Bracing 'Arcadia' and a Fierce 'Hamlet'". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
15. "Who's the next big thing in 2008?". CBBC. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
16. "Theatre503 Presents BREED, 9/21-10/16". Broadway World UK Regional. Broadway World. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
17. Wicker, Tom (28 February 2011). "The Off West End Theatre Awards 2011". Exeunt Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
18. "Sadie J, Slumberlicious". BBC Online. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
19. ^ Nissim, Mayer (25 June 2012). "Jessie Cave interview: 'I make stuff - that's what I do'". Digital Spy.
20. "Jessie Cave cast as title role for 'Mary Rose' in London theatre". Mugglenet.com. 5 February 2016.
21. Logan, Brian (9 August 2012). "Jessie Cave: Bookworm – Edinburgh festival review". The Guardian.
22. Logan, Brian (23 August 2018). "Jessie Cave: Sunrise review – a twisted indie romcom in standup form". The Guardian. p. R-13. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
23. ^ "Roast Battle Series 2, Episode 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
24. "Soho Theatre Presents: Jessie Cave: Work In Progress". Soho Theatre. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
25. Jones, Alice (1 July 2015). "Jessie Cave interview: Harry Potter's Lavender Brown has published a collection of feminist cartoons". The Independent.
26. Cave, Jessie (1 July 2015). "Jessie Cave: love guru". The Guardian.
27. "Harry Potter star Jessie Cave welcomes baby boy after 'extreme' birth". Metro.uk. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
28. "Spinning Plates Episode 16". sophieellisbextor.net. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
29. Slater, Georgia (22 March 2022). "Harry Potter's Jessie Cave Welcomes Fourth Baby, Son Becker, 3 Weeks After COVID Hospitalization". People. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
30. Logan, Brian (8 September 2015). "The oversharer: Jessie Cave wants to tell you all about her boyfriend's exes". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
31. Cave, Jessie (5 June 2018). "Jessie Cave Of 'Harry Potter' Fame On Being A Mum, Comedian, Actor & Illustrator". Bustle. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
32. "Jessie Cave: Harry Potter star reveals newborn baby has COVID-19". Sky News. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
33. "Jessie Cave: Harry Potter star's newborn baby leaves hospital after COVID treatment". Sky News. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
34. "Harry Potter star Jessie Cave in hospital after catching Covid while pregnant". The Guardian. PA Media. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Jessie Cave's channel on YouTube
• Jessie Cave at IMDb 
• Jessie Cave on Twitter
• Jessie Cave on Instagram

• 1987 births
• Living people
• Actresses from London
• British women autobiographers
• English film actresses
• English television actresses
• People associated with Kingston University
• 21st-century English actresses
• English people of Australian descent
• English cartoonists
• English women comedians
• YouTubers from London
• Comedians from London