Jessica Capshaw is a renowned American actress recognized for her portrayal of Jamie Stringer in the ABC legal drama series The Practice, as well as her role as Dr. Arizona Robbins in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
Childhood & Education
Jessica Brooke Capshaw was born on August 9, 1976, in Columbia, Missouri. She is the stepdaughter of renowned director Steven Spielberg, who became her stepfather when her mother, Kate Capshaw, married him when Jessica was 15 years old.
Capshaw completed her education at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles in 1994 and subsequently enrolled at Brown University.
While at Brown, she participated in theatrical productions such as Arcadia and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature in 1998.
During her summer breaks, she took classes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London, where she portrayed Puck in a staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Jessica Capshaw Career
Jessica Capshaw briefly appeared as Jeremy Davies’ potential romantic interest in The Locusts (1997), a film featuring her mother. She subsequently acted in Adam Rifkin’s independent project Denial (1998).
In the slasher film Valentine (2001), she portrayed Dorothy Wheeler, followed by a minor role in Minority Report (2002) and a leading part in Edward Burns’s The Groomsmen (2006).
In 2009, Capshaw joined the cast of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy as a regular. In December 2008, it was revealed that she would be introduced as pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins for a multi-episode storyline.
Although she was initially slated to appear in just three episodes of the fifth season, series creator Shonda Rhimes opted to extend her contract, allowing her to feature in all remaining episodes of that season, and she was promoted to a series regular in the sixth season.
Jessica Capshaw was introduced as a romantic interest for orthopedic surgery resident Callie Torres, portrayed by Sara Ramirez. Rhimes expressed satisfaction with the chemistry between the two characters, noting that Capshaw’s inclusion in the cast was one of her proudest achievements of the season.
In March 2018, Capshaw departed from Grey’s Anatomy, with the producers attributing her exit to creative reasons. She later shared a statement on Twitter, emphasizing her character’s importance:
“She was one of the first members of the LGBTQ community to be represented in a series regular role on network television. Her impact on the world is permanent and forever.”
Personal Life
Jessica Capshaw has been married to Christopher Gavigan since 2004, and together, they have four children.
Net Worth
Jessica Capshaw is a renowned American actress with an estimated net worth of $20 million. She embarked on her professional acting journey in the late 1990s, making her debut with a guest appearance on the television series “E.R.”.
Following this, she featured in various film and television productions during the early 2000s, such as “Odd Man Out,” “Valentine,” and “Minority Report.”
