Jessica Pare

Jessica Par, star of the hit show "Mad Men," grew up bilingual in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, speaking both French and English. Her parents both moonlighted as actors, whereupon she grew up fascinated by the theater, eventually studying drama at TheatreWorks, where she gained valuable stage experience.

Her professional debut came with an appearance on the kids' series "The Baby-Sitters Club," but it would be nearly 10 years later before she began to pursue screen work in earnest, starting with a role in "Bonanno: A Godfather's Story." After a guest spot on the fantasy comedy "Big Wolf on Campus," she landed her first lead role as a hockey player-turned-supermodel in the Dan Aykroyd satire "Stardom." True to the film's title, Pare was propelled to Canadian stardom and impressed critics with a strong turn opposite Piper Perabo in the boarding school lesbian romance "Lost and Delirious." She essayed memorable turns in the miniseries "Random Passage" and "Napolon" as well as the title role in "The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton."

Pare's big screen Hollywood debut came as Josh Hartnett's fiance in the doppelganger mystery "Wicker Park," while at the same time she landed a series regular role on the drama "Jack & Bobby" as a young woman destined to become First Lady. The actress played a party girl in the comedy "Hot Tub Time Machine," but she enjoyed her biggest profile boost with a role on "Mad Men."

As Megan Calvert, Pare played Don Draper's (Jon Hamm) French-Canadian secretary, who turns out to be his shrewd, intelligent equal and a growing part of his life. Becoming Draper's second wife and a junior copywriter, Pare's Megan made a cultural splash when she performed the song "Zou Bisou Bisou" at a party for her stoic yet embarrassed husband. So alluring was her performance that its clip quickly went viral, became the water cooler topic the next day, and was released as a single.