Jessica Campbell, who played Tammy Metzler in Election, died at the age of 38.
Campbell’s family confirmed the news TMZ, and said Campbell passed away on December 29, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. Campbell, who acted to become a naturopath, spent the day patients at her practice, her cousin Sarah Wessling said. She went home to visit her mother and aunt, and went to the bathroom and never returned.
Her aunt later found that she had collapsed on the bathroom floor; Campbell could not be revived when the EMTs arrived. Her family is awaiting the results of the autopsy conducted by the Multnomah County Medical Examiner in Oregon.
Campbell was born on October 30, 1982, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She first appeared in the 1992 TV movie In the best interests of the children with Sarah Jessica Parker. In 1999, she starred in her most famous role as Metzler in Election. The direction of the film was played by Alexander Payne and Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Campbell played Chris Klein’s anxious sister whose girlfriend dumped her and left her behind for Klein’s character. In search of revenge, she leads him as class president.
In a movie that had all the stars like Broderick and Witherspoon, Campbell stood out even though he was a family member. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.
‘Jessica was the last of the four tournaments selected for Election, ”Tell Payne Rolling clip. ‘I think she did just a little bit of high school and non-professional acting in Saint Louis, and her local agent there sent a VHS band with Jessica’s perfect audition to Omaha – where we were shooting. She even had wires. We never met until the night before her first shooting day, so there was no time to rehearse this non-professional actor; she just had to start working right in front of the camera. Her instincts for the character were always spot on and her discipline was exemplary. If she was ever nervous, she never showed it. Her mother was also with us, an ER doctor, and Jessica later also became a doctor. Jessica also performed a lot, but it never occurred to her. ‘
‘Of the four leading protagonists of Election, her character was the well-founded truth teller – and there was little difference between the character and Jessica herself, ”Payne added. ‘She was very smart, very grounded, very funny and friendly, and you could see those qualities in her mother too. Really good people. I can not tell you how sad this recent, out of the blue news has made me, because I’m sure everyone who knew her does. ‘
Campbell also plays in Freaks and Geeks, Paul Feig’s short-lived cult television series produced by Judd Apatow. Campbell plays Amy Andrews, a tuba player in McKinley High’s marching band. She starts dating Ken (Seth Rogen) and later reveals to him that she was born intersex.
‘Jessica is working on Freaks and Geeks was so heartfelt, vulnerable and really sweet and funny, ”says Apatow Rolling clip. “We all knew we were working with a very special person. Several of the most important scenes were improvised with Seth Rogen, and they were magic together. She created a character with power and grace. ‘
Campbell plays later in 2001 The safety of objects versus Glenn Close and Dermot Mulroney, followed by 2002s Rubbish.
Wessling set up a GoFundMe account and raised funds for the funeral expenses – the cremation, memorial and will – as well as the care of Campbell’s 10-year-old son, Oliver. Apatow donated $ 5,000 to the fundraiser.
“A true adventurer in every sense of the word, and Jessica has packed an incredible amount of experience into her tragically short life,” Wessling wrote on the GoFundMe page. ‘If one listens to her talk and tells her stories at a mile per minute, you can be forgiven for thinking’ is this really a bit? ‘But she really was and there was no one else like her. The world travels, acts, becomes a doctor, is a mother to the coolest child ever; these bucket list items weaved the quotidian fabric of her reality. Her passion for life and the people in it was amazing. ”
“In addition to the impressive energy she has poured into her own life, on several occasions Jessica has dropped everything to travel across state lines and to look after her loved ones in need,” she continued. ‘She was nice, she was loud, she was compassionate and loyal; no matter what she did, she was always a unique Jessica. Our phone call is full of hilarious inappropriate memes. She can always be counted on as the instigator of, or at least a willing accomplice, for various forms of mischief and cap. To know her is to have a story that engages her. To know her is to know true friendship. ”