Jaime Elizabeth Pressly (born July 30, 1977) is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards, winning one, as well as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has also appeared in films such as Joe Dirt, DOA: Dead or Alive and I Love You, Man
Jaime Pressly
Pressly was born in Kinston, North Carolina, the daughter of James List Pressly and Brenda Sue (née Smith), a dance instructor. She has two siblings: sister Jessica and brother James Liston Pressly, Jr. She has spent 11 years studying gymnastics and dancing.
Pressly attended Costa Mesa High School in California, where her mother had moved while her parents were going through a divorce. By age 14, she was the spokeswoman for her modeling agency "International Cover Model Search" and had begun to gain recognition for her modeling in the USA, as well as in Italy and Japan.Pressly subsequently sought and succeeded in having herself legally emancipated from her parents at the age of 15 so she could take up a modeling job in Japan; neither of parents could make the trip, so she had to be emancipated to go on her own.
Pressly starred as "Violet" in the 1997 film Poison Ivy: The New Seduction. In 1998 she starred as "Nikki" on the short-lived TV series "Push", and also played a recurring role as the undead assassin Mika in the TV action series Mortal Kombat: Conquest. From 1999 to 2001, Pressly starred as "Audrey" on the drama series Jack and Jill.
Pressly starred in the independent film Poor White Trash, playing scheming gold-digger Sandy Lake. She subsequently appeared in a number of films, including Not Another Teen Movie (playing Priscilla, a high school cheerleader) and Torque, as a crazed, motorcycle-riding criminal.
In 2001, she was made the new spokesmodel for Liz Claiborne Cosmetics and its fragrance Lucky You. In 2002, she was ranked #8 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2003, she launched a lingerie line, J'Aime, which later became a full sleepwear and ready-to-wear line. In 2006, Maxim magazine named her #34 on its annual list; she is also featured in its gallery. Pressly posed nude for the March 1998 and February 2004 issues of Playboy. She also appeared nude in the May 2006 issue of Allure.
Pressly guest starred in episodes of several TV shows. In an episode of the WB series Charmed, played Mylie, a mermaid trying to find love; (Alyssa Milano, who played Phoebe, later guest starred on My Name is Earl.) Other series in which Pressly guest starred were The Twilight Zone, Fastlane, Becker. Night Man and Silk Stalkings. She also appeared in an episode of the prank series Punk'd.