Alisha Boe: 11 Facts This Beautiful Norwegian Actress

Alisha Ilhaan Bo, better known as Alisha Boe, is the actress best known for playing Jessica Davis on the sensational and controversial Netflix show, Thirteen Reasons Why. Jessica Davis is one of the most memorable characters of the show who is the protagonist, Hannah Baker’s ex-best friend, the ex-girlfriend of another complex character, Justin Foley, and one of the prime suspects in the murder of Bryce Walker in season three.
 

In the first season, Hannah Baker and Jessica Davis are close friends with Alex but the friendship ends due to a misunderstanding. Shortly after Hannah Baker commits suicide and sends out 13 tapes to the people who were the 13 reasons why she decided to take her own life. Jessica Davis is the second person to receive these tapes. In these tapes, Hannah reveals that Justin’s friend Bryce Walker raped a girl on the night of a party that both Hannah and Jessica attended. It is later revealed that that girl was none other than Jessica herself and her repressed memories begin to resurface but her then-boyfriend Justin Foley lies to her trying to protect his friend Bryce.
 

In the second season, she testifies in Hannah’s trial and exposes the bullying culture at their high school that caused Hannah to commit the grievous act but doesn't tell the truth about Bryce Walker. However, eventually, she does file a rape report against him with the support of her parents.
 

In season three, Bryce Walker is murdered, and Jessica Davis becomes one of the prime suspects due to her history with the murder victim. Jessica also becomes a student body president and works to create a space for sexual assault survivors in her high school. The season also shows her recovering from sexual trauma and feeling comfortable in her body again.
 

In season four, Jessica continues this fight against rape culture, but her mental health starts to spiral. A lot of death and chaos ensues as is the trademark of the show, but Jessica’s character shows remarkable growth and Alisha Boe did a mindblowing job of portraying the bumpy journey of trying to heal from the trauma of sexual violence.

Alisha Boe blew up as Jessica Davis on 13 reasons why, but chances are high you’ve caught a glimpse of her on television before. A lot of people took to the internet after the first season claiming that they had seen her before and they were right! Boe made her feature film debut in 2008, in a killer clown horror film called Amusement. Shortly after, Boe appeared as a student in the romantic comedy, He’s on My Mind in 2009. What followed for Boe’s career after 2009 was a chain of minor roles and guest appearances in movies and shows like Paranormal Activity, CSI, and Modern Family among many others. Alisha Boe was also seen in a few episodes of the hit show Teen Wolf.
 

In 2017 she returned to feature work in the black comedy 68 Kill.
 

Her big breakthrough happened with landing a big role in the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why and there has been no looking back for the beautiful Somali-Norwegian actress.

Boe was born in Oslo, Norway, to a Norwegian mom (from Trondheim) who she moved to Los Angeles within 2004.

Boe’s dad back in Norway was a Somali man which makes her half-Somali and half-Norwegian. She is very proud of her ethnicity and with that gorgeous face, we wholeheartedly agree.

Alisha Boe auditioned for the lead role of Hannah Baker in 13 Reasons why but landed Jessica’s role instead. She says she initially really disconnected with the character because it was written to be a pretty and popular girl and Jessica, because of mainstream biases could not see herself as that character. But the casting was very exclusively done keeping inclusivity in mind and we’re so glad because we wouldn’t have Jessica Davis be played by anyone else!

Alisha Boe also got matching semicolon tats with Selena Gomez and co-star Tommy Dorfman. In an interview, Dorfman and Boe relate how it came about. The two casually ran into Gomez and shared their plan and Gomez hopped on board. Quite a wholesome, human moment! The pathos behind Project Semicolon is to prevent suicide by making survivors visible in ink thereby making people feel less alone. The philosophy is simple, when an author is writing a sentence they can choose to use a period and end it or use a semi-colon and save the sentence from its death. The choice to participate shows that all three actors’ have had their battle with depression.

Although most people recognize Alisha Boe as Jessica Davis on 13 Reasons why she has been acting since she was very young. With making a debut in a horror film and later in romantic comedies and network shows, Alisha is no newbie on television.

The talented actress has had negative experiences of bullying in a small charter school she attended from grade 7 to 8 where she was excluded and mocked. Later in high school, she experienced sexual harassment with the student body bullying kids & leaking nudes. In an interview, Boe explains how when a child’s immediate environment is that hostile, it’s easy to feel like there is no tomorrow. These experiences lend credence to the portrayal of high school bullying and harassment depicted in the high school that serves as the setting for the tragic show.

On a lighter note, Alisha Boe is the mother of two adorable canine babies Luna and Tater Tot! We stan a dog mom!

With her birthday being March 6, 1997, Alisha’s sun star is Pisces. And if we know anything about Pisces babies, it’s their sensitivity and emotional intelligence. Suffice to say Boe’s zodiac placement makes her an excellent pick to play the complex character of Jessica Davis.

Ryan and Jessica have a close friendship on the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why but actors Alisha Boe and Tommy Dorfman also have a close bond off-screen, with her calling him “best friend” on Instagram.

Alisha went to a celebrated high school called El Camino Real High School or ECR which is famous for its successful actor alumni, but she dropped out before graduation to pursue her acting career.

When Boe read the screenplay for Jessica, she contacted a close family relative who was a rape survivor and they were gracious enough to talk to Boe about the ugliness that results from sexual violence. She strongly believes that this is the only way to respectfully and honestly depict a rape survivor.

Alisha Davis and Jessica Davis are alike in their mental health struggles which hits home with Boe. Albeit, Boe is not a survivor of assault, the sexual harassment and bullying is part of both Boe’s and Davis’ high school experience. This lends a lot of credibility to her depiction of the character.

No, Boe is currently single. She was known to be dating a man named Scott O’Brien in 2017 but the two have broken up because her Instagram has been wiped clean of any trace of him.

With the fourth and final season of the hit show premiering June of 2020, Alisha is still in the afterglow of a largely successful and deeply impactful show. We are sure that this monumental win will lead to more opportunities for the talented 23-year-old.

Alisha Boe is a talented, sensitive, and motivated individual and a stunning actress and we can’t wait to see more of what she creates. We’re sure it’s going to be amazing stuff! Whether it cameos or more central roles we wish her the best in all her future endeavors and we are sure she will bring the same depth and character into her work as she did for Jessica Davis.