Beginning this Sunday, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles will expand upon the television movie that Lifetime produced last year, Lizzie Borden Took An Ax. That means we'll be meeting a host of new characters in the series based on the true story of a woman accused and later acquitted of of killing her father and stepmother. One of these new faces in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is Nance O'Keefe, played by Jessy Schram. There was a character with a similar name, Nance O'Neill, in the original Lifetime movie, but she was played by a different actress. So where have you seen this Nance before? Schram is one of those working actresses that has been in everything with everybody from guest star appearances to feature films, and even a recurring film series on Hallmark.
According to Deadline, in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, Nance O'Keefe is "an alluring and ambitious actress and dancer who befriends Lizzie following one of her performances." AfterEllen talked to the director, Stephen Kay, about this Nance character, her real life origin, and her relationship with Lizzie Borden.
I think Lizzie is trying things, in general, is looking for what makes her feel something inside and I think part of that is, ‘Do I kiss who the world tells me I’m supposed to kiss? Do I kiss who the world tells me I’m not supposed to kiss? Do I kill the person?’
So who is the woman behind this interesting character? If you catch Schram in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles and can't seem to figure out why you recognize her face, I have a few hunches.
Veronica Mars
Hannah Griffith, the Veronica Mars character played by Schram, is sure to elicit some feelings from 'shippers even if you don't remember her right off the bat. She and Logan dated, as you can see, in Season 2. Their relationship was short-lived and far more dramatic than it ever needed to be, because, well, Logan.
Once Upon A Time
So, at least we know she's no stranger to stepmom drama. Schram plays Cinderella/Ashley Boyd on the ABC series. While she has only technically appeared in three episodes of Once Upon A Time and the pilot of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Ashley was a memorable take on the fairytale princess.
Mad Men
Recently, Jessy Schram played Pete Campbell's cool girlfriend on Mad Men . She was a real estate agent who met Pete in California and learned the hard way that you shouldn't wear sandals in Manhattan. They also hooked up on a cross-country flight, which was impressive considering Pete's phobia of airplanes after his father died in a crash. Was I the only one thinking about that during that scene? Probably.
Falling Skies
Science fiction fans will recognize the Lizzie Borden actress as Karen Nadler on the alien attack series. She was a former cheerleader and heroine on the show until she was captured and harnessed by aliens. Hopefully she'll fare better on The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.
Images: Giphy (2); wardrobemalfunctioned, under-a-red-moon/Tumblr
