Director’s praise for young actress fighting for life after fatal crash

A director who recently worked with Jessica Falkholt, the Home and Away actress fighting for her life following a car accident, has described her as a 'very passionate' person.

Jessica Falkholt and her sister Annabelle are fighting for their lives following a fatal crash on Boxing Day. Source: ECaster and ABC News

Jessica Falkholt had established herself as a rising star in Australia's TV and film industry before the tragic car crash that left her orphaned and critically injured.

In recent years the 29-year-old found fame on the small screen as Hope Morrison in Home and Away, with the long-running TV soap paving the way for her feature film debut in the upcoming supernatural thriller Harmony.

Born in May 1988, Ms Falkholt and her younger sister Annabelle were raised in Sydney by their Swedish father and Italian mother.

The sisters were critically injured and lost both their parents when the car they were all travelling in collided with a four-wheel-drive near Ulladulla on Boxing Day.

Director of Harmony, Corey Pearson, described Falkholt as an "amazing actress".

"She was incredible to work with, very passionate, 1,000 per cent with every take," Mr Pearson told the ABC.

"I'm looking forward to showing the world what she's done with Harmony but then seeing what she goes on to do in the future.

"I know she will recover from this."

Ms Falkholt nurtured her love of acting while completing a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication at the University of NSW, where she starred in several theatrical society productions including the musical Cabaret.

After graduating, she found production jobs at the Seven Network and Carnival Films and began building a portfolio of acting work thanks to TV commercials.

In 2012 she won a place at the prestigious acting school NIDA, where she spent three years honing her craft.

Shortly after being accepted at NIDA, Ms Falkholt had her first breaks on TV with bit parts in the Nine Network dramas Tricky Business and Underbelly - Badness.

Following her graduation from acting school, Summer Bay beckoned, with the young actress scoring a role as Hope Morrison for 16 episodes on Home and Away in 2016.

Hope, who lived with the character of policewoman Kat Chapman, caused quite a stir among the locals before making a dramatic exit by being taken off to prison.

A co-starring role in the short film Green River: Part One followed in 2017, with the Australian actress playing Diana in the drama about 30 women who have gone missing from a small town in America in the mid-1980s.

Then came her big screen break in the supernatural thriller Harmony, starring alongside fellow Aussie actors Jacqueline McKenzie and Eamon Farren.

In the film, which is scheduled for release in 2018, she plays a woman named Harmony who has the power to absorb fear from others but is on a quest to find love.

-With AAP