Jessica Stroup was born in Anderson, South Carolina. At age 17, after graduating with the Class of 2004 of Providence High School, she headed to Los Angeles, California where she immediately began to find work as a model and actress. Her first acting job was a 2005 guest shot on the Nickelodeon teen series Unfabulous. Next, Stroup landed a small role in the CBS TV movie Vampire Bats. For Fox network, she played a supporting role in the TV pilot Southern Comfort. Her first feature film to open in theaters was School for Scoundrels. In the movie Broken, Jessica has a kissing scene with Heather Graham. She has co-starred in the 2007 sequel film The Hills Have Eyes II. In 2008 she played the role of Claire in the remake of Prom Night . As of August 2008 she now has a starring role in the new version of the series 90210 as Silver, a rebel who produces and stars in a YouTube-type video series. Silver is the younger sister of David Silver (Brian Austin Green) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth).

Over the years Jessica has appeared in numerous commercials. Jessica did a Dentyne Ice commercial that ran for about two years, where she was “the Dentyne girl.” She also appeared in Honda, Velveeta and Target commercials. Stroup is close friends with actresses Torrey DeVitto and Brittany Snow.