Introducing the screen ‘Jessica’ – Myra Karn

By Subhash K. Jha -

January 15, 2011 - 10:29 AM IST

The real Sabrina Lal got goosebumps when she saw her screen-sister Jessica. The role, as it has been revealed, is played by a young actress named Myra Karn who has absolutely no experience in acting and is in fact a qualified engineer.

Introducing the screen ‘Jessica’ – Myra Karn

Director Raj Kumar Gupta saw a likeness between the real Jessica and Myra. That's how the chase began.

Says Myra with a laugh. "Raj Kumar Gupta is a friend. We met through common friends in a restaurant and stayed in touch. I've known him for some time. For a year now he kept persuading me to play Jessica. I've no experience in acting. Apart from family photos, I've never faced the camera. And honestly, I wasn't interested in acting."

So what gives?

"Nothing!" laughs the engineer-turned-actress. "Raj was persuasive. He said I just had to be myself. I think more than the way I look, it was my chirpy personality that made him decide I was his Jessica. I finally said yes. His instruction was simple, 'Just be yourself. Don't act.' That's exactly what I've done in No One Killed Jessica."

Myra was signed just a month before shooting was to start. That was really cutting it close for the close-ups when the girl had no acting experience.

So will she moonlight as an actress while being a full-time engineer?

"I don't know. Let's see what people have to say about my acting skills. But it is normally assumed that any decent looking girl in Mumbai wants to be a model or an actress. Not me," says.