Hecht was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of Lenore, a psychotherapist, and Richard Hecht, a physicist. When she was three, Jessica moved with her parents and her sister to Bloomfield, Connecticut. Following the divorce of her parents, her mother remarried when Jessica was twelve and her sister Elizabeth was fourteen. They were brought up by her mother and her step-father Howard Iger, a psychiatrist, who had custody of his children, Andrea, age five, and Russell, age three. Hecht attended Connecticut College and in 1987, Hecht graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. Hecht was raised in a "pretty secular" Jewish household; she has stated that she is "Reconstructionist Jewish and ... fairly spiritual".
Career
Hecht has made appearances in television shows such as Dickinson, Bored to Death, Red Oaks, Jessica Jones, The Loudest Voice, and Succession. In 2020, she played Sonya Barzel on The Sinner and was nominated for an Emmy in 2019 for her role as Karen in the Netflix series Special. Hecht is known for her roles as Gretchen Schwartz on Breaking Bad and Susan Bunch, the wife of Ross Geller's ex-wife, Carol Willick on Friends. She was also a featured cast member in the Jonathan SilvermansitcomThe Single Guy. Hecht had the supporting role of Amy Burns in the comedy-dramaDan in Real Life, with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. She also appeared in Whatever Works directed by Woody Allen, Sideways, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Hecht was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her role in A View from the Bridge on Broadway with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber, which wrapped on April 4, 2010. In 2012, she performed on Broadway with Jim Parsons in Harvey. In 2016, Hecht performed the role of Golde in the 2015 Bartlett Sher-directed revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theatre and The Price, opposite Mark Ruffalo, in 2017. In 2018 she won an Obie for her performance in Admissions at Lincoln Center. With producer Jenny Gersten, she runs The Campfire Project, a theatre based wellness project that creates plays in refugee camps.
Personal life
Hecht has been married to Adam Bernstein, a film director, since 1995. They have two children together, Stella and Carlo Bernstein.
