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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock & Siobhan Macdonald

The Teletubbies baby sun star's unexpected career turn since iconic role

She became one of the most famous babies after starring as the sun in childrens TV show The Teletubbies.

People around the world remember Jess Smith's adorable smile and cheeky laugh as she shone a light on Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa, and Po in Tubby land. But now, Jess, who landed the sun role not long after being born, has done a career 180 and works in security, reports the Mirror.

"I now work for a security company based in Medway, managing the administrative side of the process," she told the Daily Star. The star discussed her future plans, which include "travelling and seeing more parts of the world, before settling down and starting a family".

The actress's face was emblazoned as the Teletubbies sun in the late 1990s, and of course, she looks worlds away almost 20 years later. Jess added to the publication that she doesn't remember much from the filming of the children's show.

"I've been told I was placed in front of a mirror and was laughing at myself," she explained. "I was put in a high chair, and my dad was playing with toy cars on the ground to make me look down. I think we were there for about half a day taking different shots and angles."

The Teletubbies aired on the BBC from 1997 until 2001 before it had another run on CBeebies from 2015 to 2018. Jess played the giggling Sun Baby for four years between the years of 1997 and 2001.

She previously opened up about her adorable role in the programme and said she was cast when she was being weighed in the hospital. At the time, producers let her sit in front of a mirror and a camera while she watched her dad play with toys.

Luckily, the sweet moment made baby Jess laugh so much that she was instantly cast in the coveted BBC role. Speaking to BBC South East about landing the role, Jess explained in 2017: "I was being weighed at the hospital.

"My mum took me and it just happened to be the same time that the producer of the old series had come in and wanted the hospital to get in contact with them if they'd seen any smiley babies."

She also recently said: “While recording my dad held a teddy bear behind the camera to get me to laugh, and rolled a toy racing car to get me to look down at the camera, and it obviously worked.”

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