Jessica Drake was born in Dallas and spent much of her early life growing up around the state of Texas in different cities including San Antonio and El Paso. She has stated that growing up, her height was always something she wished she could change. Jessica attended a community college in El Paso and then attended the University of Texas-El Paso and majored in psychology. While attending college, Drake made a living as an exotic dancer. During her tenure, she met many featured dancers who also worked in the adult film industry and decided to give it a try herself. She credits Michael Raven and Sydnee Steele as instrumental people in her transition from dancing to adult films.

Jessica began by going to Los Angeles and touring film sets and companies before actually starting to work in adult films. She also did photo shoots and worked for Playboy while in Los Angeles. Her first, real experience in adult film came as a 'condom and lube girl' on the set of a Jill Kelly film. She finally began her own acting in adult films in 1999. Her first film was titled Pussyman's Decadent Divas 4. She soon signed a contract with Sin City and made several movies with that studio and afterwards signed a contract with Wicked Pictures. She has been a contract star with Wicked since 2003 and has made over fifty films with that company. She has started writing and directing adult movies as well and has been writing films since her tenure with Sin City. Her directorial debut came in the film Jenna Depraved in 2006.

Jessica has also appeared on several television shows. She appeared in one episode of the short-lived TV series The Money $hot and the pilot episode of Skin. She made an appearance, along with her former husband, in the HBO special Pornucopia: Going Down in the Valley. They appeared in an episode titled Love and/or Sex which pertained to couples working in the adult entertainment business. Jessica Drake was also one of several porn actor shown in the A Day in the Life of a Porn Star episode on The Tyra Banks Show.