Fernandez was born on 11 August 1985, in Manama, Bahrain, and was raised in a multi-ethnic family. Her father, Elroy Fernandez, is a Sri Lankan Burgher, and her mother, Kim, is of Malaysian and Canadian descent. Her maternal grandfather is Canadian and her paternal great-grandparents were from Goa in India. Her father, who was a musician in Sri Lanka, moved to Bahrain in the 1980s to escape civil unrest between the Tamils and Sinhalese and subsequently met her mother who was an air hostess. She is the youngest of four children with one elder sister and two elder brothers. After receiving her early education in Bahrain, she studied mass communication at the University of Sydney in Australia. After graduating she did a couple of television shows in Sri Lanka. She also attended the Berlitz school of languages, where she learned Spanish and improved her French and Arabic.

According to Fernandez, she had aspired to become an actress at a young age and fantasized about becoming a Hollywood movie star. She received some training at the John School of Acting. Although, she was a television reporter, she accepted offers in the modeling industry, which came as a result of her pageant success. In 2006, she was crowned the winner of the Miss Universe Sri Lanka pageant and represented Sri Lanka at the world Miss Universe 2006 pageant held in Los Angeles. In a 2015 interview, Fernandez described the modeling industry as “a good training ground” and said: “It is a medium that is about shedding your inhibitions, knowing your body, confidence”. In 2006, she appeared in a music video for the song “O Sathi” by music duo Bathiya and Santhush.

In 2008, Fernandez started dating Bahraini prince Hassan bin Rashid Al Khalifa, whom she met at a mutual friend’s party; they separated in 2011. While filming Housefull 2 in 2011, Fernandez began a romantic relationship with director Sajid Khan. The relationship attracted media coverage in India and there was speculation of an impending wedding. However, the relationship ended in May 2013.

In 2008 and 2011, Fernandez featured in the UK magazine Eastern Eye’s “World’s Sexiest Asian Women” list, ranking twelfth. She was ranked third on The Times of India’s listing of the “Most Desirable Woman” in 2013 and 2014, after being ranked eighth, seventh and fourteenth, respectively, in the preceding three years. In 2013, Rediff.com placed her on their list of “Bollywood’s Best Dressed Actresses”. The following year, she held the sixty second position in the Indian edition of the Forbes’ Celebrity 100, a list based on the income and popularity of India’s celebrities.

In 2009, Fernandez traveled to India for a modeling assignment. She successfully auditioned for Sujoy Ghosh’s fantasy film Aladin (2009) her acting debut. She played the love interest of Riteish Deshmukh’s character, a role based on the character of Princess Jasmine. and Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN felt that she was: “easy on the eyes and appears confident but has precious little to do”. Although the film was a critical and commercial failure, she won the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female.

In 2010, Fernandez appeared opposite Deshmukh in the science fiction romantic comedy Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. She was cast as a girl from Venus, who lands on Earth in search of love. The film, along with Fernandez’s performance, received poor reviews; Rediff.com’s Sukanya Verma noted: “She gamely makes a fool of herself whilst aping the actions of movie stars, ranging from Sridevi’s Naagin dance, Mithun Chakravarthy’s Disco Dancer moves, to Big B’s violent headshake in Hum. Her Tara could be a keeper if only Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai wasn’t so intent on turning her into a love-struck Barbie.” Critic Anupama Chopra also criticized Fernandez, calling her “a pin-prick on a balloon”. Later that year, she made a special appearance in the song “Dhanno” for Sajid Khan’s comedy Housefull.

Fernandez shares a close bond with her family, and admits that she misses being around them. She says: “I miss them so much everyday. You don’t realise when you live away from home how difficult life can be […] At the same time, staying away from them has taught me to be more responsible. It has taught me so many things about myself, about priorities and time management.” In March 2012, Fernandez turned vegetarian for a 40-day period to observe Lent, a period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday.

Fernandez has participated in several concert tours and televised award ceremonies. In 2013, she performed at the Temptations Reloaded in Auckland, Perth, and Sydney alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Madhuri Dixit. She also performed at the live talent show “Got Talent World Stage Live” with Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Varun Dhawan the following year. In July 2014, Fernandez opened a restaurant in Colombo, Kaema Sutra, in collaboration with chef Dharshan Munidasa, which specialises in contemporary Sri Lankan cuisine. In July 2018, Jacqueline co-founded her activewear clothing line-up, Just F.

In early 2013, Fernandez became the ambassador for HTC One, which she endorses in India. She was the face of Indian Bridal Fashion Week—IBFW of 2013. Later that year, she became the spokesperson for Gareth Pugh’s designed Forevermark Diamonds in Mumbai, and was at the inaugural opening of the Forever 21 store in Mumbai. That year, she also launched Gillette Shaving System with Arbaaz Khan and Aditya Roy Kapur. While analysing Fernandez’s career, India TV noted: “Slowly and steadily Jacqueline Fernandez is climbing up the ladder of success […] Jacqueline is comfortably grasping every aspect of the work, which an actress is required to do and is accordingly giving results.” On the contrary, Charu Thakur of India Today criticized her acting skills, but remarked that: “[she has] managed to find her feet in Bollywood now by banking on glamorous roles”.

In 2014, Fernandez appeared in Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut—the action film Kick, a remake of a 2009 Telugu film of same name. She starred opposite Salman Khan, playing Shaina, a psychiatrist . She retained her real voice for the first time in Kick. While Sneha May Francis commented that she is: “incredibly dazzling, and moves like a magic”, Raja Sen of Rediff.com was more critical of her dialogue delivery, calling it “unfortunate.” The film received mixed reviews from critics, but with worldwide revenue of over ₹3.75 billion (US$53 million), it became the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film. The film established Fernandez as one of the most popular Bollywood actresses.

Fernandez has supported charitable organisations and a number of causes. For advocating the welfare of animals, Fernandez was named “Woman Of The Year” by PETA (India) in 2014.

In 2015, Fernandez featured in Vicky Singh’s Roy, a romantic thriller, which critic Sarita A. Tanwar described as a “boring, exhausting and pretentious” film. Fernandez played dual roles, Ayesha Aamir, a filmmaker in a relationship with another filmmaker (played by Arjun Rampal) and Tia Desai, a girl in love with a thief (played by Ranbir Kapoor). While India TV called it “her best act till date”, critic Rajeev Masand felt that she “appears miscast in a part that required greater range.” Roy failed to meet its box-office expectations, and was a commercial failure. Later that year, she appeared in a guest appearance for the comedy-satire Bangistan.

Fernandez began 2016 with a role in the sequel to Housefull 2. The ensemble comedy film paired her with Akshay Kumar as her love interest. The critic for Firstpost was disappointed with the picture and criticized Fernandez for her inclination towards a film, where she is treated as nothing more than a “visual attraction”. Nevertheless, the film was a commercial success, grossing ₹1.88 billion (US$26 million) worldwide. Her next film—the action adventure Dishoom—also grossed ₹1 billion (US$14 million) at the box-office. Later that year, she served as a judge to the ninth season of the dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

In 2017, Jacqueline appeared in Chandran Rutnam’s English-Sri Lankan crime-thriller According to Mathew. The film was her maiden cinematic appearance in Sri Lankan cinema as well. The film was released in Sri Lanka on 7 April 2017 in CEL Theatres with the title Anuragini. Her next film was the action-comedy A Gentleman, with Siddharth Malhotra from the director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.. The film was poorly received by critics and was a box-office flop. Later that year, she appeared in David Dhawan’s comedy film Judwaa 2, opposite Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu. It was a sequel to the 1997 comedy film Judwaa. The film proved to be a box-office success. In 2018, she starred alongside Salman Khan in Race 3, the third addition to the Race Franchise.

In 2017, Fernandez invested ₹35 million (US$490,000) in Rakyan Beverages’ Raw Pressery. The company claim that with this investment, Fernandez became India’s first celebrity to part-finance a consumer products firm.