fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Melanie Leishman (born February 20, 1989)[1][2] is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying bespectacled Hannah B. Williams, one of the main characters on the cult[3][4] horror/comedy television series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. Before that she had a recurring role on Darcy's Wild Life as Kathi Giraldi and raucous comedy series House Party (2008) as desperate to be popular Mandy. Other TV credits include Being Erica, Republic of Doyle and Murdoch Mysteries. She's also voiced several animated roles in series such as Detentionaire and Grojband. Film roles include musical/slasher Stage Fright (2014) as Liz Silver, comedy-drama The Exchange (2021) as Diane and Christmas romantic-comedy Single All the Way (2021) as Ashleigh.

Melanie Leishman
Leishman in 2006
Born	(1989-02-20) February 20, 1989 (age 33)
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

Early life

Melanie Leishman began acting, singing, and dancing at the age of eight. Leishman was in her first play while attending The North York Montessori, in grade three, starring as Annie in the play Annie.[5] She attended the Earl Haig Secondary School[6] in the Claude Watson Arts Program as a drama major, involved in both drama and dance programs there. [7]

Career

Film

Her first theatrically released film was a supporting role in Victoria Day (2009).[8]

In the 2010 short film The Long Autumn, about a boy (Devon Bostick) that grows up alone on a strange island and eventually encounters fellow humans but needs to gain a pair of boots before being accepted, she was the sweetly naive serving girl Ladeeda.[9][10]

Quirky romantic/drama Old Stock (2012)[11] saw her playing sparky love interest Patti, an arsonist serving community service teaching dance classes at an old peoples' home.[12][13]

Musical/slasher Stage Fright (2014) cast her somewhat against type, having mostly been cast as "best friend of the lead" or generally timid characters, in this film she's the "mean girl" Diva like Liz Silver[14] who acts as a rival[15] to the film's central protagonist.

In 2016, she appeared in the film Below Her Mouth as Claire.[16]

She reprised her role of Hannah alongside the rest of the original cast in Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End,[17] a feature length animated film that concluded the cult TV series, which was released in 2017.

2018 short comedy-drama film Softcore[18] saw Melanie Leishman co-star with Alyssa Owsiany as a pair of bridesmaids that bond over exchanging the bizarre stories of their sexual awakenings.

Most recently she appeared in the 80's set[19] comedy-drama The Exchange (2021) as Diane, the teacher's assistant and long suffering girlfriend to primary antagonist gym teacher Gary Rothbauer (Justin Hartley) plus Christmas set romantic comedy Single All the Way (2021)[20] as Ashleigh, young mother of two small children and a supportive sister to the lead Peter (Michael Urie).

Television

Her first television role was in the children's/family series Darcy's Wild Life (2004-06) as Kathi Giraldi.[21]

2008 saw the release of two TV movies with her in. As Angie Bremlock in Never Cry Werewolf,[22] wherein a werewolf moves in to terrorize a neighborhood, and True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet,[23] where she was Emily[24] a girl who unwittingly befriends incognito teen celebrity Morgan Carter (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque).[25] Incidentally True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet also featured her future Todd and the Book of Pure Evil co-star Bill Turnbull in a small role.[26]

The same year she was part of the main cast of characters in House Party (2008),[27][28] the desperate to please Mandy. Each episode focuses on a particular character, revealing the various plot developments to the audience as they are encountered by the episode's focal character.[29] The show was re-released in 2021 by the production company Farpoint Distribution on their YouTube channel.[30]

2009 saw a role in Being Erica, Season 2, Episode 19 "Shhh... Don't Tell" playing Fiona Watt, a student that's being mercilessly bullied and humiliated by other classmates.

In 2010 she co-starred in the Canadian television horror/comedy series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil as science geek Hannah B. Williams[31] who forms part of the team at Crowley High School that "fights evil with mixed results".[32] The show was renewed for a second season, that aired in 2011, where she reprised her role as Hannah.[33] Leishman shared a Gemini Award for "Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series" with her cast mates for their work on the show.[34][35]

In 2011 she voiced bossy popular girl Brandy Silver[36] in the school set mystery animated series Detentionaire and also voiced the overly perky and thus aptly named Chipper in Grojband.

She has appeared twice in long running detective series Murdoch Mysteries, as two different characters. First as Nancy Booth, a taken advantage of maid, in "Downstairs, Upstairs" and later as Sarah Harrison, who gets entwined in espionage between the US and Canada following the assassination of U.S. President William McKinley, in "The Spy Who Came Up to the Cold".[37]

In 2018 she starred as two very different[38] twin sisters and lead characters Kristal and Kyle Hasting in the web series Kristal Clear,[39][40] for which she won the award for "Best Lead Actress in a Comedy" at the HollyWeb Fest.[41] In 2019 Kristal Clear season 2 got approved for funding by the Independent Production Fund (IPF).[42]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Debut[43]	Perky PA	Short film
2009	Victoria Day	Melanie
2010	The Long Autumn	Ladeeda	Short film
2012	Old Stock	Patti
2012	Roomies[44]	Jenny Rhodes	Short film
2014	Stage Fright	Liz Silver
2014	The Cliff and the Road	Ben's Girlfriend (voice)	Short film
2016	Below Her Mouth	Claire
2017	Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End	Hannah Williams (voice)	Animated feature film
2018	Softcore	Lila	Short film
2020	The Broken Hearts Gallery	Bookstore Owner
2021	The Exchange	Diane
2021	Single All the Way	Ashleigh

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004-06	Darcy's Wild Life	Kathi Giraldi	Recurring role
2008	Never Cry Werewolf	Angie Bremlock	TV film
2008	True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet	Emily	TV film
2008	House Party	Mandy	Main role
2009	Pure Evil	Samantha	Half-hour pilot[45]
2009	Being Erica	Fiona Watt	Episode: S2E06 "Shhh... Don't Tell"
2010	Republic of Doyle	Wiggs Dinner	Episode: S1E09 "He Sleeps with the Chips"
2010-12	Todd and the Book of Pure Evil	Hannah B. Williams	Main role
2011	Murdoch Mysteries	Nancy Booth	Episode: S4E04 "Downstairs, Upstairs"
2011-12	Detentionaire	Brandy Silver (voice)	Main role
2013	Middle Age Rage	Cass Bobeck	Half-hour pilot[46][47][48]
2013	Grojband	Chipper (voice)	Recurring Role
2014	Murdoch Mysteries	Sarah Harrison	Episode: S7E15 "The Spy Who Came Up to the Cold"
2018	Kristal Clear	Kristal Hasting / Kyle Hasting	Web series
2019	PAW Patrol: Ready Race Rescue[49][50]	Riff Rockenbock (voice)	Animated TV film
2020	Mrs. America	Susan	Episode: S1E05 "Phyllis & Fred & Brenda & Marc"
2022	Transplant	Remi Belcourt	Episode: S2E09 "Between"[51]
2022	Catering Christmas	Christina[52]	TV film (Great American Family)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Actor/Ensemble	Work	Result	Refs
2006	27th Young Artist Awards	Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series	Andrew Chalmers, Shannon Collis, Demetrius Joyette, Melanie Leishman, Sara Paxton and Kerry Michael Saxena	Darcy's Wild Life	Nominated	[53]
2007	28th Young Artist Awards	Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series	Andrew Chalmers, Melanie Leishman, Demetrius Joyette and Kayla Perlmutter	Darcy's Wild Life	Nominated	[54]
2011	26th Gemini Awards	Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series	Melanie Leishman, Maggie Castle, Chris Leavins, Bill Turnbull, Angela Jill Guingcangco, Jason Mewes, Alex House	Todd and the Book of Pure Evil	Won	[55]
2018	HollyWeb Fest	Best Lead Actress in a Comedy	Melanie Leishman	Kristal Clear	Won	[41]

References

External links

• Melanie Leishman at IMDb

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