Melanie Leishman

Melanie Leishman
Leishman in 2006
Born	(1989-02-20) February 20, 1989 (age 32)
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

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 & raucous comedy series House Party (2008) as desperate to be popular Mandy. Other TV credits include Being Erica, Republic of Doyle & Murdoch Mysteries. She's also voiced several animated roles in series such as Detentionaire & Grojband. Film roles include musical/slasher Stage Fright (2014) as Liz Silver, comedy-drama The Exchange (2021) as Diane & Christmas romantic-comedy Single All the Way (2021) as Ashleigh.

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. She attended the Earl Haig Secondary School^[5] in the Claude Watson Arts Program as a drama major, involved in both drama and dance programs there. ^[6]

Career[]

Film[]

Her first theatrically released film was a supporting role in Victoria Day (2009). ^[7]

In the 2010 short film The Long Autumn, about a boy (Devon Bostick) that grows up alone on a strange island & eventually encounters fellow humans but needs to gain a pair of boots before being accepted, she was the sweetly naive serving girl Ladeeda.^[8][9]

Quirky romantic/drama Old Stock (2012) saw her playing sparky love interest Patti, an arsonist serving community service teaching dance classes at an old peoples' home.^[10][11]

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^[12] who acts as a rival^[13] to the film's central protagonist.

In 2016, she appeared in the film Below Her Mouth as Claire.^[14]

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,^[15] a feature length animated film that concluded the cult TV series, which was released in 2017.

2018 short comedy-drama film Softcore^[16] 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^[17] comedy-drama The Exchange (2021) as Diane, the teacher's assistant & long suffering girlfriend to primary antagonist gym teacher Gary Rothbauer (Justin Hartley) plus Christmas set romantic comedy Single All the Way (2021)^[18] as Ashleigh, young mother of two small children & 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.^[19]

2008 saw the release of two TV movies with her in, as Angie Bremlock in Never Cry Werewolf^[20] (wherein a werewolf moves in to terrorize a neighborhood) & True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet (incidentally also featuring her future Todd and the Book of Pure Evil co-star Bill Turnbull in a small role).

The same year she was a recurring character in House Party (2008),^[21] 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. The show was re-released in 2021 by the production company Farpoint Distribution on their YouTube channel.^[22]

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

In 2010, co-starred in the Canadian television horror series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil as science geek Hannah B. Williams who forms part of the team that fights evil in Crowley High School, with mixed results. The show was renewed for a second season, where she reprised her role as Hannah.^[23] Leishman shared a Gemini Award for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series with her cast mates for her work in the series.^[24]

In 2011 she voiced bossy popular girl Brandy Silver in the school set mystery animated series Detentionaire & also voiced the overly perky 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" & later as Sarah Harrison, who gets entwined in espionage between the USA & Canada following the assassination of U.S. President William McKinley, in "The Spy Who Came Up to the Cold".

In 2018, she starred as twin sisters & lead characters in the web series Kristal Clear,^[25][26] for which she won the award for Best Actress at the HollyWeb Fest.^[27] In 2019 Kristal Clear season 2 got approved for funding by the Independent Production Fund (IPF).^[28]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

References[]

External links[]

• Melanie Leishman at IMDb