Erica Leerhsen

Infobox actor


caption = Leerhsen at the screening of "Little Athens", 2005
birthdate = Birth date and age|1976|2|14|mf=y
birthplace = New York City, New York, U.S.
birthname = Erica Lei Leerhsen
website = http://www.EricaLeerhsen.net
yearsactive = 2000—present

Erica Lei Leerhsen (born February 14, 1976) is an American actress, best known for her lead roles in the box-office hit "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and the sequels ' and '. She is also known for her acting on television, such as her lead role in "The Guardian" and several guest appearances, including "The Sopranos", "Alias", and others. She was also voted #96 in 2001's Maxim Hot 100.

Biography

Early life

Leerhsen was born in New York City, New York on Valentine's Day, and raised in Ossining, Westchester County, New York, along with her two sisters, Nora and Debbie, by their father Charles Leerhsen, a long time editor of celebrity publication "Us Magazine" (which became "Us Weekly" in March 2000). She attended St. Augustine's School and Ossining High School (where she sang in the choir) and graduated from Boston University College of Fine Arts in 1998. She earned BFA (summa cum laude) in acting the same year.

Career

After graduation, Leerhsen's first role was as Sarah in a 1999 short film "Junior Creative", which received several good reviews. [citeweb|title="Junior Creative Reviews"|url=http://juniorcreative.com/pages/reviews.html] During its production, she got the lead role of a practicing witch in the controversial Horror sequel "", though she originally auditioned for the part that eventually went to Kim Director. She went to the audition with short blonde hair, and, as director Joe Berlinger described it, "completely Gothed-out", but ultimately was given the role of Erica. It was Berlinger who decided to make her character a long-haired redhead. [citeweb|title="Erica Leerhsen trivia"|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498713/bio]

Following "Blair Witch 2", Leerhsen appeared in the third season of "The Sopranos", where she played a lesbian tennis instructor who falls for Drea de Matteo's character. She then joined the cast of the well-acclaimed TV show "The Guardian", however she left the show in the middle of the season to continue with pursuing her career. In the same year she had a supporting role in Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending".

Leerhsen was honored with the title "Arrow in the Head's Mistress of the Year 2003". [citeweb|title="IMDb trivia"|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498713/bio] That year saw the release of the successful horror remake "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", in which Leerhsen had a lead role as one of the doomed teens. During her screen test for the film, her screams were so loud that people on other floors of the building called the police to report that a young woman was being attacked. [citeweb|title="Leerhsen IMDb trivia"|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498713/bio] The same year she returned to acting on television with a guest appearance on "Alias", and then reunited with Woody Allen in his new film, "Anything Else".

In 2004, Leerhsen starred in an independent Thriller "The Warrior Class", where she played Anson Mount's love interest. The film got released on DVD on February 6, 2007. Months later, she started acting in theaters, and appeared in Woody Allen's "A Second Hand Memory", which attracted attention from a wider adult audience and received good reviews. [citeweb|title="Woody in Second Hand Memory"|url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/9542/woody.html]

. [citeweb|title="Mozart and the Whale"|url=http://ericaleerhsen.net/mozart.html]

The year 2006 opened with Leerhsen's guest appearance on '. Shortly after, she was landed a starring role in ', the successful 2007 sequel to the 2003 horror film "Wrong Turn", where she did a lot of her own stunts. The sequel got released on DVD on October 9, 2007 in USA, and January 8, 2008 in UK.

Before filming "", Leerhsen shot a Horror/Thriller "Living Hell", where she played a hazmat specialist. The film premiered on the SCI FI Channel on February 23, 2008, and got released on DVD on June 10 in USA.

Future projects

In 2007, Leerhsen starred in an indie film "Lonely Joe", which has been said to be a Supernatural Horror/Thriller "in the veins of "Saw" and "The Sixth Sense", and has been slated for an unknown 2009 release. Her most recent projects have been a Thriller "The Message", and 3 upcoming films: an Aussie Horror/Thriller "The Fury", "Shiver", a Thriller directed by Lucky McKee, and a horror film "Slaughter".

Personal life

Leerhsen enjoys running, playing basketball and Yoga. She currently lives in Los Angeles [citeweb|title="Leerhsen trivia"|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498713/bio] and is good friends with actress Emily Deschanel, with whom she went to the same college.

Commenting on the characters she often plays, Leerhsen has said: "It's weird because I always seem to be dead. I'm gonna have to change that because I wouldn't want to be typecast." [citeweb|title="Erica IMDb Trivia"|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498713/bio]

Filmography

* "The Fury" (2009) .... Angel (pre-production)
* "Slaughter" (2009) .... Jenny Young (pre-production)
* "The Message" (2008) .... Anna (post-production)
* "Lonely Joe" (2008) .... Michele Connelly
* "Living Hell" (2008) .... Carrie Freeborn
* "" (2007) (V) .... Herself / Nina Papas
* "Wrong Turn 2" (2007) (V) .... Nina Papas
* "" (1 episode, "The Score", 2006) .... Brenda Sanders
* "Ghost Whisperer" (1 episode, "Hope and Mercy", 2005) .... Hope Paulson
* "Mozart and the Whale" (2005) .... Bronwin
* "Little Athens" (2005) .... Heather
* "" (2004) (V) .... Herself / Pepper Harrington
* "The Warrior Class" (2004) .... Annie Sullivan
* "Alias" (1 episode, "Conscious", 2003) .... Kaya
* "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) .... Pepper
* "Anything Else" (2003) .... Connie
* "Hollywood Ending" (2002) .... Actress
* "The Guardian" (7 episodes, "Pilot", "Reunion", "Lolita?", "The Men from the Boys", "Indian Summer", "Loyalties" and "Privilege", 2001-2002) .... Amanda Bowles
* "The Sopranos" (1 episode, "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood", 2001) .... Birgit Olafsdottir
* "" (2000) .... Erica Geerson
* "Junior Creative" (2000) .... Sarah

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0498713|name=Erica Leerhsen
* [http://www.ericaleerhsen.net/ EricaLeerhsen.net]
* [http://www.membres.lycos.fr/erical/ Erica Leerhsen's Realm]
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/p/erica_leerhsen/ Erica Leerhsen at Rotten Tomatoes]
* [http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Leerhsen,_Erica/index.html/ Erica Leerhsen at StarPulse]
* [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1802953390/bio/ Erica Leerhsen at Yahoo! Movies]