Erica leerhsen
| Horror | |
| IMDB.com |
Erica Leerhsen was born February 14, 1976 in New York City, New
York, where she was raised 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 B.F.A (summa cum laude) in
acting the same year.
After graduation, Erica's first role was as Sarah in a 1999 short
film
Junior Creative (2000), which
received several good reviews. During its production, she got the
lead role of a practicing witch in the controversial Horror sequel
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
(2000), though she originally auditioned for the part that
eventually went to
Kim Director. She went to the
audition with short blond 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. Following Blair Witch 2, she
appeared in the third season of
"The Sopranos" (1999), where she
played a lesbian tennis instructor who falls for
Drea de
Matteo's character. She would also have part in the
well-acclaimed TV show
"The Guardian" (2001), where her
character got written out after several episodes. In the same year
she had a supporting role in
Woody Allen's
Hollywood Ending (2002). Erica was
honored with the title "Arrow in the Head's Mistress of the Year
2003". That year saw the release of the very successful Horror
remake
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003),
in which she had a prominent 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. The same year she returned to acting
on television with a guest appearance on
"Alias" (2001), and then reunited
with Allen in his new film,
Anything Else (2003). In 2004, Erica
starred in an independent Thriller
The Warrior Class (2004), where she
played
Anson Mount's love interest. Months
later, she started acting in theaters, and appeared in Allen's 'A
Second Hand Memory', which attracted attention from a wider adult
audience and received good reviews. A year later, Erica starred in
an independently-made Toronto Film Festival-smash
Little Athens (2005), had a guest
appearance on
Jennifer Love Hewitt's television
show
"Ghost Whisperer" (2005), and
starred in
Mozart and the Whale (2005).
The year 2006 opened with Erica's guest appearance on
"CSI: Miami" (2002). Shortly after
she was landed a starring role in the well-acclaimed sequel
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) (V),
where she did a lot of her own stunts. Before filming Wrong Turn 2,
she shot a Horror/Thriller
Living Hell (2008), and starred in
an independent Thriller film
Lonely Joe (2009), as well as a lead
in a Horror film
Slaughter (2009/I), which is set to
film in late 2008.