Leah Cairns
Leah Cairns was born on June 2 in North Vancouver,
Canada, and was raised in Kamloops, BC. At the age of three, Leah
started dancing, which became her biggest passion for the next 13
years. Her career as a dancer came to an abrupt end at the age of 16
when she was hit by a drunk driver and had her back broken. While
the rest of her dance troupe competed at the North American
Championship, she decided not to stay at home and mope about it,
opting instead to go on an environmental research trip to Costa
Rica. She caught the travel bug, and it set her off to visit 36
countries in eight years.
While
staying at an ashram in India, she attended an improv night and was
encouraged to pick up acting. When she later returned to Canada, she
decided to pick it up as a hobby first, but by the end of her first
class, she decided to try acting professionally and a career was
born.
Her
first starring role was on the movie
Thralls (Blood Angels)
where she played the role of Leslie, a sexy, ass-kicking
half-vampire. She has appeared in numerous TV shows, including
The Chris Isaak Show,
Tru Calling,
Supernatural, and
Saved. She appeared
alongside Bradley Cooper and Jason Priestley in
I Want to Marry Ryan Banks,
a TV movie that spoofed reality TV shows. Leah starred as Jenna, a
waitress and aspiring dancer, in the popular Canadian series
Godiva's, a role she
could really relate to. Leah was nominated for a 2006 Leo Award
(British Columbia's version of the Emmys) for Best Supporting
Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for this part. In the
critically acclaimed
Battlestar Galactica, she was meant to appear in only one
episode as the bitter raptor pilot Racetrack, but The Powers That Be
were so impressed with her performance, she was kept on the show and
has appeared in over 30 episodes.
Leah
currently starred on Kyle XY
as the tough and witty Emily Hollander, in the webvideo project
Sanctuary and co-starred
with Al Pacino in the movie
88 Minutes. Most recently, Leah just finished shooting
Helen, starring Ashley
Judd.
