Erica Leerhsen

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Erica Leerhsen
Image:EricaLeerhsenVanityFair.jpg Erica Leerhsen at the cover of Vanity Fair magazine in August, 2002
Birth name	Erica Leerhsen
Born	February 14 1976 (age 31) Ossining, New York, USA
Years active	2000 to present
Official site	http://www.EricaLeerhsen.net

Erica Leerhsen (born February 14 1976) is an American actress, best known for appearing in several Hollywood films, such as Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She is also well known for her acting on television, such as her recurring roles in The Guardian and Alias.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 Filmography 2.1 Films 2.2 Television series 3 Trivia 4 External links 5 Footnotes

Biography

Early life

Leerhsen was born in Ossining, New York, to Charles Leerhsen, a long time editor of celebrity publication US Magazine (which became US Weekly in March 2000), where she was raised along with her two sisters, Nora and Debbie. She attended St. Augustine's School, 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.

Career

After graduation, Leerhsen's first role was as Sarah in a 1999 short film Junior Creative, which garnered several good reviews. During its production, Erica got the lead role of a practicing witch in the controversial film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, though she originally auditioned for Kim Director's role. She went to the audition with short blonde hair, and, as director Joe Berlinger described it, "completely Gothed-out".

Following Blair Witch 2, she appeared in the third season of The Sopranos, playing 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, but after only several episodes her character was written out because of her misunderstanding with the producers. The same year she had a small part in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending.

In 2003 the very successful horror remake The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released, in which Leerhsen had the starring role. The film made more than $100 million on the box office, making it one of the most profitable horror movies ever made, and spawned a prequel which took place 4 years before the events of the Remake. The same year she returned to acting on television, making a guest appearance on Alias, as well as reuniting with Woody Allen in his new comedy, Anything Else, which also starred Christina Ricci and Jason Biggs.

In 2004, Leerhsen starred in a direct-to-video thriller film The Warrior Class, playing Anson Mount's love interest. The same year she started acting in theaters, and appeared in Woody Allen's A Second Hand Memory. The show got attention from a wider adult audience and got good reviews.

A year later, Leerhsen starred along Michael Pena in an independently-made Toronto Film Festival-smash Little Athens, which got its premiere at the chaotic festival in 2005. Though made two years earlier, the movie finally got its DVD premiere on November 21 in the States, celebrating its 2nd anniversary from its playing on the festival. The same year she had a guest appereance on Jennifer Love Hewitt's television show Ghost Whisperer, as well as starring in Mozart and the Whale with Radha Mitchell and Josh Hartnett, which was a surprising DVD success.

In January 2006, she had a guest appearance on CSI: Miami.

Following CSI: Miami, Leerhsen filmed The Living Hell from February until May 2006, where she plays a hazmat specialist who accidentally releases an unstoppable creature which feeds on light and energy. The film is scheduled for a release in Fall 2007.

In May 2006, she had a starring role in Wrong Turn 2, the highly anticipated 2007 sequel to the 2003 horror film Wrong Turn, which starred Eliza Dushku. The movie is planned to be released in Summer 2007, however it is unclear whether it will have a theatrical or DTV (direct-to-video) release.

After that she is rumored to star as a lead in the 2008 remake of the 2004 Thai Film called Shutter.

Commenting on the characters she often plays, Erica 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."^[1]

Personal life

Leerhsen enjoys running, playing basketball and Yoga. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
2008	Shutter	Allison Carter	pre-production
2007	Wrong Turn 2	Nina Papas	completed
2007	The Living Hell	Carrie Freeborn	completed
2005	Mozart and the Whale	Bronwin
2005	Little Athens	Heather
2004	The Warrior Class	Annie Sullivan
2003	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre	Pepper Harrington
2003	Anything Else	Connie
2002	Hollywood Ending	Actress
2000	Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2	Erica Geerson
2000	Junior Creative	Sarah

Television series

Year	Series	Role	Other notes
2006	CSI: Miami	Brenda Sanders	Ep. # 4.12
2005	Ghost Whisperer	Hope Paulson	Ep. # 1.07
2003	Alias	Kaya	Ep. # 3.09 & 3.10
2001	The Sopranos	Birgit Olafsdottir	Ep. # 3.01
2001	The Guardian	Amanda Bowles	2001-2002

Trivia

• Was honored with the title "Arrow in the Head's Mistress of the Year 2003".^[2]
• She originally auditioned for Kim Director's role in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. She went to the audition with short blonde hair, and, as director Joe Berlinger described it, "completely Gothed-out", but ultimately was given the supporting role of "Erica". It was Joe Berlinger who decided to make her a long-haired redhead.^[3]
• There is a scene in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in which Erica's character (a practicing witch) is chanting an actual witchcraft chant, which was given to her by director Berlinger, who had learned it from his friend (an actual witch). Leerhsen was so overwhelmed by the chant that she collapsed after the scene. Later Berlinger told his friend what happened to Leerhsen, and she informed him that Leerhsen was calling up the "god of the underworld" in that chant.^[4]
• During her screen test for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 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.^[5]

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