Jeri Leader, 13, often approaches experiences with the attitude of simply trying something new and having a good time – but along the way she has seen success and has become an award-winning actress.
The Puslinch teen recently won the best young actress in a web performance award at the inaugural Young Entertainer Awards on March 20 in Hollywood.
Jeri’s nomination for the award came from her mom, Donna Leader’s submission.
“We submitted for The Spell Tutor and you’re not guaranteed a nomination but … she got nominated,” Donna said. “We were happy just for the nomination.”
The Leader family decided to go to Hollywood to support the awards ceremony and to enjoy the experience.
“We were not at all expecting to win,” Jeri said. “I was so shocked and then they called my name and that’s how it happened.”
At the ceremony Jeri walked the red carpet and had her photo taken but bypassed all of the media interviews.
“I was just so nervous, I was just like shaking … I stood still for the whole time, that part I was probably the most nervous but then once we got in there it was more calm, you know,” she said. “I was just going to enjoy the night. “
Because the teenager was not expecting to win she didn’t prepare an acceptance speech.
“I thought about like ‘okay I might say this, I’m going to thank these people’ but I never really came up with specific things to say so I got up there and I was like, ‘so…’” she said.
Jeri won the award for her role as Emma Colden in The Spell Tutor created by Herman Wang.
The six-episode Toronto-based web series was inspired by the works of J.K. Rowling and focuses on a Harry Potter-type Canadian wizarding school.
In the first episode Wang wrote the role of Emma in a generic way but once he got to know Jeri he began writing the script with the actor in mind.
“Emma in the pilot is very different from Emma as she goes through the series,” Donna explained. “She’s very aggressive towards the tutor … she doesn’t really want to be there and then it kind of develops and [Wang] takes Jeri’s personality away from that … combative, which she really isn’t, and she makes it (a) more easy going kind of thing.”
Jeri noticed she became more comfortable with Emma as shooting progressed, but she didn’t necessarily know the creator was changing the character to more closely match her personality.
“I find the first episode … it’s more attitude; she has more sass to the tutor, but the rest of the episodes it’s more about curiosity and each episode it’s kind of like a lesson for her and different things in a way,” Jeri said. “But she’s very curious of different kinds of magic and what else could she do.”
To see the first season of The Spell Tutor visit www.youtube.com and search “The Spell Tutor.”
The first season of the web series was filmed in 2015 and Jeri explained that season two is on the horizon but she couldn’t say anymore.
Though the Puslinch teen won the acting award for a filmed series, she is also accomplished on stage.
“I think I started out in theatre so I guess … that’s where my heart will always be but I love, love, love doing films and short films, and web series and stuff,” Jeri said.
“It’s just a different experience because in film there’s so many things you can do and you can try new things, whereas on stage it’s like you get one shot and if you mess up it’s live so you can’t do anything about it. Which I kind of like that.”
In the coming months Jeri is returning to the stage in the role of Gertie Pye, Josie Pye’s sister, in the Lower Ossington Theatre production of Anne of Green Gables and will perform in all the dance numbers for the production.
However, Anne of Green Gables was another audition that Jeri went to primarily for the experience without any expectations for landing a part.
“I auditioned but there wasn’t many kids there so we were … like, ‘oh maybe it was a mistake’ so we weren’t really expecting to get in and then I got a callback and I was shocked and so we did the call back and literally when we got home from the call back we got the email saying ‘you are going to be this role, rehearsals start Monday’ and so I was freaking out because again I wasn’t expecting it,” Jeri said.
“I was so excited because I really wanted to do it.”
Jeri has been rehearsing about four out of five weekdays, working towards a premiere date of April 14.
“I am the only kid in the cast; everyone is an adult which is exciting,” Jeri said. “I like being in adult environments because it’s different and I guess more professional.”
Because of her demanding schedule, Jeri has been home schooled for the past few years.
“It’s my fourth year being home schooled and it’s great because we’re so flexible,” Jeri said. “I can do school on the go or if I have something in the morning when I come back I can do school after that. It’s great.”
However, next year Jeri is starting Grade 9 at a public arts high school in Toronto.
“I got into ESA, Etobicoke School of the Arts, which we are … so excited about because it’s the best school in Toronto for academic purposes but also it’s an arts school. So I’m really excited to be going to an arts school because that’s what I love to do,” Jeri said.
Throughout the week the family will live in Etobicoke and on weekends they will return to their Puslinch home.
Getting into ESA was one audition where Jeri was confident she could be successful.
“We were pretty happy (when she got in) because we didn’t have a back-up plan,” Donna said. “A lot of people will apply to multiple art schools and we only applied to ESA.”
Her upcoming high school education will help Jeri work towards her ultimate goal: to be on Broadway. The seed was planted during her first role as an Oompa Loompa in Royal City Musical Productions Inc.’s Willy Wonka at the River Run Centre in Guelph when she was seven years old.
“I went in thinking I was going to be one of the main characters at seven years old,” Jeri said. “So at the audition I was super excited about it and I think I’m pretty sure I was pretty nervous, I can’t remember.”
Even during that first audition Donna said she let Jeri participate as a learning experience because 10 years old was the minimum age to audition.
“I said ‘well yeah, we’ll go’ because she’s tall,’ Donna said. “Part of their thing was that she didn’t look like a seven-year-old. So I said, ‘well we’ll go’ and it’s (a) good experience to learn how to audition because she’d never really done it before but it worked out.”
From that point on Jeri was hooked. “I was really excited too,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to be on stage!’ and I got to be an oompa loompa because I was excited to be that too because they’re so cute.”
And her love of acting in all mediums grew.
“I just love it so much,” Jeri said. “I mean there’s no specific aspect of it that keeps me going.”
She said she loves it all.
