Leanne Noelle Smith took a leap into creativity and never looked back. Today, she is working on multiple projects, including Vasilios Filipakkis’ web series, FAK YAASS, about a dysfunctional Greek family and the main character’s struggle to have them accept his sexuality. Learn more about Leanne and her role in the show below!

Hi Leanne, welcome to Defective Geeks! Tells us about yourself and your journey into becoming an actor. Did you always know you wanted to become an actress? What inspired you?

It has been quite the interesting journey from when I was a kid dancing in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to today, being the actress/producer that I am. It all started with me in ballet from the age of 5, I loved performing and always have. I grew up with some incredible mentors that always inspired me, went on tours, started modeling– and then found myself drawn to acting back in high school.

As millennials, we are often boxed into very specific generational stereotypes. In Avocado Toast the series, Perrie Voss and Heidi Lynch hopes to give the viewers a more complex representation on the lives of two women growing into their relationships, sexuality and experiences. The series premieres on Amazon Prime on May 18th– learn more about the show and creators below!

Hi Perrie and Heidi, thank you for answering our questions today. Please tell us about Avocado Toast the series– what is the show about and what inspired the title itself?

Heidi Lynch: The show is about female friendship and mother/daughter relationships. We explore bisexual millennial coming out stories and coming to terms with watching baby boomer parents fall in love again. That article about millennials, mortgages and avocado toast. We wanted something symbolic for causing a wedge between our millennial and baby boomer characters.

Hazy Little Thing explores people’s relationship with social media and their own mental health, from the minds of filmmakers, Sam Coyle and Erin Carter. With what’s going on right now globally during this pandemic, can you relate to the feeling of isolation and loneliness despite constantly being “connected” via technology?

Hi guys, thank you so much for joining us on Defective Geeks! Please tell us about your new film, Hazy Little Thing. What is it all about?

Hey thanks for having us! Hazy Little Thing follows Billie, a writer, blocked in the wake of her past success. Spiralling further and further into her fear of failure and lack of self-acceptance she posts a particularly self-deprecating post on social media, and after seeing this, her sister and a few close friends rush to her rescue to throw a sort of intervention under the guise of a surprise birthday weekend. 

Actor, Tina Jung, talks to Defective Geeks about taking on this intense role in Queen of the Morning Calm and the challenging topics the film explores. Learn more about her emotional and mental journey and read our interview with her below.

Queen of the Morning Calm looks so emotional, with a really unique perspective on life as a struggling immigrant and a woman of color– tell us about this movie and your character, Debra.

Queen of the Morning Calm is an empowering story about a young immigrant sex worker trying to break free from the cycles of poverty and abuse, all the while learning to be a more nurturing mother in the process. Debra has always lived at the mercy of men believing that things will eventually get better by staying silent and always doing what she is told. She is dragged along knowing she is unhappy with her situation but stays because she feels the need to take care and save others around her. In order to survive, she begins to trust herself learning that she is the only hero she needs in her world. Through her journey of breaking free from the labels that were put on her, she gathers the courage to take risks and fight back, she learns to take control, find her voice, and be her own savior from a world that turned its back on her. It is a story of emancipation, a lesson on self-love, and a discovery of self-worth.

Kate Drummond has been a part of shows such as Wynonna Earp (SYFY), Dark Matter (SYFY) and Heartland (CBC). Now she’s back on Defective Geeks to talk about her latest show, Utopia Falls. This time, Kate plays it tough as the antagonist in this unique take on a utopian/dystopian series. Read more below!

Hello Kate, welcome back to Defective Geeks! Congratulations on your new series, UTOPIA FALLS. What can you tell us about your character, Authority Phydra, and the role she plays in the series?

Thank you! I’m so excited to talk to you again! What a wild ride these past years have been!

Authority Phydra is the head of New Babyl’s police force and is the ultimate enforcer of the laws in the society. I’ve actually heard her compared to President Snow in Hunger Games, which I thought was pretty accurate. Her sole purpose as far as we know in Season 1, is to ensure that all citizens of New Babyl are behaving according to the pre-established laws and cultures, for the greater good of course! As the hero teens discover the Archive and in turn start expressing themselves in ways that are atypical of New Babyl citizens, Phydra becomes more and more determined to silence them, and thus, is the ultimate antagonist in the show. I will say though, that she is a very complicated and complex character who has a very mysterious past that has lead her to be who she is today. Maybe that will be revealed more in Season 2! 

Jeff Teravainen went from music to acting, and currently stars as Gerald in Hulu’s Original Series, Utopia Falls. The new sci-fi show explores a dystopian/utopian future in a very unique way that has not been done before. Jeff talks about the show and what makes it stand out from the rest.

Hi Jeff, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! UTOPIA FALLS is so much fun to watch, it’s so different– how would you describe the show to someone who hasn’t watched it? Can you tell us about your character in the show?

Thanks for having me! First off, I will say it is NOT a dance show or a musical! It’s a great sci-fi show with some cool musical elements. Utopia Falls is set 400 years in the future after humanity almost ended. It is an amiable place on the surface. For example, there are no issues with race etc. However, there is a lot of nefarious things going on underneath it all, which the public knows nothing about. When my daughter Aliyah finds a cave in a restricted area full of artifacts, music, history, things start to change very quickly. Things are not as they had been seen. 

Praneet Akilla proves that it is never too late to pursue what you are truly passionate about as he joined the cast of Netflix’s OCTOBER FACTION. He is a rising young actor who loves science fiction, and you can watch him on screen and on the stage. Learn more about him in our interview below!

Hi Praneet, please tell us about yourself and your journey into acting. Where did it all start and what inspires you to be so passionate about being a part of the entertainment industry?

I’m an actor, singer, and filmmaker based in Vancouver/Toronto. I fell in love with storytelling and acting at an early age, watching movies, plays, and musicals. I would then re-enact them in my bedroom, in front of the bathroom mirror, pretending I was the action hero of my own movie. While others spent their free time playing outside or playing video games, I would study behind the scenes videos of how movies and tv shows were made. I loved the idea that with my words and actions, I could tell stories, and make people feel, cry, laugh. Growing up, I would act in many school musicals/plays, but in a South Asian household there is a stigma against the arts being a viable career option. I was good at math and science so I went and studied Chemical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal. When I graduated, I took a leap of faith. I quit my engineering job, went straight into auditioning for acting jobs for film/tv/stage and haven’t looked back.

Born in Toronto, actor and singer/songwriter, Hallea Jones, stars in Netflix’s LOCKE & KEY as Eden Hawkins– the “it” girl who does her own terrorizing of the show’s protagonists. Hallea talks about discovering the comic books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez and what she loves most about being a part of the adaptation below!

Hi Hallea, thank you for doing this interview with us! Tell us about your new show, Locke & Key, and your character, Eden Hawkins. Can you tell us about the role she will play in the story?

Thanks so much for having me! Ah, there’s so much to say. First off, Locke & Key is about a family moving back into their ancestral home after their father is murdered, only to find magical keys which border fun, and danger. While the kids are warding off a key hungry demon, the two oldest kids, Kinsey and Tyler go to school to deal with Matheson’s very own haute demon– Eden Hawkins. She’s the Regina George of the town, and does it all with a little smile on her face.