Behind the Lens & Beyond: A Conversation with Leanne Johnson – Actor, Filmmaker, and Storyteller - Women Unscripted

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Leanne Johnson and I am an actor and filmmaker.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Art, the podcast where we get
up close and personal as we get to know women
from around the world of visual arts. I'm Chris Stafford
and this is season three, Episode thirteen. My guest is
the Canadian American actor and filmmaker Leanne Johnson, whose philosophy

(00:33):
is founded on seeking, understanding, and sharing truth through bold
characters and stories to redefine the narrative about women in
film and our world. Since graduating from Alberta University in
twenty eleven with the bachelor's in Nutrition and Food Science,
Leanne has consistently produced a repertoire of diverse and dynamic performances.

(00:57):
In May twenty twenty five, she made her diary directorial
debut with A Tree Falls in the Forest, which speaks
to her Raisaldebt as a storyteller. Her performance in the
twenty twenty four action crime movie Extraction USA resonates with
her own story of humble beginnings growing up the daughter

(01:17):
of immigrants in rural Alberta. Her credits range from NBC's
Chicago PD to Dracula the Count's Kin to Chasing Rabbits,
Oreganda and Idle Girl. She's garnered multiple Best Actress Awards,
including Chasing Rabbits in twenty twenty two, Oregonda in twenty

(01:38):
twenty four, plus Best Supporting Actress in Greek Fire Demon
Spirit twenty twenty three. As well as her versatility on screen,
Leanne is a personal trainer, having graduated from the National
Academy of Sports Training in Lafayette, Indiana. Her lifelong love
of sports is evident in her range of skills, including snowboarding,

(02:02):
martial arts, and roller derby, where she's known as Chariot
of Fire. Leanne embraces her queer identity and stereotype bending
on screen performances whilst staying true to her faith, which
remains at her core. Leanne is currently based in Indiana
and is a proud mother of two daughters. Leanne, Welcome

(02:24):
to the podcast. Thank you for joining me.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Chris. Which part of the world are you in right now?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I am in the Midwest, in the US of A. Indiana.
To be specific.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Isn't that a flyover state Indiana?

Speaker 1 (02:38):
It's the Crossroads, as Indianapolis is the crossroads of India. Idia.
A lot of people from all over kind of you know,
are kind of stopping this hub.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
But you can basically get anywhere in the Midwest from Indiana.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, and you can go back north to Canada because
that's where you're from originally. Did make that trip very often.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I am from Western Canada, so that's a twenty three
hour drive from where I'm at straight So if I
were to go straight north, you know, I would be
into the Ontario. But that's that's not home for me.
So I do not make that track very often.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
No, do you miss it? Do you miss the Canadian life,
especially now in these very interesting times we live in.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
I miss the mountains and the fresh air and well,
I mean there's wildfires now. But I think what I
miss about Canada most is like there's just this different
feel about it, this openness, this vastness. You know, I'm

(03:42):
close to British Columbia, Alberta, and so I was right
along the rocky mountain belt, and so I really on
a regular basis got to see like how incredible our
world is and how big.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
It is and how small we are.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
And it gives you a perspective to be thankful and
to take care of what you have your environment, you
know other people around you.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
There's just this different type of community there.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, I shouldn't go any further without congratulating you on
just wrapping on your directorial debut. A tree falls in
the forest. That's right, congratulations, thank you.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
How does it feel incredible?

Speaker 1 (04:23):
It also feels very natural for me as a as
a director and as an actor director. It felt like
I was just where I needed to be in that space.
So that was that was an incredible feeling, and I'm
thankful for that.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
How about the whole process though, because now you know
what it feels like from both sides of the camera.
But I feel being a quite quite a filmmaker now
and putting all those pieces together and wearing the top
dog hat, how did you cope with the pressure?

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Oh, the pressure?

Speaker 1 (04:54):
I think that my experience as an indie filmmaker and
also my experiences as an actor. I'm in a winning
actors And I don't say that as like, hey look
at me. I say that is I've really emotionally stretched
and been in situations that were very challenging in terms
of performance. And then as a filmmaker, having produced a
film from scratch, co directing very small micro budget projects.

(05:17):
I've just really been through the Ringer and it was
one of those experiences in pre production where I was
contracted to write a film and the producer wanted to
make sure that we had secure IP, which is intellectual property,
so there wasn't going to be any questions throughout the
process or any legal issues with IP. And so from

(05:39):
the very point of putting a pen to paper and
then you know, basically stepping in front of the camera
and picking the shots, like, I had a lot of
creative autonomy, and my producer and my creative team really
trusted me, and I thrive in that space. When I'm
trusted to shepherd something or to hold a vision, I

(06:05):
feel the responsibility of that. But I also follow through
with that because I do my best to say what
I'm gonna or do what I say, and you know,
and follow through. And I think that that is something
that comes intrinsic to who I am, and it makes
it an important quality of a director.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Well, I know you're an excellent communicator, but I read
that you're you're considered the Swiss Army Knife on Emperor
film set. My goodness, that's quite something.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
That's really funny. Yes, I'm very versatile, and by that
I mean.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
Why I feel like the title filmmaker is more important
to me than specifying director, producer, you know, he set,
like whatever it is, I really feel like as a filmmaker,
as an actor, the core of it is, I'm a
story teller. And if there's a story that I that

(07:03):
you hear, my Canadian accident story, if there's a story
that I feel passionate about, and typically those revolved around
women's stories, and I feel like our representation of women,
the amount of stories and narratives involving women are improving
over the first you.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Know, in the nineteenth essentially nineteen hundreds, Like, but.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Those types of stories that I really connect with and
I feel like other people may benefit from or that
it opens up a perspective, or that it represents something
true that is often suppressed.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
That's the type of film or project or story that
I want to get involved with. And whatever that team needs.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
They might need a director, they might need a producer,
they might need an actor, they might need a production
assistant or unit production matter.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
If I am passionate.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
About the story and I feel like I have strengths
and skills that I can apply to that team. It
may look different on every production, but I ultimately want
that story to be told, and so I'm willing to
learn something new but also apply skills that I have
to that team in order for that goal to be accomplished.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Well, you do wear many hats, don't you, both on
a personal front, your mother, wife, and all the different
things that you can do professionally. Where do you feel
your zooming in right now, Leanne? Or is that transitory?

Speaker 3 (08:28):
As a professional? Where am I zooming in right now?
You know?

Speaker 1 (08:33):
It's interesting having directed my feature film that I felt
like I was very natural in terms of leading, and
by doing that as a director, it felt very rewarding

(08:57):
for me on a production level and a creative level.
And I think that as a director I contribute much
more to the overall project because I have qualities of leadership.
I have qualities of communication. I have qualities of empathy.

(09:19):
I have qualities of conflict resolution and technical understanding that
make it easier for me to treat people with kindness
and also make decisions when they need to be made
and be willing to assume the consequences, whether positive or negative,
of those decisions.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
And I'm okay with not being liked. I think that's
an important quality of a director.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
I think that's something that actors struggle with to an extent.
And so when I think about it from a team
based perspective, as a community perspective, I think my strength
on a production level really lies a director, but personally
as an artist, as a human being, as a as
as a person walking in this world. Acting is the

(10:04):
one art form for me that consistently challenges me to
be humble, to seek perspective, to fail, and to really
connect with the world around me and with people. And
so I those are almost two separate things. So when
I'm on set and I'm an actor director, meaning I'm directing,

(10:25):
but then I can step in to a scene or
a couple scenes, or almost an entire film as an actor,
all I'm doing is reducing the communication channel between a
director and an actor, and I'm one person, and so
the efficiency of that is quite impressive.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
So that felt like a really great fit for me.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
And I know that a lot of wonderful actors such
as Jodie Foster have done that in their careers, so
I know that it's possible for.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
Someone who used to ride horses for a living. But
you always used to say that horses are a great leveler,
But acting, too is a great leveler.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like, what do you mean by a leveler?

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Well, it brings you back down to earth. You know,
it makes you hopeful. You know, you learn about all
those interpersonal still skills because you get to understand the
impact that you individually have on so many people.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, and you cope with a lot of failure exactly.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, and you fall off the horse.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Oh, you do a lot nine out of ten times.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yes, you build resilience as a as an actorate.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
I once heard it's to be an actors to have
the heart of a rose but the skin of a rhino,
And I think that that's very accurate and that it's
not for everyone. At least within film, it's a little
bit more uh. In the limelight, there's more visibility, and
so you know, you do experience potentially more with the

(11:49):
word uh. You know, when people make judgments about you
or they have certain they think certain things about you,
and the word is escaping me right now, but you
do you run the risk of being more visible and
having to deal with that from the public.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
So at first glance, I'm going to say, you're Leo.
What's the sug like you?

Speaker 1 (12:08):
So my son is Capricorn and my moon is Sagittarius.
So I am very hard working and diligent, but then
I'm also very free spirited and spontaneous. So yeah, that
kind of reflects my German Irish mix. Actually got that. Yeah,

(12:31):
it's the duality makes some days difficult. So I'm always
learning within myself. My friend said, it's a it's a
twin spirit. She said, when somebody is a twin spirit,
is somebody who is spirited in almost too. It seems
like two seemingly opposite ways, whether it's creative and logical,

(12:53):
and yet you're always constantly seeking a coexistence within yourself,
and so you're a lifelong learner. And I think that
that's quite accurate to the position.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
You're not a Leo.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
I am far from a Leo.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Are you going to tell me what you are because
I'm not going to look you up.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Capricorn, Capricorn son and Sagittarius moon.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Okay, yeah, do you follow those?

Speaker 3 (13:18):
I have friends that have. They've asked me like what
sign are you?

Speaker 1 (13:22):
And I'm like, well, I'm a Capricorn and they're like nah,
and then they look up like, well, your son's sign,
your main son is Capricorn, but your moon. I guess
it's basically like two dichotomous personalities.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
But yes, it's a little bit I guess more nuanced.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
And then if you're following the Chinese zodiac, the year
I've worn.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
Makes me a fire tiger.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, and it's like there's like, you know, your basic
zodiac within Chinese calendars like operate a little bit differently,
and then every decade or something there's a unique year
and the year is born makes me a fire tiger.
And I was like, oh, that's interesting and very accurate.
But yeah, I'm always curious about it. I think that
our world is so and the and the universes and

(14:07):
God is just so huge. It's beyond our comprehension. I
think that there's a lot to learn from everything the
world around us.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
So well, speaking of a lot to learn, you have
actually a lot of skills to your boat right now,
lots of different arrows. And I love that there's lots
of sports in there, because pro sports is my background. Yes,
and you've got a horseback riding in there, you've got basketball,
you've got I don't know martial arts as well snowboarding.

(14:38):
Where does that interest and love come from for sports itself?
To add those to your inventory in this profession huge.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
I think I grew up in very small rural communities
and then I moved to an oil town in high school,
and so I was in constantly male dominated environments in sports.
I played on an all boys hockey te all boys
soccer team. I you know, I related more to activities
that were very physical, and so I got along well

(15:10):
with boys when I was younger, and so I did
a lot of like snowboarding and mountain biking, and it
was just at the time, like there just wasn't a
lot of encouragement or acceptance of I've skateboarded, I played
roller derby for a decade, Like I've done a lot
of very physical and dangerous sports.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
But at the core of.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
It, I just learned that, you know, you've if you
want to be successful, you have to work hard, and
if you want to get better, you've got a practice.
And then you have to understand that you're a part
of a team. And I have a strong affinity towards
team sports, which is why that makes me work well

(15:57):
on a film crew, as I understand that everybody has
a certain rules on the team or within the crew,
and no role, even the director, is better than any
other person. It's just different with different responsibilities and different authority.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
And if the film or the.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
Goal or the team is going to be successful, everyone
has to learn to work together.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
And if it's.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
One sport that I learned was the most powerful in
terms of my overall growth as a human being, it
was roller Derby. Because if you do not know how
to communicate, you will lose. Teams that have the strongest, best,
fastest players will lose to a team that is more communicative.
And that's really what it comes down to, is communicating

(16:42):
and understanding how other people communicate and learning to listen
and speak. And that's really a core of a successful team,
I think, is the ability to communicate totally.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
And then where did you learn your horseback riding?

Speaker 1 (16:56):
So my horseback riding would be like basically be inner
level I did.

Speaker 3 (17:02):
I haven't done like trained lesson.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
I've done a few train lessons in terms of horseback riding,
but most of it was like rail riding in the
Dominican bareback like very you know, like we're just holding
onto the horses, mans and going.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
And so I've done some of that, but.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
I've not taken like formal lessons or as experience as
it sounds like you may have done growing up.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
So any one of these, then you could call on
these if you need to, if the role demanded it.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yes, yes, yeah, And and discipline yourself, like you know
with some film projects, you have a certain amount of
time if you're preparing for a role to work on
necessary skills that might be required. And so then you
discipline yourself to practice and improve on that skill set.
And and I have that natural athletic ability and an

(17:57):
intrinsic determination and so you know, I'll do what's required.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
And you're motivated to keep fit.

Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah, I think on several aspects, like it's a way
of protecting myself from injury, and also, you know, fitness
and moving and being active is something I believe that
our bodies were just made to do, and it helps
with mental health. It helps me to feel strong. And

(18:28):
also like you got to carry equipment, you might have
to carry a person, and I feel capable and am
strong physically that I want to make sure that I
can assist And yeah, be the best teammate.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Again, what's your workout of choice now in sport when
you have time?

Speaker 1 (18:48):
I'd say my workout of choice has increasingly like I
do lift weights about two or three times a week
in the gym, and I do, you know, a cross
training type regimen, but my consistent daily workout of choice
has become more of that body weighted exercise like pilates
or yoga. And I think because it activates your core,

(19:13):
it teaches you your awareness of your body.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
You know a lot of people can't even do.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
Basic pushups or pull ups or planks, and those types
of exercises are very functional to real life. And you
don't need a lot of mass to be strong. You
just need to know how to use your body for
your advantage. And I think that's what I've learned over
the past several years is flexibility, mobility. You know, body
weighted exercise and strength is overall helpful for injury prevention

(19:41):
and overall strength for what I need.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and becomes more important as we get older.
Does a TRX feature in your life? Does what a TRX?

Speaker 3 (19:55):
Oh I've done I have done TRX.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, I've done TRX, But now it's not something I
I do regularly.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
Okay, well we can't compare notes. That's particularly useful, you
know for a complete workout. Yeah, for everywhere, yes, but
I love the pilates, so yeah, keep that going.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
That's much, thank you.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
I want to talk about your ancestry. You mentioned lots
of European ancestry there, and you know we do share
the whole life story. Here we start the arc back
back to the early beginnings, because I know in your
repertoire you've got all kinds of accents too that you
can call on. Some of those more natural than others,
or somebody you have to work on.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
I think you know in terms of again, like for me,
accent work is just like working a muscle on your body.
It's like you if you know you need to develop
something and you have you know, a foundation, ory baseline,
then if you work that enough, you know it'll get
strong and I'll get better. And I think accident work
is similar. When I was younger to watch a lot

(21:00):
of like I watch a lot of movies, and I
used to mimic accent and impersonations of people, and I
just thought it was really fun.

Speaker 3 (21:09):
And I think that my brain at.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
A very young age just started developing and stretching that muscle.
So you know, it basically requires me to either have
a conversation with somebody who's naturally has a particular accent,
and I will start to kind of pick it up
throughout a conversation. I'll listen to an audiobook in that

(21:33):
particular accent. But yeah, it's it's it's just observation, honestly,
it's observation and experimentation and uh and then you know, uh, yeah,
you just you just kind of practice it. But I
do know that it's harder for some people than others

(21:54):
to do accent work. But I'm not you know, a
linguist expert or anything like that. But if I have
enough time and practice, then you know, I can nail
an accent.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
And I Helen Mirin.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
Once said, you know the best thing to do is
to show up to set an accent and stay an
accent if your character has an accent the entire time.
And I did that one time with the role that
required me to have a Cockney accent. And I practiced
it a lot and listened to a lot of like
radio BBC radio, and like was like, okay, you know,
what's the difference between this type of accent and then
a Cockney accent. I talked to a friend who had

(22:26):
a bit of a Cockney accent and asked her to
read my lines in her accent.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
And it was just a lot of.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Observation and intention And then I showed up to set
and I just talked in this Cockney accent and everybody
on the cast thought I was from England and like.

Speaker 3 (22:41):
And then I dropped out of accent after the last.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
Scene on the you know, last day of production, and
they're like, wait what And I was like, yeah, no,
I'm I and they.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Were like, we thought you were totally. So that was
a great compliment.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
But it took a lot of work, you know, to
be intentional with that accent work.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
So when you're talking to someone and who tries to
use the best British accent, can you just roll into that?
Then just talking to me.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
I probably could try a little bit.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Would you like, by default go into that accent?

Speaker 1 (23:14):
No, I don't think so, I think let's see. And
in terms of I think this is also important for
accent work. Is like, because I'm from Canada, so everybody
thinks I speak French. Like They're like oh, you're from Canada.
That means you speak French. Is like no, I learned
French all through school and then we went to Ottawa
and they like laughed at me, you know, they were

(23:34):
like what are you doing? Like what are you trying
to do? Really, and then they'll speak to you in
English because they're like so offended that you would, you know,
try to because there's just like you can tell that
there's just it's people who are actually, you know, native speakers,
and they can they will pick up on it.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
So it takes quite a time, I think to assimilate
into that.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
But to a regular American, they don't, you know, they
would be couldn't really be able to tell if I
was doing like a British accent, you know, or something
like that.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
They would they they wouldn't know you're not from there.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
When you could fall into any of these accents, then
by the time we finished this, I.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Mean I could, but I don't know like what exactly
which part of which part of exactly? Yes, because it's huge,
like and yeah, based on the different part and and
I mean, what's your experience traveling across you know, your
own country, and like are the accents different? Because that's
what I've heard, is like it's really individual, Yeah, oh

(24:36):
very much.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
So. Yeah, I think in any country, you know, and
in Europe, in France and in Germany, you know, no
matter where you go, there's a shift in level dialect
where yes, yeah, there's a skill though when you use
it for voice work.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, Like I don't do a lot of voiceover work,
which I think voiceover actors do a lot more voice
work or you know, if they're not being I do
a lot of film projects in the Midwest, and not
a lot of my film projects require me to have
a British or an Australian or you know, an accent
unless they've scripted a particular character that has that. But

(25:13):
not in years, I don't think I've I've done a
character that has had a specific accent.

Speaker 3 (25:20):
So but I'm open to it.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Let's talk about ancestry. And you know your family obviously
from Alberta, use where you grew up, but what's your
family history and ancestry where in Europe?

Speaker 1 (25:34):
So, my mother and her family immigrated to Alberta when
she was two years old from Germany. And my she
had like five other siblings and her you know, my grandparents, Uh,
basically didn't know any English. And my grandfather was I mean,

(25:59):
he's but he couldn't find work in Alberta doing anything
that you know, would require any real degree of intellect
because he couldn't speak English.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
And so he actually worked as.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
A janitor for you know, years and years and years,
and like when we uncovered some of the stuff we had,
he had several patented ideas and like really brilliant stuff
in the house that were like this is incredible, and
he was just working as a janitor and they're growing
food out of their own garden. But yeah, my mom

(26:31):
told me that they immigrated from Germany because my grandfather
did not want to participate in the war. So that
was what she had told me was their main reason
for immigrating.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
And they chose Alberta.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, I don't know particularly why that was the province
of choice for them, but that's where they ended up.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
So, and how about you on your dad's.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
My dad's side, his ancestry, So his father, my grandfather
on my dad's side was from Ireland and my grandmother's
from Poland, and they ended up and I think it
was like North Dakota, USA. And then they also moved
to Alberta and operated a farm. And my dad had

(27:23):
told me that his great grandfather it was because of
the potato.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
Famine in Ireland that they had immigrated, and so that
was so yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
So I mean I come from a family of immigrants,
European immigrants, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
And not of diversity that. So did you learn any
other language to learn German?

Speaker 3 (27:45):
No? I actually am not very good at learning languages.
I can learn accents, but.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
And it's interesting because when I go travel to somewhere
like in Latin America or Mexico, the Latin American this
or that you know basically from Mexico will start speaking
to me in Spanish because my accent. After a couple
of days, they were so strong that they think I
actually speak Spanish.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
But it's just the way that I'm saying it. But no,
I I don't.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
I don't speak any German, Irish, Gaelic essentially, I don't.

Speaker 3 (28:14):
I don't know any of those other languages.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
So what was childhood like for you?

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Then?

Speaker 2 (28:19):
What were your earliest memories of growing up in the cold,
cold Canada.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Uh, earlier memories with my grandparents was, you know, working
in their garden, so I had at a very young
age a connection with growing my own food and where
food came from, and that the earth, you know, provided
us with our needs. And then in terms of being

(28:46):
in the mountains, when we moved to the mountains, was
I walked to school in several feet of snow.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know, they didn't shut down school for snow.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
They get the plows out at four am and you know,
through the roads and you to school, and uh, it
was just a very.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
Tough you know, I didn't grow up very wealthy. I
we had.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
We lived in a trailer park or a small home
or rental property, and so I just learned a lot
of just work, ethic and resilience and you've yeah, you've independence,
I guess too as well as a young person and
the power of creativity and play. And we didn't have
all the devices that kids do nowadays that kind of

(29:31):
feed creativity to you. You had to be creative yourself
and really explore the world around you and go on adventures.
And there's something really pure about that in childhood that
you know, I hope that we continue to recreate for
a young generation.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
So what kind of activities then would you do with
each of your parents together or separately. What what were
you gravitating toward.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
It's interesting because I have some memories of playing with
my parents, but my parents had me, Like my mom
was thirty six years old when she had me, and
so my parents were more mature as.

Speaker 3 (30:11):
You know, and they, you know, they I really played.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
A lot by myself. I played with you know, in
a stream or with friends or whatever. But if I
could remember, like my dad, I think it was just
playing catch with me or take me play shinny hockey,
you know, very basic pick sports level activities. But most

(30:37):
of my free playing, creative play was around my peers
or with a best friend or my sister, or by myself.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
So what were you gravitating towards?

Speaker 3 (30:51):
Then?

Speaker 2 (30:52):
In school? Which subjects were catching your eye?

Speaker 3 (30:57):
I always gravitated towards English.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
I gravitated towards anything that involved creative writing reading.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
I also loved the sciences.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
I have a degree in science, and I think that
there that I view science and art and writing and
words very similarly. Like to me, it's all a creative
process and it's design and like even basic human anatomy

(31:29):
and physiology, like the body is incredible internally and externally,
it's art, and it's also just amazing how we operate
within our own system every day, or this walking, human
like living organism that is also strong and beautiful. And

(31:50):
so I think I think that those were typically the
two subjects that really fascinated me the most were writing
and reading and English and learning how to communicate and
how to how to express and honestly the earliest form

(32:10):
of impactful education for me with second grade. First grade,
I had a teacher that made fun of me because
I couldn't spell words correctly that the other kids were
able to spell very simply, but I couldn't. I had
a hard time with spelling, and he I remember him
making fun of me in class because I couldn't spell
a basic word. And then in my second grade, I

(32:31):
had a teacher who gave me a dictionary, and then
she gave me a thesaurus and she said, now you
can learn how to spell words. And I was fascinated
that there were also other words that represented basic words,
and so then began my creative exploration of creative writing.

(32:54):
In second grade, I was writing my own book series
called Journey through the Tundra.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
So it was it was a very impactful.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Experience for me from first grade to second grade was
we can either ridicule and try to conform people to
fit some type of system, or we can actually see
the individual and empower them with tools to then make
an area that was a weakness and incredible strength. And
I'll never forget that. And she affirmed and gave stickers

(33:26):
on my work. And I mean I ended up, you know,
writing really wonderful essays in high school and college and
getting really remarkable grades that in those areas. But yeah,
I stuck to kind of the sciences. I had an
affinity towards the sciences.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
So that's interesting, isn't it? Because you did go to
the University of Alberta graduated bachelors in nutrition and food science. Yes,
that's an interesting first choice to and given where you
then when you went to the National Academy of Sports
Training in La Indiana to do corrective exercise specialists now

(34:05):
and a personal trainer, which is I'll tell you're interested, Yes,
exports of course. But given that those first choices of
Leanna so formative, aren't they as to which you think
you're going to go as a teenager? Were your parents
kind of steering you in any direction or did they
let you make your own pathway?

Speaker 1 (34:28):
They really facilitated my independence in terms of I never
heard from my parents and I'm very fortunate this way.
I never heard from my parents this is what you
should do and uh, and you know, they they said,

(34:49):
what do you what do you like to do? What
do you feel passionate about? Where do you see yourself
helping others? And they were very encouraging and supportive of
the direct that I chose. And I mean I was
a very strong wild I still am a strong willed
person in terms of like when I set my mind
to something, I'm going to do it, and I understand

(35:09):
I may fail, but I recognize the importance of going
through that process.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
And I don't view.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
I don't view the journey through life as a linear process.
It's it's a you kind of have to be okay
with going in different directions. But ultimately I feel like
you end up on a path that is destined for
you in a sense, but the journey to get there

(35:39):
or to consistently have in that direction is going to
look different for everybody. But yeah, I my parents were
very supportive even with my gender identity very young. They
were very supportive of, like, you know, me exploring that
and making that my own. I think that was really

(36:00):
power for me as a young person and especially now
in the arts and what I do. So yeah, very
formative years for sure.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, that's wonderful that you got that kind of support.
M I'm wondering where the drama came in then, because
you went to Community Theater in two thousand. Yes, h Murray, Canada.
That sounds like a very remote location.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Way up north. Yeah, it's very remote.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
I mean the most incredible northern lights or royalist you'd
ever see, like dancing around you.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
You know.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
I'd laid down in a soccer field and it was
like I was swimming and like I was, I was
laying on my back on an ocean essentially of snow,
and the world around me was northern lights.

Speaker 3 (36:41):
I mean, it was just incredible the experience in the north.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
And it was very cold, but we also had you know,
a lot of brilliant sun and that's a dry cold,
so you get insulated and you can do most activities outdoors,
but yet it is it was very I actually picked
my high.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
School because of the dramatic dramatic arts program.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
They were all second in sports, but the drama teacher,
missus Karen Towsley, was also the city's community film director.
She there was a community theater, very very very nice
community theater in Fort McMurray, which is a large city.

(37:17):
She was a community theater director there, and she was
a teacher at Westwood Community High School. And since as
young as I could remember, I remember putting on like
performances at family reunions and going to theater camp, and
I loved I loved acting, and I loved creating stories
and telling stories, and so you know, having gone through

(37:40):
elementary school doing a few plays and that kind of
thing and having that experience, I knew that for me
it was important to have an outlet where I could
feel free, to feel and to step outside the rigidity
of academic constraints or sports constraints where everything is very
disciplined and regimented and grow that artistic, that empathetic, that

(38:02):
emotional part of me that I feel like a lot
of our culture and society sees as weakness, where they
see it as like, oh, that's not going to get
you anywhere. But in truth, the dramatic arts program is
a huge reason why I'm successful as a professional. It
teaches you public speaking, It teaches you confidence in front
of a crowd, It teaches you to let go of
what other people are thinking of you.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
It allows you to make mistakes and to laugh.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
And there's a grace and an acceptance within the arts
community that I don't think is really an equivalent. They
don't think there's an equivalent in other communities than the
arts community.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
And yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
It was every year I got Student of the Year
in that program, and every year Missus tells you will
be like, I can't believe I've never given this high
a grade to student before, But it was that she
would say, like, and this was true. It's like I
wasn't afraid to do what other students were scared to do.
I would take on the most vulnerable monologues or pick

(39:05):
a play that was very I had dark or tense
or very explorative of like the human condition. And I
was willing to you know, volunteerist tribute. I was willing
to say, okay, like I'm stepping in to a character, choose,
and I'm willing to let go of what people think
of me and see a character. And that was very

(39:29):
freeing and empowering and it made me feel fearless.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
To be able to do that. And now as an
adult in real life, I look at I want to
do that in real life, not just on a stage.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
I do want to be fearless and be real, and
I don't want to be an actor in my everyday life.
I want to be who I am and bring that
to the characters that I play. So it's a little
bit of a different evolution.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
Well, shedding inhibitions takes bravery coverage, right, yes, yea, to
just leave them outside the room and just go in
there and be whoever you want to be. M I'm
wondering at that time then what you were watching, who
your influences were when you're going through theater, and then
at the beginning of your career, when you were breaking

(40:24):
or even as a child, you know, when you're watching TV,
what were you watching.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
I'm trying to remember.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
I feel like I watched the standard kid cartoons and stories, but.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
I had a real affinity to hero characters.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
And so like one of I think one of the
most profound like for me it was was any of
the films that really had female heroines in them, that
were were were the heroes of the story and that
I really was drawn and before those were really roles

(41:00):
that women were in, there were typically roles that men
were in. And so I think, like you know, all
of the superhero stories and all of like those action
type stories, my appeal was always to the characters that
were willing to sacrifice, willing to go into battle, willing

(41:24):
to make that hard decision in order to save another
person or to to protect a community. And that was
kind of my affinity was towards those characters. And I think,
like in psychology they call that a hero complex.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
Maybe I can say the complics, but.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
There's also like a lot of positive traits of that.
And so I remember watching Demi Moore in g I Jane.
I don't even know what year that came out in,
and I was just like what, And I was like
like what, and it really like And I've followed her

(42:04):
career and even with strip teas and everything, and I've
seen a lot more of the similarities and characters, you know,
But she's an example of someone that I sow at
a young age that I was just you know, Sandra Bullock.

Speaker 3 (42:14):
And Miss Congeniality.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
You know, she's playing this cap and then she steps
into this role as a beauty queen, but she's still
herself and is like, no, you know, there's.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
Just certain movies and shows and Julia Roberts and Aaron Brockovich.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
When I was a little bit older, like you know where,
I was very much impacted by women who were like,
this is who I am, these are the skills that
I have, this is what I'm going to do, and
I'm willing to deal with the hardship and the conflict
to do what I'm supposed to do and do what
I meant to do. And even in my career, even

(42:51):
in my undergrad is a dietitian, there was a certain
formality they required, like, oh, if you're a dietitian, you
need to wear heels and a black suit. And I
remember wearing white tennis shoes and being like, I'm gonna
wear I wore white tennis shoes. I'd go to all
the presentation, I wear the whitest tennis shoes I could find,
and and the professors just it big.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
I mean, if you could.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
See a kettle steaming like it was that, I was like,
I will not conform to a standard that has nothing
to do with my intelligence or ability by what I'm
wearing on my feet and uh, and that make me competent. Also,
how am I supposed to run if I need to
run or like help somebody if like I'm in these

(43:37):
unfunctional like not functional footwear that I'm you know, in
a hospital for you know, hours on end or whatever.
And it became very clear to me in my undergrad
that what was weakness in some areas was strengths and others.
So a weakness in clinical setting was a strength in
a community setting. And I realized sometimes it's not that
we're wrong, it's just we're wrong for that environment and

(43:58):
we're really right for other environments or other groups. And
it's all about finding your your your purpose in your
place in whatever it is you choose to do, and
not seeing those noses rejections, but as redirections to the
right spaces that you need to be in.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
So yeah, there I went off on a tangent on that, but.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
It all adds up yet, and it all points us
to really to those next stages in your career. You know,
once you graduate and you're not going to be wearing
the heels and the suits and becoming rights the stereotypical dietician.
You decided to turn left and follow your left for
the arts. Talk a little bit about those first steps though,

(44:41):
and which doors you had to break down.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
It was more like the doors were they were my
own doors that I had to break down. And I remember,
you know, moving to the Midwest and being like, okay,
I'm a new mom. I could start, you know, finding
work at a hospital, or I could you know, get
certified as a personal trainer and kind of work my

(45:05):
own hours and work with childcare and stuff like that.
And so I started making my own path in that direction,
and I was playing roller Derby as well, and then
it just got to this point where there was this
almost like this emptiness.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
But it's more of like if if you.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
Had a plant, like in your room, and you know
it needs water and it needs to be put on
the windowsill to get light. It's like it's there, and
that's kind of like in your life and you're just
kind of looking at it every day, or you know
it's there, but you're like, you know, I don't know
if I want to put that work in.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
It's kind of like what I did.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
There's part of who I am that I feel like
wasn't growing, and I had to take intentional steps to
water it and put it into the light. And now
something beautiful started to grow within me that other people
could also see an impact then in a way where
they're like, oh, I I.

Speaker 4 (46:02):
Love that, and I feel like that is what I did.
And it was being like, Okay, I know that this
part of me.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
I don't know what that's going to help with my
career or what that's going to help with you know, anything,
but I have to honor that and I have to
acknowledge that that's there, and then I have to make
intentional steps to see that grow. And I remember my
husband Steven saying to me, you know, would you regret
it if you didn't try? And that was very true,
and I was like, I don't want to live with
regrets of not trying something that I know I need

(46:34):
to do, and so, you know, I went for it.
And I just uh, you know, created a profile on Backstage,
which is still an active, like uh portfolio system for
actors to you know, to apply for roles and stuff
like that, and I just you know, looked for projects
that were student films or something that was entry level

(46:55):
and I just started getting involved in projects and trying
out this film acting thing, and it.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Was harder because it wasn't as visible like you know,
an audience.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
If you do a theater play, they'll clap for you,
you know, you get to work with people regularly and
build relationships, and film is more transient and it's kind
of you.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
You invest, then you let go and.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
You know, you do that really emotional take and then
they go, okay, cut moving on, and you know it's
you have to really be in it for the story
and for yourself, like to grow as a person, because
people aren't going to clap for you, you know, all
the time, or they're not going to acknowledge the work
that you put in, and you really have to.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
Be invested in it as an artist to make it worthwhile.
And and I wanted to do that.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
I wanted to grow and I wanted to affect other
people through stories. So yeah, I decided I'd regret it
if I didn't try. So I'm still try here, I am.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
Well, there's a determination and also a self confidence that
you need, though, Leanne, when you're a young person, and
especially breaking into an industry as public as this. As
you say, you are relying on your own resources to
move on from each take right and not wait for
someone say well that was good or that right. You know,
you've got to be very self assured, self confident. Where

(48:22):
do you think that came from? Were you not intimidated
by anything or anyone when you broke into this. I mean,
it's one thing to have the support of your partner
say yeah, go for it, but it's you that has
to go for it.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
That's very true.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
I think that for me, what what it came down
to was just this idea of purpose, this feeling of purpose.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
And I mean I think that.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
It's it's hard to describe, but when you feel compelled
to do something because it's in your nature, there's a responsibility.
I believe to honor that because I feel like it's
a part of my design and like how I view
the world and like how I view myself is we're

(49:18):
all a part of something greater. And you know, just
like a like a body, like you know in studying
that everything works with uh, there's a system, there's there's
a chemistry, there's a dependence, but there's all these different
parts and all these different molecules.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
But somehow in the grand scheme of that body working.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
There's this unity, and there's this participation, and there's this responsibility,
and when there's a deficiency, when there's an injury.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
It affects that whole body.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
And like that's kind of how I see like the
world and the participation of life is like I have myself,
but I'm not just here for me.

Speaker 3 (50:02):
I have this purpose.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
And I feel like maybe a lot of the reason
why there's a lot of depression is because we listen
to a lot of outside voices rather than that still
small inner voice, whether you believe that's intuition or the
Holy Spirit or a higher power or an energy, and
that could all be the same too. Is just that

(50:26):
there is this part of us that is saying, do it.
You're made to do it, go for it. And I
think like our culture really tries to tell us what
success is and what it is to be happy. But
I think that if we really quiet ourselves and listen

(50:47):
to that still small inner voice, I think we find
that right path. And this is me just kind of
walking that is. No matter what somebody says or who's
going to try to kind of get in the way
of that, ultimately I'm going to keep going in the
direction I made to go, and if I honor that

(51:11):
and if I walk with that, I will be successful,
even if that looks differently than what I expect.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
And that's what keeps me going.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
And I want to be able to tell other people,
you know, who might say they might view it as
like your dream, and I think that that's accurate for people.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
But it's beyond that. It's like, it's my purpose.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
It's in the fabric of my DNA to somehow be
involved in telling stories and in the same way living
out my own story. That's truth and and so that's
how I would describe it. It's very intrinsic, it's very deep.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
I'm wondering if spirituality or religion play a role in
your life, are they in the background or the ground.

Speaker 1 (51:59):
I would say it's the foundation for me, you know,
I think like I see myself as a very spiritual
person and how I view God and my.

Speaker 3 (52:11):
Relationship with with Jesus, and ultimately in a society that's
so driven towards rules and exclusion, and you know, I.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
Mean think about it like the Treehouse club, right, no
girls allowed, no boy's allowed in the Treehouse, Like I
mean like at a very young age, we learn like
you know, there's a club and for me, like God
is outside of those human constraints like and and it's
just like I believe in a mass, like in a

(52:47):
creator and and that I am created and I do
have and have a design and a and a purpose
and a planet. So like my identity is is a
child of God. That's my core identity. And I think
anything that is on top of that is like a bonus.

(53:09):
But at the end of the day, like I believe,
you know, I'm created with a purpose and.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
A plan and.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
And yeah, it makes me feel like, you know, if
who could really be against me? If the creator, if
the creator of the universe is saying, hey, I made you.
You got this like and and it's like if you've
ever seen the film Chariots of Fire, it's actually my
derby name was Charity Fire if people call.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Me Cherry for short.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
But was there's a part of the film when he's
like when I run, I feel the Lord's pleasure.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
And it was just like that.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
It was honestly like when I walk and when I'm
making a movie or I'm I'm on a film set
and I know I'm like this is where I need
to be. Like I feel like that's worship because you're
I'm using my life to help other people and to
grow and to make mistakes and it doesn't look perfect
and I'm really real and I swear a lot sometimes

(54:02):
and I I and it's just like but like you know,
at the end of the day, like God made me
for this, and so I'm going to do it because
that's like that's how I say, Okay, thank you, I'm
walking it. I'm doing it, and you know, as a mom,
like that's the most amazing thing. Like I want for

(54:24):
my kids is being like, Okay, like I made you
and you've got all these gifts and talents. Like I
want them to do what they're what they're strong at,
and learn where they're weak and be humble, but like
walk with confidence and assurance amidst any challenges and obstacles
and like, to me, that would make me so proud,
like for my kid to to my kids to just go,

(54:46):
I'm going to do this and I'm I this is
who I am, and I'm going to honor that by
walking in truth of who I am and doing that
boldly and with that freedom is like that's how I
see my relationship with God is like I'm going to
do that, and that's that's core.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
That's that's core to me for sure.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
It's a great role model then right there for your children,
I'm wondering now what your how your parents might have
described you as a young child and how they regard you,
because my parents would have said, oh, she's stubborn and determined.
It's probably just as well that they're not with us
now because I don't know what they're saying.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
I would say I heard that, uh you know, and
you know my uh my, my mom was stag like
I always knew you were in trouble, but yeah, very
you know.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
She So my father has passed away since from several
years ago, but like he was always like anything you
want to do, you can do.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
You work hard and of course, I mean like it's
what you want to do, Like if you want to
do that, you're really gonna work hard like you can
and uh but yeah, I those qualities of determination can
also be stubborn. Like as a Capricorn, it's a goat,
it's a sea goat, right, Like it's like, you know,
I'm not going to pretend that you know I can

(56:12):
be you know, if there's a conflict, I go towards it,
like I'm like, how do we fix this? Or you know,
And I've learned a lot about patience and grace and gentleness,
uh and with myself too. But yeah, I think those
qualities like determined. The positive is you're determined your self motivated,

(56:35):
you're disciplined. You're also adaptable and creative and quick thinking,
you know, uh, really being okay with like that those
gentle qualities, like I've learned as I've grown older, is

(56:55):
like those nurturing qualities and those compassionate.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
Qualities and those qualities that.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Really were taught to me growing up in male dominate
environments that those were like weaknesses that you need to
suppress and the arts for a huge avenue for me
to explore that.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
And then being a mom, of course you kind of
tap into that.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
But yeah, it's a constant journey of growth and discovery.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
And often what I've found is we can't do it
by ourself.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
We can't even grow into the person we're supposed to
be outside of community. I need other people to teach
me and show me new things about the world, about
myself and everybody has a place and a time in
our lives, and it's important to be in community. It's

(57:48):
important to say, you know, I need help right now.
It's important to step up to help someone else. It's
just we're meant to go through life together and there
could be a lot of people, it could be a
few people, but everybody has an in your life.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
I believe is there for a reason, a season or
a lifetime.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
I'm wondering though, now that you at this point in
your journey, when you look back at your career so far, LeeAnne,
what would you say were those milestones professionally? Because I
know once you have a family, you've got a husband,
you've got children, and motherhood can change you as well.
You mentioned you know, getting in touch with your softer side.

(58:38):
It does change a woman. I think there are changes
in our personality personally, and then we've got this career
that we have so driven towards as well. It's quite
a balance for women's I'm wondering when you look back, okay,
which were those tournally, where were those crossroads and how
did they come about in terms of the parts as

(58:59):
well that you got that help change the trajectory of
your journey. M.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
I really could look at it in terms of roles
in my career professionally as in terms of evolution, like
you were saying, like, I think, is it that art
imitates life is the same. And you know, the first
one of the first like leading roles that I got
was during COVID. It was for a feature film and

(59:26):
we went ahead and we were we were shooting it.
I'm in filming it and I remember, you know, doing
a twenty four hour shoot day basically and being like
and then we slept for two hours and then we
went filmed seventeen more hours.

Speaker 3 (59:41):
We tried to made a feature film in like four days.
It was insane.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
I'm in Logansport, Indiana called Idle Girl and uh. And
it was like the director originally I wasn't the person
shoot envisioned, but my audition was so strong that she
was like, I gotta pick you like yeah, I mean
like and it was that was.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
A huge testimony to me.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
Was like a director was willing to step outside of
a type cast two or a stereotype to cast me
in a role. That then really changed my career in
terms of my confidence in what I could do and
my resilience and what I loved about the industry, and
like it really took someone.

Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
Else saying yes to involve me in a process. And
that director is actually.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
Now the director of on the board of the State
Theater in Logan Sport, and she's hosting us for my
feature foot film right now Extraction USA as a for
theatrical showing this coming Saturday for Pride, And like.

Speaker 3 (01:00:48):
She's still very.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Much in my life and that was huge for me,
Like to have somebody believe in you early on in
your career and to willing to take a risk and
then for that risk to pay off was huge for
me and my step forward in my career.

Speaker 3 (01:01:03):
And there's been milestones like that the whole way. Again.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
Chasing Rabbits with Eric Pascarelli was a future film, was
a mystery drama y and he again stepped outside of
a stereotype and was like, Oh, we're at the type
I was expecting, and I cast you in the lead
and I had a blast, like doing comedy and drama
and bringing emotion to this role. And I just had
the funnest time on set and started realizing like, oh,
I have skills as a person on crew too. Like

(01:01:26):
you know, assistant directing or associate producing, like I can
do this, and everything just seemed like it was an
incremental step up until it was the film that we're
showing right now, Extraction Extraction USA, which is a queer
pool hustling like heist movie. And it was really then,
like throughout the process of filming that and putting into

(01:01:48):
theatrical distribution, that I really started to reconcile my sexuality
and who I am and my generat enity with that
and how a huge part of that had been suppressed
so much growing up by my I wouldn't say my
faith in God, but it was like more like certain
religious structures and.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
And it was you know, really.

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
Stepping into that authenticity, especially this month, about this is
a part of myself that I accept and I identify
as and I believe that makes me a part of
a community and connects, you know too, worlds that might
otherwise want to be divided, you know, religion and sexuality
and and it's just everything is a constant evolution, as

(01:02:30):
human beings are constantly growing and changing and.

Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
And I think that's beautiful. I think that's so metaphorical
to life and.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
And nature around us, the seasons, everything, and so I
just try to embrace that and model that in my
own life. And I know that my children are watching,
I know other people are watching. And I don't care
about always being right or even you know, having.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
A perfect journy.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
I just think it's important to be honest and to
live authentically and be transparent about the process, because I think,
like the goal really is the journey, not necessarily the
destination that you're headed towards.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
How do you feel about labels, then, I think.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
Growing up with an understanding of words and creative writing
and like even the physaurus is I think words are.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Powerful in that they help us to understand.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
And they help us to describe our experiences and things
and people and its language.

Speaker 3 (01:03:43):
And I think that labels are potentially.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Helpful and then also destructive. And so, for example, someone
could label me as a mom. It does does it
mean that that's my identity? It means that that is
a part of who I am. Somebody could label me
as a Christian and that tells them, Okay, that's a

(01:04:10):
person who has a faith in Christ. Or somebody could
label me, you know, as queer, and that would tell
somebody like, oh, okay that that that person is a
part of the LGBBQ community or they're you know, they're
not heteronormative or straight. And so I do feel like
labels help other people to understand parts of who we are.

(01:04:34):
And so I accept that those words are those labels
are a natural form of human language and and so
like I understand that. But in terms of me identifying
with a particular word or label me like yes, like
this is how I represent myself or this is how

(01:04:55):
I need people to think of me, I feel like.

Speaker 3 (01:04:59):
That's restrictive, and I feel like that can be how
do I say this?

Speaker 1 (01:05:04):
It can be short sighted, and there are many words
to describe the same concept or the same person, the
same thing, And I think that is important to keep.

Speaker 3 (01:05:16):
In mind that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:18):
That words or labels are always going to be attached
to a type of subjectivity to our experience, and it
could be negative, it could be positive. But I do,
I do understand them, But I don't subscribe to labeling
myself for people and saying this is what you get.
Like I said, I think the best label to put

(01:05:39):
on me really is child of God. And if that's
a label someone wants to put on me, I would
be honored and uh, and then I have a name,
and you know that's how you can identify me, so.

Speaker 3 (01:05:56):
Is say my name.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
Exactly? That's easy enough. Yeah, well we all know life
is unscripted, so what the next The next part of
your life is going to be LeAnn, but it's it's
definitely going to be creative, it's definitely going to be brave.
There's a lot of things it's going to be. But
for now, we're going to draw a line under this
because we're going to hop over to YouTube and then

(01:06:20):
extend a conversation a little bit there while we still
have you. But for now for the podcast, thank you
so much for taking time to do this with me, Lean.
It's been fun.

Speaker 3 (01:06:28):
Thank you. Thank you so much, Chris.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
And when you have a moment, hop over to our
YouTube channel. That's the Art podcast Art with two A's
where you'll find Leanna and I continuing our conversation for
a little bonus content. And don't forget to scroll down
the show notes, where you'll find links to Lean's social
media and her website and her IMDb profile, And don't

(01:06:51):
forget to give us a follow on Instagram. We're at
the Art podcast, and you can also reach us via
email at The Art Podcast at gmail dot com. We'd
love to hear from you, especially if you have any
suggestions for guests. Do drop us a line The Art
Podcast at gmail dot com. And wherever you listen to
your podcast, I hope you'll take a moment to share

(01:07:13):
it with anyone you think might enjoy the show too.
My thanks again to my guest this week, Leanne Johnson,
and to you for listening. I'll be back in two
weeks time when my guest will be the makeup artist
for a bunch, so I do hope you'll join me
then

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Behind the Lens & Beyond: A Conversation with Leanne Johnson – Actor, Filmmaker, and Storyteller

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Behind the Lens & Beyond: A Conversation with Leanne Johnson – Actor, Filmmaker, and Storyteller