Nelson Leis talks working on "The Last of Us", what is was like to become the demon Beelzebub in "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina", and shares a few memorable audition stories!
About Nelson:
Nelson Heino Leis is an actor and writer based in Vancouver, Canada.
Nelson can be seen in Prey (2022) , 20th Century Studios' Predator origin story. In 2023 he will be appearing in HBO's The Last of Us (2023-) and FX's Shogun (2023-) , both highly anticipated series.
Nelson was born in Kemptville, Ontario, to a French mother and Estonian father. When he was 3-years-old his family moved to Brownsville, Texas for a brief time, eventually returning to Canada and settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. The acting spark was ignited when Leis became involved in high school and community theater, eventually leading him to move to New York City and study at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After theatre school he returned to Vancouver and spent a year as part of an education-based theatre tour aimed at high school kids, with the focus of creating awareness around sexual exploitation of youth. Nelson helped write this project, which continues to run in British Columbia schools more than 25 years later.
As a writer, Leis co-created the web series The Jim (2010-2011) which won multiple awards at the 2011 L.A. Web Fest, including Best Actor for Nelson, and resulted in him being brought to France for the inaugural Marseilles Web Fest. This was a meaningful event for Nelson as it took him to his mother's homeland for the first time. Most recently he co-wrote, produced and starred in the comedy A.T.A.C.K (2022) .
Nelson has worked alongside some of Hollywood's most recognizable talent: Kiernan Shipka in 3 seasons of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020) as the terrifying Demon King Beelzebub; Kevin Bacon in Story of a Girl (2017) directed by Kyra Sedgwick; Steve Zahn in Valley of the Boom (2019-) ; Rainn Wilson in Backstrom (2015-2015) ; Freddy Highmore in Bates Motel (2013-2017) and Joel Kinnamen in The Killing (2011-2014) .
He has appeared on stage in Lobby Hero, The Toyer, Closer, Lone Star, Take Me Out, The Big Funk, Soldier's Heart, and Almost, Maine.
Nelson is a founding member of ARTery Collective, a theatre company in Vancouver, BC.
Along with Vanessa Walsh, Nelson is a partner in First Glance Productions.
Leis and his partner Vanessa Walsh welcomed their first child, Stella, in July 2021.
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