Conor Leslie

Summary

Conor Marie Leslie (born April 10, 1991)[1][2] is an American actress. Beginning her career in the late 2000s, her first major role was in the thriller film Chained (2012). She has worked frequently on television, including as a series regular on the Discovery Channel historical Western Klondike (2014), the Yahoo! Screen science fiction comedy Other Space (2015), and the Fox crime drama Shots Fired (2017). From 2015 to 2018, she also appeared on the first three seasons of the Amazon Prime Video alternate history thriller The Man in the High Castle. Leslie gained further prominence for portraying Donna Troy / Wonder Girl on the DC Universe / HBO Max superhero series Titans (2018–2021) and was part of the main cast during the second and third seasons.

Conor Leslie
Leslie at the 2022 GalaxyCon Richmond
Born
Conor Marie Leslie

(1991-04-10) April 10, 1991 (age 32)
OccupationActress
Years active2006–present

Early life edit

Leslie was born in Livingston, New Jersey and resided in Millburn.[2] Along with acting, Leslie developed an interest in photography.[3] She attended Millburn High School, graduating as a junior in 2008, and subsequently moved to New York City.[2][4]

Career edit

2006–2011: Early work edit

After appearing in commercials with a friend, Leslie said she became dedicated to her acting career at age 15.[5] She was cast in the Spike Lee-directed pilot for M.O.N.Y. in 2007, but the pilot did not receive a series order.[6] Her television debut came in 2009 with a guest appearance on The Unusuals as Karen Delmonte, the high school girlfriend of Detective Eric Delahoy.[7] The following year, she played Eliza, a 17-year-old caught exposing herself on webcam in the series finale of Law & Order, Mia Caruso, a magazine intern whose publisher is murdered on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and flirtatious student Parker on 90210. She also made her film debut in Beware the Gonzo as Amy, a popular high school student.[8] Leslie's guest roles on television continued in 2011 with an appearance on No Ordinary Family as Chloe Cotten, a new friend of the Powell family.[4]

2012–2014: First major roles edit

 
Leslie at the 2022 GalaxyCon Richmond

In 2012, Leslie portrayed Angie in the psychological thriller film Chained, a young woman abducted by a serial killer to be murdered by his reluctant apprentice.[8] DVD Talk reviewer Jamie S. Rich praised her performance and although critical of the overall film, wrote that Leslie played her character "with heartbreaking gravity".[9]

After being cast in the unaired pilot for Widow Detective, Leslie appeared on the series Rizzoli & Isles as Ms. Barlow, the law clerk of a murdered judge, and Revenge as Bianca, a maid working for the Grayson family, in 2013.[4] She also played enigmatic college student Greta in Campus Life, a 2013 film created for the website JumpView.[2] A re-edited version of the film was later released to home media in 2015 as Campus Code.[10] Additionally, Leslie was featured in the music video for the Dan Godlin song "Did She Look" as Godlin's love interest.[11]

Leslie landed her first series regular role as young courtesan Sabine on Klondike, a Discovery Channel miniseries about the Klondike Gold Rush.[12] The first scripted series broadcast by the Discovery Channel, it aired in early 2014.[13] She also appeared as sociopath Kelly Donovan on an episode of Hawaii Five-0 and Des, a former girlfriend of Penn Badgley's character, in the film Parts per Billion during the year.[14]

2015–2017: Continued television appearances edit

Leslie's on-screen appearances in 2015 began with The Man in the High Castle as Trudy Walker, the half-sister of Juliana Crain. Although the character was killed in the first episode, she returned for the second and third seasons, which revealed Trudy was alive in a different timeline.[15][16] Leslie went on to portray spaceship computer Natasha as a series regular on Yahoo! Screen's science fiction comedy Other Space.[17] Yahoo! Screen would be shut down the following year, preventing the series from being renewed for a second season.[18] In addition to The Man in the High Castle and Other Space, she played Gwen Hollander, the fiancée of a socialite exploited by Tom Keen on the series The Blacklist, Mary Lowe, the sister of a woman believed to have been murdered by her husband on the series Major Crimes, and Nicole, an unrequited love interest of Ricky Mabe's character in the film Dirty Beautiful.[4]

During 2016, Leslie was cast as Molly Parsons, a dating site employee with a tragic background on an episode of Elementary.[19] She was later featured in a recurring role on Graves as Tasha Ludwig, a girlfriend of Jeremy Graves.[20]

In 2017, Leslie played Sarah Ellis, the aide to Helen Hunt's fictional North Carolina governor, as a regular role on Fox's miniseries Shots Fired.[21] Additionally, she portrayed sexual assault victim Holly Greco on an episode of Gone and Amber, a young woman unaware of her boyfriend's homosexuality in the short film Down, directed by her brother Dylan.[22]

2018–present: Further prominence edit

Leslie starred in the 2018 short film Shrimp as Sasha, a dominatrix at a BDSM den.[23] The short premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was picked up by Gunpowder & Sky to become a potential television series.[24]

Later in the year, Leslie became the first actress to portray Donna Troy, the original Wonder Girl, in live-action with her casting on the DC Universe series Titans.[25][26] Following the character's on-screen introduction in the self-titled eighth episode, Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly described Leslie as "perfect as Donna" and wrote that Donna was "automatically [his] favorite thing about the show".[27] Appearing as a guest star during the first season, Leslie was named a series regular for Titans' second season in 2019.[28] She returned for the third season in 2021, which aired on HBO Max, and departed after the finale.[29][30][31]

In between the second and third season of Titans, Leslie appeared in the 2020 music video for the Rhye song "Helpless" as a yoga instructor who becomes the subject of a student's romantic fantasies.[32] She also appeared in the 2021 comedy-thriller film Dark Web: Cicada 3301 as a renegade NSA agent seeking membership to the eponymous organization.[33][34][35] The film was directed by her Titans co-star Alan Ritchson, although it also marked the first time they worked together. On casting Leslie, Ritchson described her as "the perfect leading lady".[36]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Beware the Gonzo Amy
2012 Chained Angie
2014 Parts per Billion Des
2015 Dirty Beautiful Nicole
2015 Campus Code Greta Re-edit of Campus Life (2013)
2017 Down Amber Short film
2018 Shrimp Sasha Short film
2021 Dark Web: Cicada 3301 Gwen

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
2007 M.O.N.Y. Anabelle Capanelli Unaired pilot
2009 The Unusuals Karen Delmonte Episode: "The Circle Line"
2010 Law & Order Eliza Episode: "Rubber Room"
2010 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Mia Caruso Episode: "Traffic"
2010 90210 Parker Episode: "Catch Me If You Cannon"
2011 No Ordinary Family Chloe Cotten Episode: "No Ordinary Friends"
2012 Widow Detective Amanda Jaworski Unaired pilot
2013 Rizzoli & Isles Ms. Barlow Episode: "Judge, Jury and Executioner"
2013–2014 Revenge Bianca 3 episodes (season 3)[a]
2014 Klondike Sabine Main role
2014 Hawaii Five-0 Kelly Donovon Episode: "Ma lalo o ka 'ili"
2015–2018 The Man in the High Castle Trudy Walker Recurring (seasons 1–3)
2015 Other Space Natasha Main role
2015 The Blacklist Gwen Hollander 2 episodes (season 3)
2015 Major Crimes Mary Lowe Episode: "Blackout"
2016 Elementary Molly Parsons Episode: "To Catch a Predator Predator"
2016–2017 Graves Tasha Ludwig Recurring
2017 Shots Fired Sarah Ellis Main role
2017 Gone Holly Greco Episode: "Ride"
2018–2021 Titans Donna Troy / Wonder Girl 2 episodes (season 1)
Main role (seasons 23)
Notes
  1. ^ Leslie was credited in the episode "Mercy" and uncredited in the episodes "Endurance" and "Hatred".

Music videos edit

Year Title Artist(s) Ref.
2013 "Did She Look" Dan Godlin [11]
2020 "Helpless" Rhye [32]

References edit

  1. ^ Peris, Sebastian (April 10, 2019). "'Titans' Star Minka Kelly Wishes Wonder Girl Actress Conor Leslie A Happy Birthday". Heroic Hollywood. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Kelleher, Lindsey. "Scorsese visits college campus to direct movie". northjersey.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  3. ^ "ABOUT – Conor Leslie". Conor Leslie Photography. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "Cast & Crew - DIRTY BEAUTIFUL MOVIE". Dirty Beautiful Movie. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  5. ^ Menza, Kaitlin (January 17, 2014). "OK! Next Big Deal: Conor Leslie of Discovery's New Mini-Series Klondike". OK!. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "Sabine | Klondike | Discovery" (Press release). Discovery.com. October 31, 2013. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  7. ^ Goldman, Eric (May 11, 2012). "The Unusuals: 'The Circle Line' Review". IGN. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Dickson, Evan (October 2, 2012). "[Interview] Director Jennifer Lynch Talks Chained, A Fall From Grace And The Monster Next Door". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  9. ^ Rich, Jamie S. (October 22, 2012). "Chained (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  10. ^ "Campus Code Clip Introduces Martin Scorsese as the Doctor". MovieWeb. September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Dan Godlin Videos". Dan Godlin. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  12. ^ "Klondike Review: Game of Thrones Richard Madden Thrives in the Gold Rush". Zap2It. 2014. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  13. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 21, 2014). "Night 1 of Discovery Channel's Miniseries Klondike Delivers 3.4 Million Viewers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  14. ^ "Yahoo Originals - Other Space Press Site". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on November 25, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  15. ^ Fowle, Kyle (December 20, 2016). "The Man in the High Castle finale recap: Season 2, Episode 10". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  16. ^ Tallerico, Brian (October 5, 2018). "The Man in the High Castle Recap: 'The Lotus Eater'". Vulture.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  17. ^ Eastman, Marc (2015). "Other Space Review: Paul Feig Hopes To Kill In Space". Are You Screening. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  18. ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 21, 2015). "Yahoo Lost $42 Million On Community and Two Other Originals". TubeFilter. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  19. ^ McNutt, Myles (November 7, 2016). "Elementary reminds us its partnership has never not been vulnerable". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  20. ^ Petski, Denise (February 22, 2016). "Conor Leslie To Co-Star In Shots Fired Fox Event Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  21. ^ Holub, Christian (March 22, 2017). "Shots Fired premiere recap: 'Hour One'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  22. ^ "Down". Dylan Leslie. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  23. ^ Schwartz, Dana (September 27, 2018). "Zelda Williams exposes the mundane lives of dominatrixes in NSFW Shrimp". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  24. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 9, 2018). "Zelda Williams Shrimp Short About BDSM Scene to Become Half-Hour Series With Gunpowder & Sky". Variety. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  25. ^ Mueller, Matthew (April 27, 2018). "New Titans Set Video Shows Robin and Wonder Girl in Action". comicbook.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  26. ^ Mistroff, Michael (April 27, 2018). "DC's Live-Action Titans Adds Conor Leslie As Wonder Girl". Heroic Hollywood. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  27. ^ Agard, Chancellor (November 30, 2018). "Titans recap: Season 1, Episode 8". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  28. ^ "Watch Titans Season 2 on DC Universe". DC Universe. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  29. ^ Augustine, JB (January 30, 2020). "Donna Troy Actress Conor Leslie to Return to Titans on DC Universe for Season 3". Bounding Into Comics. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  30. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 14, 2020). "DC Universe Original TV Series Will Be Moving to HBO Max, Says DC CCO". TVLine. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  31. ^ Agard, Chancellor (September 18, 2020). "DC Universe to become premium comics service as TV originals move to HBO Max". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  32. ^ a b Kaye, Ben (September 10, 2020). "Rhye Shares New Single "Helpless": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  33. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (September 10, 2020). "Grindstone Acquires Alan Ritchson's Comedy-Thriller 'Cicada 3301'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  34. ^ Adams, Tim (January 13, 2021). "Dark Web: Cicada 3301 Red-Band Trailer Recruits Titans Stars (Exclusive)". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  35. ^ Price, Jason (January 14, 2021). "'Dark Web: Cicada 3301' - Cyber-Thriller Starring Alan Ritchson Hits Digital and On Demand March 12!". Icon Vs. Icon. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  36. ^ "Alan Ritchson Strips Down, Recruits Titans Costar Conor Leslie for Directorial Debut (Exclusive)". TooFab. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.

External links edit