Cassandra Naud (born ) is a Canadian actress and dancer. She starred in the 2022 horror film ''Influencer''.

Early life

Naud is from

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. She was born with a large

nevus Nevus (plural nevi) is a nonspecific medical term for a visible, circumscribed, chronic lesion of the skin or mucosa. The term originates from ''nævus'', which is Latin for "birthmark"; however, a nevus can be either congenital (present at bi ...

under her right eye. Her parents decided against removing it after doctors informed them the procedure was too risky. She experienced bullying due to the nevus. Naud started dancing at the age of five. She attended the

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

program for dance and theater at the

American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and two-year certificates in pro ...

(AMDA) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, and graduated in 2014.

Career

In April 2015, Naud became prominent after her story was published in the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. The resulting exposure helped her to book the music video for

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

's single "

Fire Under My Feet "Fire Under My Feet" is a song by British singer and songwriter Leona Lewis from her fifth studio album, ''I Am'' (2015). It was released as the lead single from the album on 7 June 2015, by Island and Def Jam. An uptempo song with gospel influen ...

". Naud starred as CW in the 2022 horror film ''Influencer''. The film received positive reviews from critics, praising Naud's performance. Phil Hoad of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' said that Naud "holds her own as a kind of social media Tom Ripley", and Brandon Yu of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Naud and Saper prove strong leads as their characters try to read each other between the likes." Brian Tallerico of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' said the film "belongs to Naud, who can be both captivating and terrifying in the same beat. It's a great performance." Naud appeared in the 2023 Christmas slasher film ''

It's a Wonderful Knife ''It's a Wonderful Knife'' is a 2023 American Christmas horror comedy film directed by Tyler MacIntyre and written by Michael Kennedy (screenwriter), Michael Kennedy. It stars Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale, Katharine Isabelle, William B ...

'', alongside

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015). He has performed ...

Katharine Isabelle Katharine Isobel Murray (born November 2, 1981), known professionally as Katharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress. She has been described as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror films. She started her acting career in 1989, playing ...

and

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), '' Idiocracy'' ( ...

. The film is directed by Tyler MacIntyre and written by Michael Kennedy, who previously wrote the 2020 slasher film ''Freaky''.

Personal life

Naud lives in Los Angeles as of April 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naud, Cassandra Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian dancers Canadian female dancers American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni People from Fort McMurray Year of birth missing (living people)