The Actor And Singer You Didn't Know Was Related To Hallmark's Lyndsy Fonseca
Actor Lyndsy Fonseca has had great success in her career, beginning with landing the part of Colleen Carlton on "The Young and the Restless" in 2001, and playing her until the character died in 2009. She has appeared in many TV shows and films, and would find a niche at Hallmark, acting in several movies including "Where Are You, Christmas?" However, fans of her work may not know that her younger sister is also in the business — she's the talented actor and singer/songwriter Hannah Leigh, who explained in a 2020 Voyage LA interview that Fonseca's job at "Y&R" prompted the family to move to Southern California.
The "Kickin' It" star described growing up with her older sister as fun because they sang and danced often. Bitten by the acting bug, Leigh started working at age four. "I learned quickly how to navigate a professional, adult world and my work ethic and creativity grew strong from it," she said. "I worked steadily growing up, mostly in television, all while balancing a full ballet schedule, singing lessons, school and acting classes."
According to the sisters' website, Leigh began taking college courses when she was only 12 years old. During that time, she took a hiatus from acting where she fell in love with songwriting. "I pulled inspiration from the sounds of my childhood: Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Sixpence None the Richer, etc.," she explained to Canvas Rebel. "After exploring my own voice, my music eventually landed into the indie-pop/rock sphere that it is today!"
Music inspired Hannah Leigh to continue her acting career
Hannah Leigh learned that she enjoyed the craft of songwriting because of the level of control she had over it versus simply being handed a script and told to perform someone else's words. She credited songwriting as the catalyst that made her want to act again. "After putting out my first EP 'Moon and the Myth' and releasing two singles, 'Same' and 'Take Me Back,' " she told Voyage LA, "I started to remember what art really meant to me. This is when I sped right back into the acting world full force."
Appearing in the 2020 film "Evergreen," she found that the cast and crew had become like a second family to her, further fueling her creative ambitions. She would later have a guest-starring spot in "S.W.A.T." alongside "The Young and the Restless" alum Shemar Moore. She also included sister Lyndsy Fonseca among her acting inspirations.
With regards to her singing career, she said, "My music style floats somewhere between indie pop, singer-songwriter, and dreamy R&B," and she added that her musical inspirations include, "Lennon Stella, The Paper Kites, Kathleen Edwards, and Passenger." Leigh was blown away by some of the venues at which she's played. "The Troubadour made me feel like I had entered a portal into the past," she told Canvas Rebel in 2023. "The room feels intimate yet mysterious. Like Joni Mitchell herself could walk onto [the] stage and no one would bat an eye."
Hannah Leigh mentors aspiring actors
Hannah Leigh told Canvas Rebel that she kept track of her journey in a documentary series called "Road to The Troubadour." "I filmed every part of the process from band rehearsals to backdrop fails, to getting COVID while trying to organize merchandise to putting up posters all around LA, etc.," she said, adding she also got her friends to help out. She said the project consumed her completely for half a year.
Reflecting on the trials and tribulations she endured in her career path, Leigh opted to help mentor other artists with her experience as a means to inform them of what pitfalls to avoid. Helping aspiring actors go from audition to appearing in a show or commercial through seminars, Leigh told Canvas Rebel she has found that "working with them pushes me to be better at my own craft every single day." In December 2023, she posted a loving tribute to her mentor students on Instagram. "In honor of the strike and this year ending, I want to say thank you to every single one of my clients for being so incredibly inspiring to me and for pushing me to be a better artist myself," she wrote.
According to her and Lyndsey Fonseca's website, legendary comedian Carol Burnett personally picked Leigh to portray the icon in the play "Hollywood Arms", which was based on Burnett's own autobiography, "One More Time: A Memoir." She continues to pursue her singing and acting careers, and her followers can't get enough of her.