Jess McLeod (born January 25, 1997) is a Canadian actor and writer who played Janae Mathews on both series of Netflix teen television drama One of Us Is Lying and Bernie Simon in the 2023 Christmas slasher film It's a Wonderful Knife. McLeod was credited as Jessica McLeod in earlier roles, including the 2014 film Preggoland, where they played the character Liz. McLeod now uses Jess as their professional name and uses they/them pronouns, having transitioned from using their earlier name Jessica in screen credits.
Early life McLeod is from Victoria, British Columbia. They attended Claremont Secondary School. At school they were a part of Claremont Musical Theatre and starred as Elle Woods in its production of the musical Legally Blonde.
Career Mcleod started as a child actor, appearing in 2006 comedy Scary Movie 4 as a schoolgirl reading My Pet Duck to Leslie Nielsen as the American president. Their later acting credits include roles in Eve of Destruction, Shall We Play?, and the Van Helsing TV series. They had a role in Canadian comedy drama series You Me Her.
In 2019, McLeod was cast in Peacock teen television drama One of Us Is Lying. McLeod played Janae Mathews on both series of the show.
McLeod could be seen alongside Sandra Bullock and Viola Davis in the 2021 film The Unforgivable. They appeared as Bernie Simon in the 2023 film It's a Wonderful Knife. In November 2023, they won the ACTRA Award for best performance in a short film for their role in A Little Vacation, the script for which they also co-wrote.
Personal life McLeod is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. They are based in Vancouver.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role 2006 Scary Movie 4 Little girl 2009 Mr. Troop Mom Paulina 2014 Preggoland Liz 2021 The Unforgivable Hannah Whelan 2023 A Little Vacation Jess 2023 It's a Wonderful Knife Bernie Simon 2025 Normal Alex Gunderson 2025 Akashi Shelby 2026 Our Effed Up World Finn 2026 Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Tracy
Television Year Title Role Notes 2013 Eve of Destruction Ruby Miniseries 2018–2019 You Me Her Sasha 12 episodes 2019 Van Helsing Shelley TV series 2020 Shall We Play? Jess TV series 2021–2022 One of Us Is Lying Janae Matthews 16 episodes; Peacock teen drama; both seasons 2025 The Irrational Olivia Ellison 1 episode2026The AudacityHarperRecurring season 1, Main season 2
Writing credits Year Title Type Notes 2023 A Little Vacation Short film Co-wrote script
Awards Year Award Category Work Result 2023 UBCP/ACTRA Awards Best Performance in a Short Film A Little Vacation Won
References
External links