Sera-Lys McArthur is a Canadian actress whose roles include Hailey Martin in CBC's '' Arctic Air,'' Amanda in '' Hard Rock Medical,'' and Kodie Chartrand in season 3 of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's legal drama television series '' Burden of Truth.'' McArthur is proud of her indigenous Assiniboine heritage and hopes to act as role model for aspiring actors of all diverse ethnicities. As for

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

, in the twenty-first expansion to be added into '' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'', she plays the role of Mina "Thunderbird" Sky—a Canadian operator of Nakota ancestry.

Early life

McArthur was born and brought up in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

, Her father was

Nakota Nakota (or Nakoda or Nakona) is the endonym used by those ''Assiniboine'' Indigenous people in the US, and by the Stoney People, in Canada. The Assiniboine branched off from the Great Sioux Nation (aka the ''Oceti Sakowin'') long ago and moved f ...

/ Assiniboine

Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation The Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation ( asb, Šiyónidè oyáde)Collette, Vincent. “Nakoda Vocabulary and Phrases.” Academia.edu, November 14, 2017Link is a First Nation in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, who reside on the Pheasant Rump ...

and her mother was a German-Canadian actress. McArthur started her training at high school age, singing, acting, dancing attending musical theatre and TV and film workshops. At the age of 18, McArthur moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to study post-secondary music theatre training at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Following this she moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to study method, Studio and Meisner technique acting classes, also general arts at Capilano University in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. She furthered her acting education in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at from

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

at the University of Essex in Loughton,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, to become a classically trained actor, graduating with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in acting with distinction. McArthur moved back to

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and likened the travelling of her acting career to "following the buffalo," as was the nomadic way of her

/ Assiniboine ancestors.

Career

McArthur's debut screen appearance was at age 13 while working for a children's modelling agency in the 1999 CBC TV movie/miniseries ''Revenge of the Land'' as the daughter of fellow native American and '' Outlander'' actress

Carmen Moore Carmen Moore (born 24 December 1972) is a Canadian actress known for her work in television. She is known for her role as Loreen Cassway on ''Arctic Air'' (for which she was nominated for a Leo Award in 2012) and the lead role of Leona Stoney, o ...

. McArthur played the role of Azrael in ''The Lost Angel'' in 2004. Between 2012 and 2014, McArthur played Hailey Martin for 8 episodes of CBC's '' Arctic Air.'' The same year, while filming ''Skye & Chang'' in 2014, McArthur performed many stunts herself, having previously completed three months of taekwondo and

martial-arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

training. McArthur was purported to be proud that her work on '' Arctic Air'' and ''Skye & Chang'' both heralded diversity, and highlighted McArthur herself as a television role model for Native American youth, as fellow indigenous actress

Tantoo Cardinal Tantoo Cardinal CM (born Rose Marie Cardinal; July 20, 1950) is a Canadian actress of Cree and Métis heritage. In 2009, she was made a member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing ar ...

is to her. McArthur was a lead actor in the TV-movie ''Skye & Chang'' which won the award for best short live feature at the

American Indian Film Festival The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated solely to Native American/First Nations films and prepared the way for the 1979 formati ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. McArthur was nominated for best lead actress for films with strong aboriginal characters, for both ''Skye & Chang'' and ''The Wolf of Waubamik Woods'' at the

. Between 2015 and 2018, McArthur played Amanda for 13 episodes of '' Hard Rock Medical,'' also in 2018 she plays female lead in

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's indie heist film ''Robbery,'' followed with a single appearance in 2019 in the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

television series '' Outlander'' as the Mohawk healer Johiehon. In 2020, McArthur stars as Kodie Chartrand, who is of

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

heritage, for 7 episodes of season 3 of

's legal drama television series '' Burden of Truth.'' McArthur had main acting roles in two short films chosen to be shown at the 2020 Indianer Inuit: North American Film Festival in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. McArthur played Sasha in ''Magic Madeleines'' and Amanda in ''Blood Lineage'' both were due to be shown in February 2020. McArthur starred in the film in ''

Monkey Beach ''Monkey Beach'' is a supernatural mystery novel written by the indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson. It was published by Vintage Canada in 2000, being Eden's first novel. It was the recipient of the 2001 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which ...

'' which was a selection for the

Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival The Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival is an annual film festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which programs a lineup of films related to First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Métis people, Métis, Inuit people, Inuit and other international in ...

(WAFF) in December 2020. She won the award for Best Actress at the 2022

, for her performance in the film '' Broken Angel''."BROKEN ANGEL and POWERLANDS Win Top Awards at 2022 American Indian Film Festival"
''Vimooz'', November 16, 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Sera-Lys McArthur - cv & demo reelSera-Lys McArthur - InstagramSera-Lys McArthur - twitterSera-Lys McArthur website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur, Sera-Lys 1986 births 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century First Nations people Living people Actresses from Saskatchewan Alumni of East 15 Acting School Assiniboine people Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses First Nations actresses Nakoda (Stoney) people Canadian people of German descent