Elisha Ann Cuthbert Phaneuf is a Canadian actress and model. As a child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra in the Canadian horror-themed series for children Are You Afraid of the Dark? and co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids. She made her feature film debut in the 1997 Canadian family-drama Dancing on the Moon. Her first major lead role came in the 1998 drama film Airspeed alongside Joe Mantegna. In 2001, she starred in the movie Lucky Girl, for which she received her first award, the Gemini Awards.