A young Newmarket actor has added another credit to her name with an appearance in a horror show just ahead of Halloween.
Ashleigh Morrison, 17, starred in the first episode of The Haunted Museum, a horror series that aired on Discovery+ in the U.S. over the weekend.
The show tells scripted stories inspired by items in Zak Bagans’s Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.
The episodes begin with Bagans speaking about the items, which he has on display for visitors to see in Las Vegas, and then they launch into a fictional story inspired by the haunted history of the items.
As part of the scripted segment of the show, Morrison played Ava Kray, a girl who is left with her father after her mom's passing and has to help raise her baby brother.
“I’m more of the adult of the house than my dad is,” Morrison said of her character.
Her episode is about a dollhouse and the supposed paranormal experiences associated with it.
Morrison, who has been acting for about five years now, said filming for the show, which took place in the Orangeville area in March, was quite different due to COVID-19 protocols.
“I had to get COVID tested, of course, and everything like that. Then on set pretty much I would get the screening, temperature checks, I would change my mask and constantly sanitize,” she said.
She said she would have her mask on right until the last moment, take it off to film a scene and then immediately put it back on.
“It was very, very strict,” she said, adding that they had to eat outside or in their cars.
The series was also a new genre for the young actress to explore.
“Haunted Museum was my first ever horror. Usually I’m very dramatic, sad and stuff like that,” Morrison said. “I’m still quite new to the horror category.”
However, she said she wants to participate in more scary shows and movies in the future.
“I do actually enjoy the horror. It does have the emotional aspect but I also like the action in it and the stories behind it,” she said.
Despite her enthusiasm, the Newmarket resident hasn’t actually seen her new show.
“Unfortunately, I have not been able to watch the episode because it’s only in the U.S,” she said but added that she has been reading reviews of it.
A sneak peak of Morrison’s work is also included in the trailers for the show, which were posted on YouTube.
The actress has recently filmed another short horror project as well and said she is continuing with training to further improve her acting skills.
