Elise Bauman

Elise Bauman
Bauman at Fan Expo Canada in 2015
Born	Elise Janae Bauman (1990-10-23) October 23, 1990 (age 26) Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present
Known for	Carmilla

Elise Janae Bauman (born October 23, 1990) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Laura Hollis, the lead character of the popular vampire-themed web series Carmilla.

Bauman was homeschooled for most of her life, then attended Rockway Mennonite Collegiate for high school.

Bauman began working professionally in the theatre from an early age. In 2009, she made the move to New York City to further her studies, she attended Circle in the Square Theatre School, where she was cast as Anya in the graduating classes' production of The Cherry Orchard, performed on Circle in the Square Theatre's Broadway Stage. In the fall, she returned to the stage once again in Red One Theatre Collective’s The Skriker, by Caryl Churchill, which garnered rave reviews and was rated 5 N’s in NOW Magazine.

In 2014, Bauman was cast as the lead character Laura Hollis, the naive and headstrong student of Silas University, in the Canadian web series Carmilla, based on the 1871 Gothic vampire novella of the same name by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. The series has become popular online for its depiction of LGBT characters and has been viewed over 45 million times on the KindaTV YouTube channel, attracting over 200,000 fans worldwide. When interviewed about how she feels playing a queer character in a series that isn't about being queer, Bauman said:

You don’t see any of the characters being ostracized because of it [their sexuality]. In a way, it’s exactly the opposite of what happens on other shows. Their sexuality isn’t the thing that is sticking out about them. It’s the norm. I think that is so refreshing and that it is so wonderful to see...