Playing a deaf teen on the ABC family drama Switched at Birth has put Katie Leclerc on Hollywood's radar.
"I was acting for about 10 years before I got Switched," Leclerc, 25, said in a recent interview. "It was all minor things, nothing of note. And when I went into the audition for Switched, I was aware of the potential and that this is something that could really launch me."
Leclerc plays Daphne Vasquez, a teen who lost her hearing as a child after a bout with meningitis.
Daphne was switched as a newborn in the hospital with another baby. She grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighbourhood while the other child grew up in a wealthy, traditional family.
Since the premi猫re of Switched last year, Leclerc has landed several roles on TV shows and a movie.