‘THE WISHING TREE’
CAST BIOS
JASON GEDRICK (Evan Farnsworth) – Jason Gedrick got his first acting break in his native Chicago when the film “Bad Boys,” starring Sean Penn, was filmed on location there in 1983. Then a high school student, he landed a role as an extra and Penn's encouragement inspired him to study acting in earnest.
He soon landed leading roles in several films, including “Iron Eagle,” “Stacking” and “Heavenly Kid.” He co-starred with Meg Ryan and Kiefer Sutherland in “Promised Land” and in Ron Howard's “Backdraft,” as well as “Crossing the Bridge.” He simultaneously pursued stage work, starring on Broadway in Our Town with Don Ameche and Helen Hunt, as well as in the Off Broadway production of Mrs. Dally Has a Lover with Judith Ivey. His most recent foray on the stage was a production of Wrongturn at Lungfish, directed by Garry Marshall.
Gedrick went on to star in such critically acclaimed series as Stephen Bochco's “Murder One,” “EZ Streets” created by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, “Falcone” and NBC’s “Boomtown.” He has also recurred on hit shows such as “Ally McBeal” and “Desperate Housewives” and starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movies “Hidden Places” and “The Christmas Choir.”
He is currently co-starring in Showtime’s hit series “Dexter” and recently starred alongside Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina and Kevin Dunn in the HBO drama series “Luck.” Created by David Milch with director/producer Michael Mann, Gedrick played a degenerate gambler within the world of thoroughbred horse racing.
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RICHARD HARMON (Drew) – Richard Harmon started acting at the age of ten. He truly fell in love with the craft after performing his role in the feature film “Trick ‘r Treat” and has never looked back. Harmon has had a recurring guest star role on the TV series “Caprica,” a supporting role on “Fringe” as well as the lead role in the indie feature film “Judas Kiss.”
Recently, Harmon was seen in recurring roles on the series “The Killing,” “Riese,” “Tower Prep” and “Continuum.” He was also seen in “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,” “Smallville,” the TV series “Clue,” “The Secret Circle” and the made-for-TV movie “The Pregnancy Project” for Lifetime alongside Alexa Vega.
Harmon lives in Vancouver, which is also where he grew up.
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AMITAI MARMORSTEIN (Albert) – Amitai Marmorstein was born in Jerusalem, Israel and moved to Canada when he was three. He spent his formative years growing up on the beautiful Gulf Island of Saltspring, being raised by his rabbi father and his therapist mother.
Upon graduating high school, Marmorestein went on to study theatre at the University of Victoria, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and has been living in Vancouver ever since. Some of his favorite projects are “Sunflower Hour,” a hilarious mockumentary about puppeteering, “End of the World,” a disaster-movie spoof for the SyFy network and the TV series “Psych,” in which he performed a scene with Anthony Anderson.
Marmorestein’s favorite theater projects include being in the original cast of the award-winning play Legoland, performing at the Vancouver Playhouse in The Trespassers, and most recently, being a part of the creation team for You Are Very Star with the prestigious Electric Company Theatre. Coming up, Marmorstein will star in “Primary,” a gritty indie movie about corporate corruption, and is also performing as Eugene in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, a role he's been dreaming of playing for years.
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EMMALYN ESTRADA (Juliet) – Canadian pop singer Emmalyn Estrada made a name for herself when her first single, “Get Down,” entered Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 chart in 2009. The younger sister of pop star Elise Estrada, Estrada competed in the 2009 Beat Music Awards hosted by Vancouver's The Beat 94.5 and won the competition. “Get Down” was nominated in the Dance/Urban/Rhythmic category of the 13th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards.
Originally from Vancouver, B.C., Estrada is of Filipino descent. She has performed at the World of Dance Vancouver, the Cloverdale Amphitheatre for the Canada Day concert in 2011, and at AXIS 2011 at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company. Her second single, “Don’t Make Me Let You Go,” debuted in November 2010. Most recently, she performed with Boombox Saints as they opened for J.Cole in Vancouver, and also makes a small cameo in Boombox Saints’ latest music video for "Late Night Creep."
“The Wishing Tree” is Estrada’s first acting role and screen debut.
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TERYL ROTHERY (Madelyn) – Actress Teryl Rothery always knew she wanted to be an entertainer. Her first role came as a dancer in a production of Bye Bye Birdie at age thirteen, before she went on to land her first television appearance on CBC. A Vancouver, B.C. native, Rothery has worked in the industry for many years with great success.
Rothery trained at the Larry Moss Studio in Los Angeles, and Gastown Actors’ Studio and The Shakespeare Centre, both in Vancouver. Her most memorable television role has been Dr.
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Janet Fraiser on the hit, Emmy®-nominated sci-fi series “Stargate SG-1” for seven seasons.
Rothery received a 2003 Leo Award nomination for Best Supporting Lead in a Series for her portrayal of Fraiser, the medical officer for the Cheyenne Mountain Facility who faces many peculiar cases. She currently has recurring roles on the CW’s new series, “Hellcats,” and the Sci-Fi Channel drama, “Caprica.” Other television credits include roles on “Kyle XY,” “Dead Like Me,” “Jeremiah,” “The Dead Zone,” “DaVinci’s Inquest,” “The Guard,” “Smallville,” “Supernatural” and “Psych.”
Rothery has also had lead and supporting roles in dozens of television movies, including a co- starring role in “Totally Awesome,” a comedy for VH-1, “Behind the Camera: The Different Strokes Story,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve,” “Sandlot 2,” “The Book of Ruth,” “Video Voyeur: The Susan Wilson Story” and the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “Battle of the Bulbs.” Most recently, she’s had roles in the miniseries “Alice” for the SciFi Channel, “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales,” and “Fairly Odd Parents.” Her feature film credits include a supporting lead role in "Whisper" for Universal Pictures, “White Noise 2” and “Best in Show.”
In recent years, Rothery has turned back to her roots on the stage to perform in theatre productions in her hometown of Vancouver, including Julius Caesar at the Jericho Arts Centre, Cymbeline and Merlin at the Carousel Theatre.
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ERICA CERRA (Clarissa) – Erica Cerra has become known for her versatility, charm and beauty, radiating truth and composure through every character she tackles. Her credits include roles on top television series such as SyFy’s “Sanctuary” and “Battlestar Galactica,” NBC’s “Warehouse 13,” CW’s “Reaper,” Showtime’s “The L Word,” WB’s “Smallville” and “The 4400,” to name a few. However, Cerra is best known for her starring role as Jo Lupo on the hit SyFy series “Eureka.” In addition to television, Cerra is making her mark in film as well, as Hera in the Fox 2000 Pictures “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief” and starring opposite Steve Austin in “The Stranger” for Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Cerra realized she wanted to be an actress at a very young age. By the age of six, she began taking acting classes. As a child, Cerra was placed with one of the very first talent agencies to spring up in Vancouver and started acting in commercials. From commercials, Cerra easily transitioned into television and as a tween worked on her first project, an improv children’s show called “The Kidzone” on The Knowledge Network. After “Kidzone,” she landed the pilot for “No Adults Allowed” with a handful of up- and-comers. By the time she was 22, Cerra decided to dedicate herself fully to acting, and trained with Gina Chiarelli, Matthew Harrison and Larry Moss.
In addition to acting, Cerra loves to cook and garden, and recently married her high school sweetheart.
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