Cassandra Naud

Last updated

Cassandra Naud
Born (1992-04-16) 16 April 1992 (age 33)
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Alma mater American Musical and Dramatic Academy (BFA)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
Years active2015–present
Parents
  • Richard Naud (father)
  • France Naud (mother)

Cassandra Naud (born 16 April 1992) is a Canadian actress. [1] She starred in the horror film Influencer (2022) and its sequel Influencers (2025).

Contents

Early life

Naud was born in Fort McMurray, Alberta. [2]

Naud was born with a large nevus under her right eye. Her parents decided against removing it after doctors informed them that the procedure was "risky." [3] [4] [5] She has claimed she experienced extensive bullying as a child due to her nevus. [3] [4] [5]

Naud started dancing at the age of five. She later attended the Bachelor of Fine Arts program for dance and theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in Los Angeles, from which she graduated in 2014. [5]

Career

In 2015, Naud became prominent after an article about her refusal to remove her birthmark was published in the Daily Mail . [5] The resulting exposure helped her book a role in the music video for Leona Lewis's single "Fire Under My Feet" after the director read the Daily Mail article and asked her to audition. [5] Naud later appeared in the 2023 Christmas slasher It's a Wonderful Knife alongside Joel McHale, Katharine Isabelle, and Justin Long. [6]

In 2022, she starred as a character named CW in the horror film Influencer . The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Naud's performance. Phil Hoad of The Guardian wrote that Naud "holds her own as a kind of social media Tom Ripley", [7] and Brandon Yu of The New York Times wrote that "Naud and Saper prove strong leads as their characters try to read each other between the likes." [8] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com her performance "great" and wrote that the film "belongs to Naud, who can be both captivating and terrifying in the same beat." [9] For her role in Influencer, Naud won a Bloodie Award for Best Lead Performance in a feature film at that year's Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival. [10]

In 2025, Naud reprised the role of CW in a sequel titled Influencers . [11] The film had its world premiere at the 29th Fantasia International Film Festivall. [12] It was also the closing film at FrightFest, where made its UK premiere in August 2025. [13] On July 21, 2025, Letterboxd released a clip from the film featuring Naud and Campbell on its social media platforms. [14] Influencers also screened in the Borsos Competition program at the 2025 Whistler Film Festival, [15] and it is slated to close the 2025 edition of Blood in the Snow on November 22, 2025, ahead of its December 12, 2025 release on Shudder. [16] [17] [18] For her role in Influencers, Naud was nominated for another Bloodie Award in the same category which she previously won. [19]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2019 A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish Elf Performer
2021 A Cinderella Story: Starstruck Hoedown Dancer #9
2023 Influencer CW
It's a Wonderful Knife Karen Simmons [20]
2025 Influencers CW [21]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2019 See Shadow Warrior #1"Plastic" (season 1; episode 5)

"Silk" (season 1; episode 6)

"The Lavender Road" (season 1; episode 7)

2020 Loudermilk Cappuccino"Hit Me Baby One More Time" (season 3; episode 4)

"Should Have Known Better" (season 3; episode 9)

Snowpiercer FionaEpisode: "These Are His Revolutions" (season 1; episode 8)
2025 Tracker Margo WebsterEpisode: "Angel" (season 3; episode 6)
TBA Carrie In production

Music videos

YearTitleArtistNotes
2015"Fire Under My Feet" Leona Lewis

References

  1. ↑ "Cassandra Naud". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Volmers, Eric (9 June 2023). "Calgarian's horror film Influencer a cautionary tale about online manipulation". Calgary Herald . Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 Olya, Gabrielle (9 April 2015). "Dancer Cassandra Naud with Birthmark on Face Embraces Her Beauty". People . Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 Rutherford-Morrison, Lara (3 April 2015). "Woman Refuses To Remove Large Facial Birthmark". Bustle . Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Holmes, Kathryn (8 February 2016). "Cassandra Naud Is Making Her Mark on the Dance World". Dance Spirit . Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  6. ↑ White, James (28 April 2023). "Freaky Writer's Next Slasher Mash-Up Is It's A Wonderful Knife". Empire . Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  7. ↑ Hoad, Phil (25 May 2023). "Influencer review – smart thriller about Instagrammers in mortal peril". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Yu, Brandon (25 May 2023). "'Influencer' Review: Reading Between the Likes". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (26 May 2023). "Influencer movie review & film summary (2023) | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "THE 2022 BLOODIES AWARDS". bloodinthesnow.ca. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Lipsett, Joe (28 July 2025). "'Influencers' Review – Shudder Sequel Provides a Great Game of Cat and Mouse [Fantasia 2025]". Bloody Disgusting .
  12. ↑ Minton, Matt (8 May 2025). "Steve Pink's 'Terrestrial' and Julie Pacino's 'I Live Here Now' Among Fantasia 2025 First Wave Line-Up (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "FrightFest Unleashes 2025 Line-Up". Starburst . 10 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Watch an exclusive clip from Kurtis David Harder's Influencers". Letterboxd . 21 July 2025 – via Instagram.
  15. ↑ Tracy, Andrew (28 October 2025). "Youngblood, Akashi among Whistler's Borsos Award nominees". Playback .
  16. ↑ Blacktooth (24 October 2025). "Terror Returns to Toronto: Blood in the Snow Marks 14 Years of Canadian Horror Mayhem". Horror Society. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  17. ↑ "Influencers Trailer: Travel Blogger's Globe-Trotting Murder Spree Catches Up to Her in Shocking Sequel (Exclusive)". People.com. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  18. ↑ "Influencers | UHM". UHM. 4 November 2025.
  19. ↑ "2025 BLOODIES - AWARDS NOMINEES". bloodinthesnow.ca. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  20. ↑ Squires, John (27 April 2023). "'It's a Wonderful Knife' – A Christmas Slasher from 'Freaky' Writer and 'Tragedy Girls' Director!". Bloody Disgusting! . Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  21. ↑ https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3867432/fantasia-2025-first-wave-of-programming-includes-influencers-lynchian-i-live-here-now-and-more/
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