Elyse Levesque

Levesque was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, the only child of Hally (née Engelsjord), an executive assistant in the president's office at the University of Regina, and Louis Levesque. Her father was Fransaskois while her mother was originally from the United States, being born in Waukegan, Illinois.

Elyse Levesque began acting at age 11 when she became part of a repertory company of young actors for the acclaimed children's television series The Incredible Story Studio. She also did commercial work, and went on to a two-year stint playing the villainous Maxine Rich on the futuristic children's series 2030 CE. Following high school, Levesque traveled around the world for two years as a model working in Taiwan, Japan, Italy, Spain, and France before returning to Canada to study fine arts. In 2006, she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to focus on a full-time acting career. She immediately enrolled in acting classes, and began to land parts in a number of television and film projects. She has taken on diverse roles ranging from Virginia (Cissy) Poe, the ailing wife of Edgar Allan Poe, in the Masters of Horror episode "The Black Cat", to a flame-wielding bog witch in Flash Gordon. She has also made guest appearances in Smallville, Men in Trees, and a variety of other TV shows for both Canadian and American media markets. Levesque portrayed Chloe Armstrong, the daughter of a U.S. Senator in the Syfy original series, Stargate Universe, arguably her best known role. In 2014, she played the role of the witch Genevieve in the first season of The Vampire Diaries-spin-off The Originals.