Leslie Collins
That so-called “Kitchen Counselor” in the Cascade commercial look familiar? It is 1993 Lake Highlands High School grad Leslie Collins. In the pervasive ad, she sweeps in to save couples from household disaster. She also appears alongside Tina Fey in a back-to-school themed Chase Bank ad.
Collins, who now lives in New York City, has fond memories of her Lake Highlands days. As a member of the LHHS theater program, she played the lead in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” competed at UIL, and was a member of the show choir, Espree. “Nancy Poynter [theater] and Mollie McCullough [music] gave me a foundation of learning that I use every day of my creative life,” Collins says. “Mrs. Poynter taught me discipline … although I had no idea at the time she was doing that. If I showed up unprepared for class, I’d run the risk of someone else getting cast in the part I wanted. I learned real fast, you had to do the work to get the results … to be an artist you didn’t just dye your hair black, wear lots of Goth make up, get tattoos and smoke cigarettes after school. You had to be a theater nerd and study plays and text, use your brain, be responsible and show up to rehearsals prepared. She didn’t really care for people who ‘acted’ theatrical.” McCullough taught her to sing and to love singing with other people, Collins says. “I was tone deaf as a child, so somewhere along the way through reading music, patient teachers, singing with others in class and performing in concerts, I learned to match pitch and sing well. For 20 years now, I have performed professionally in musical theater; without her teaching me how to sing and how to [appreciate] all kinds of music, I wouldn’t have gotten too far in my career.” These days, in addition to filming commercials, Collins performs improvisational comedy, teaches and produces a radio play podcast for children. “Teaching is wonderful,” she explains, “because I learn to be a better performer myself.” But she also loves the challenges and rewards of commercial acting, she says. “I’m very thankful for the success I’ve had. There are many things happening on a commercial shoot, though, and the actor is just one of the many puzzle pieces. People are dissecting every little thing you do. So I think of commercial shoots more like an awesome acting obstacle course challenge. It feels great when the production team is happy and you made it through … the best part is seeing the result on TV and having people you haven’t seen or talked to in 25 years find you on Facebook and tell you, ‘I can see you on my TV right now!’”
