Originating from Kamloops, British Columbia, Leah Cairns is a Canadian actress who first dreamed of becoming a professional dancer when she was younger. However, these dreams were shattered when she broke her back in a car accident when she was 16 years old. She then left home for Costa Rica, where she started her 8-year backpacking journey that took her around the globe and to 32 countries. While in India, she encountered improvisation classes at an ashram. Cairns later turned to acting and appeared in CTV's anthology series, Robson Arms and CityTV's Godiva's. She also appeared opposite Al Pacino in the feature film 88 Minutes and the vampire thriller Blood Angels. Cairns is best known for her role of Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson on
Battlestar Galactica and her role on ABC Family's Kyle XY, where she plays Emily Hollander.
Emily Hollander is played by Leah Cairns on ABC Family's Kyle XY. Emily is a freelance recovery agent who was hired by Madacorp's CEO, Ballantine, to recover Jessi XX, a product of an experiment that his company funds. Emily later found Jessi in a freight container by the docks where she was drawing everything that she remembered. Her drawings showed that Kyle was alive, and when Ballantine discovered this, he schemed to use Jessi to locate Kyle, as she had a sensing ability which enabled her to "feel" Kyle when he is near her.
(Photo courtesy of IMDB/Jane Weitzel)