Sackville's star student chosen to be new La Senza Girl

SACKVILLE - Sackville resident Janessa Hunt has rubbed shoulders with celebrities like Hilary Duff, Dean Cain and Ellen Page.

She's one of the faces for the nationwide La Senza Girl Holiday 2007 campaign and has appeared on billboards, in ad campaigns, and on television in both Canada and the United States.

But the 11-year-old Harry R. Hamilton Elementary School student takes it all in stride - when she's not modeling or acting.

Hunt loves hanging out with her friends and participating in swimming, skating, dance, gymnastics and acrobatics.

She also finds time to sing in her school choir and to play clarinet in the band. She does well academically and is provided with a tutor whenever her work takes her away from school.

Hunt was "discovered" by a talent agent on Boxing Day 2001 while shopping at the Disney Store. Her love of being photographed and performing started at an early age. Her mother Jane remembers Janessa standing on a chair in a crowded restaurant when she was only four years old to belt out It's a Small World in honour of Mother's Day.

During an interview last weekend, Hunt chatted animatedly about her passion for animals, especially koala bears, dogs, raccoons and horses. She bought her dog Snowball with money earned from her role in a 2004 Care Bears commercial, and she rescued her rabbit Speckles from a Toronto balcony.

Well-mannered and down-to-earth is how her mother describes Janessa.

"She tries not to talk about what she does, even though her face is definitely out there. She likes to be a normal kid," Jane Hunt said.

Janessa spends the summer months in Toronto with her mother so she's more readily available for any modeling or acting jobs. That's how she became the first Canadian La Senza Girl model, featured in the company's nationwide Holiday 2007 campaign. Until now, the models have all been Americans.

"Before I even got the job, I shopped there so much. One day I said I wished I could be the blonde girl (on the La Senza Girl poster) and the next day they called me and asked if I could be there the next morning," Janessa recalled. "It was exciting."

Another recent coup for Janessa was landing a coveted spot in a holiday commercial featuring bright green Hess monster toy trucks. The commercial for the American gasoline retailer recently began showing on several US networks, including ABC, NBC and Fox.

Janessa's first principal movie role came when she was cast in A Christmas Wedding, a Lifetime Network Movie of the Week that ran last Christmas and featured actors Dean Cain and Mimi Kuzyk. She also appeared in Mom at Sixteen, another Lifetime Network Movie of the Week.

Most recently, Janessa appears in a CBC Television pilot, Cheap Draft.

In Toronto, Janessa is represented by the Ford Modeling Agency. Her mother said the directors, producers and agents they've worked with have been wonderful to her daughter. She's especially grateful for the support of the Cassidy Group in Halifax.

Janessa said she hopes to become a famous actress or model someday, and excitedly recounts all her experiences as fun adventures.

"She's an amazing child, that's for sure," her mother said.

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca