Lesa Gillespie with Telly Monster
Lesa Gillespie is an actress and puppeteer who played Hilda the hare on Sesame Tree, the Sesame Street co-production for Northern Ireland. The series represented her first puppetry experience and she went on to work on the Sesame Street co-production The Furchester Hotel (assisting and as Isabel on occasion and various guest characters). For the Jim Henson Company, she was an assistant puppeteer on Pajanimals and an additional puppeteer on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Gillespie's acting experience includes various stage roles (such as Yerma in Yerma and Virginia in Oklahoma!) and many short films, including Tuesday 21st and The Deal.
Gillespie has worked as a puppeteer on Big City Park and Big and Small for CBeebies and Strange Hill High for CBBC.