Lesa Gillespie

Lesa Gillespie is a Northern-Irish actress and puppeteer who did two international co-productions of Sesame Street, Sesame Tree and The Furchester Hotel. For Sesame Tree, she played the main character Hilda while she gained more characters when working on The Furchester Hotel. Lesa has not only did the shared role of Isabel but she had the chance to perform various guests. Gillespie was also assistant puppeteer on Pajanimals and additional performer on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. She should have assisted with the Muppets on Muppets Most Wanted since it was shot in the UK. She worked with Sesame Street and Henson Company, why not do a Muppet project in Ireland, London, or anywhere in Europe. Outside of Sesame Street and Henson, Lesa Gillespie has puppeteered on many other projects like Big City Park, Big and Small, and Strange Hill High. As for her acting credit, she's been an actress on various theatre shows (like Yerma and Oklahoma!) and short films like The Deal. Some of the other puppeteers she worked with include Paul Currie, Sheila Clark, Mike Smith, and Alana Kerr, to name a few. Lesa's latest outside puppetry credits include Snoopmas commercials in 2020-2021 and Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Gillespie should be proud to have accomplished her dream of working in the Henson Company as well as the international co-productions of Sesame Street. She's probably still acting and puppeteering today, though I hope she'll do another Henson Company project in the future. I saw online that she even took her Sesame Tree character to the Sesame Street set itself. Lesa Gillespie, you're an excellent puppeteer for both children and adults too. I hope you'll keep on acting and puppeteering for both television and stage since you've done well in both areas. Your puppeteer friends such as Currie should be proud to have been paired with you. Incredible performance Lesa. Hop to it Gillespie!