The Cast

Jody Gienow

Jody Gienow

Wildlife and educating others about it are two of Jody Gienow's passions. Involved for several years with the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s wildlife education presentations, she jumped at the chance to appear in the Hinterland Who's WhoTube webisodes to help young viewers learn about and develop a positive attitude toward wildlife.

Jody has been working professionally and directly with wildlife for more than sixteen years. But even an experienced wildlife advocate like Jody had the chance to discover something new about the natural world while filming. While working on the "Pollinators—Busy doing what?" webisode, she "learned that bumble bees are incredible pollinators, even better than honey bees! Unlike the honey bee, they will go out in the wind and rain and early in the morning and late in the evening to visit flowers. They also collect pollen from plants that don't offer nectar as an attractant because unlike honey bees they eat both nectar and pollen."

Jody has been doing on-screen television for more than eight years and uses this form of communication to deliver her message about the importance of wildlife conservation. She also runs a wildlife education centre that specializes in caring for native wildlife that cannot survive in the wild.

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Louis-René Sénéchal

Louis-René Sénéchal

When Sénéchal isn’t hosting and narrating the Hinterland Who’s Who (HWW) television vignettes, he works for the National Capital Commission as interpretation, information and marketing manager in Gatineau Park. He also spent more than 14 years at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

“I’m very lucky to be working in an environment where the audience is already interested in wildlife,” says Sénéchal. He particularly enjoys the variety of work he does with HWW. “I get to gain some great experiences while educating people about nature.”

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Helen Pahou

Helen Pahou

Helen was twelve years old when she played “Maddie” in the English version of Ocean Commotion. She loves the outdoors and learning about nature. Hinterland Who's Who Ocean Commotion was a great experience, and the first time that she got to get out and experience kayaking. However, touching a sea cucumber during the filming was the highlight of her day! Making new friends with the crew and actors contributed to the experience. “I loved filming Ocean Commotion! I had so much fun filming and making new friends!” she says. Ocean Commotion is one of her memorable experiences ever and she can't wait to do something like this again.

This was not Helen’s first on set experience. Her career began with a short film. Afterwards, she played a role on R.L. Stine’s Haunting Hour. It's all been great, but Hinterland was the most fun, by far!

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Kourosh Delsouz

Kourosh Delsouz

Originally from Iran, Kourosh and family moved to Montreal in 2005, and then North Vancouver in 2009 taking along with him three well-spoken languages, Farsi, French and English. Little did he expect this would come in handy when he was cast as a French co-host in Hinterland Who's Who—Ocean Commotion. When he found out about it, he was ecstatic.

He enjoys nature and wildlife, but during the filming, he never expected to see such beauty in his own back yard. The filming dragged him further into the hinterland and gave him first-hand experiences at kayaking and holding a sea star—a couple of his highlights. He was surprised to see the many different types of creatures at the aquarium and enjoyed the picturesque views.

When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he immediately answered, "an actor!" Then, he added, "...an artist, a hockey player...oh, and I'd also like to be a business man or engineer." What inspires him is being in the limelight. The cast and crew can tell you that he certainly deserves to be successful. He is one of the most well-mannered, considerate and self-maintained individuals you'll meet.

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Jake Smith

Jake Smith

Jake was thrilled to take part in the filming of Hinterlands’ Who’s Who. Having been involved in acting since the young age of two, Jake is no stranger to the camera. Jake has appeared in over 35 TV movies and feature films including: Air Bud Spikes Back, Smallville, Dead Like Me, For the Love of a Child, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 & 2, and over two dozen commercials. To add to that long list, Jake’s voice can be heard in several episodes of Disney’s new series, 1001 Knights.

Along with acting, Jake has a keen interest and love of all animals. He can list interesting facts about almost any animal – and can usually be found with his nose in a book, or on the computer researching the latest facts on the habitats, biology and threats to animals large
or small.

Jake, a straight A student heading into high school next year is also a talented artist. His skills are utilized by the popular gaming company EA, who hired Jake to render drawings of half animal/alien/machine for their animation artists to incorporate into new creatures for video games. The segment in Hinterlands’ Who Who dealing with video games really was right up Jake’s interest alley!

In the coming year, Jake hopes to continue to combine his love for acting with his interest and knowledge of the animal kingdom. He is hoping to film more Hinterland episodes with Jody and maybe even have some of his drawings featured in the animation parts.

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Cast Bios

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