Sera-Lys McArthur is a member of the Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan. She grew up in Regina, attending Leboldus High School and then graduating from Campbell High School, spending her senior year there.
Upon finishing high school she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. She received a certificate for an Associates Degree at the completion of a two-year program. Following this, she did some modeling and also worked as a hostess in a restaurant to support herself. She spent three years in New York before moving to Vancouver.
Moving to Vancouver enabled her to focus on acting for films and television productions. At the time, the industry in New York was suppressed and did not offer a lot of film and television work, Vancouver was a place showing growth and opportunity.
McArthur did several auditions and attended an acting studio while continuing her studies at Capilano University.
After two years in Vancouver, she enrolled in the East 15 Acting School at the University of Essex in England. She commuted daily from London where she resided in a flat.
She gained a Masters Degree in acting at the University of Essex.
It was then on to Los Angeles, California seeking auditions in the industry. She remained there for a year, finding it tough going to find work, even outside the industry, hence deciding to move home to Canada, taking up residence in Toronto.
McArthur quickly found work in television and began commuting to Vancouver to act in the CBC production “Artic Air”. She spent three years as a cast member playing the part of “Hailey” the assistant cargo manager.
After the third season the show was cancelled when the government of the day cut the budget of the network, having sold off the NHL hockey TV rights, which at the time was the prime revenue asset held by the CBC; to Rogers Communications Inc.
Meanwhile McArthur was able to pickup a lot of theatre work and eventually booked another series being shot in North Bay, Ontario. The series was called “Hard Rock Medical” which was on APTN and TVO. Her role was “Amanda” who was a troubled young mother. Once again the show aired for three seasons before it was discontinued.
McArthur was missing New York and began spending time back in the “bright lights” of Broadway and with the industry having picked back up, this was where she wanted to be.
Currently McArthur still does quite a lot of work back in Canada which included a show in Winnipeg called “The First Encounter”. It was a feature sci-fi film, produced by Manifold, and White Bear Films. She played a Metis farm girl who was experiencing other worldly encounters. The show was filmed over the summer and during that time she did an audition for the show, “Burden of Truth”, booking the role of “Kodie”, the best friend of the lead character played by Kristen Kreuk. The show is currently on CBC and season three began on January 8, 2020. It shows weekly at 8 p.m. Wednesdays and also can be viewed on CBC Gem online.
McArthur will soon be headed to Calgary where she has booked a role in the horror movie called “Don’t Say Its Name”.
She also produces short films and has her own production company.
McArthur is looking forward to travelling to Germany soon for a film festival showing one of her productions.
