Leclerc with Ryan Lane at a Dogs for the Deaf benefit in April 2013
Leclerc was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. She is of Canadian descent. She is the youngest of three siblings.[3] She started learning American Sign Language at 17, before she found out she had Ménière's disease, which leads to hearing loss. Her older sister also teaches ASL.[4] Both her father and older sister have Ménière's disease as well.[5]
Leclerc married longtime boyfriend Brian Habecost, a real estate salesman, on September 6, 2014.[6] In July 2017, Leclerc filed for divorce from her husband.[7]
Career
Leclerc discovered her passion for acting in seventh grade when she got the lead role in a production of Annie.[8][9] She then moved to San Diego, to pursue theatre at Valley Center High School. She took part in commercials for Pepsi, Cingular, Comcast, and GE.
"My agent submitted me for a nationwide casting call for the roles of Emmett and Daphne. I ended up getting a callback, and that's when I was asked to try a "deaf accent." It's something we discussed in depth. We wanted to make sure my portrayal was respectful and done correctly. At the same time, we felt that using a Deaf accent would be a really strong choice for the character.[10]
