For 11-year-old Jasmine Filiatrault of Eastview Middle School, acting is something she lives and breathes. She’s been a part of Cornerstone Youth Theatre (CYT) since she was seven and has enjoyed her time greatly.

Jasmine will be playing the role of Tiger Lily in CYT’s upcoming musical of Peter Pan, hitting the stage this weekend.

Tiger Lily is the daughter of the chief of the amazons and a loyal friend of Peter Pan.

“She’s very brave but sometimes she gets scared and she tries to stand up for her people and represent them, and she’s a very courageous character,” said Jasmine.

This isn’t her first time diving into a big role on stage.

She’s also played the role of Cupid in a past performance of Hercules, so Tiger Lily acts as her second big role.

Her passion for acting stemmed from a field trip she went on with her friends at her old elementary school. They went to see a performance of Robin Hood when she just turned seven. After that, the rest was history.

“It just feeds her soul. It’s perfect for her. It’s right where she needs to be,” said her mother Candy Leis.

Leis said she’s always been a very outgoing girl who loves to perform, and who is constantly doing something musical.

“In the morning you can hear her downstairs on her guitar, on her ukulele or singing. It’s at night before bed, it’s all the time,” she said with a laugh.

Jasmine, who has been rehearsing three times a week leading up to the Peter Pan performance, said when it comes to some of the challenges she’s experienced with her character, it’s been hard to do some of the choreography.

“It’s very challenging but it’s also really fun. The costume is kind of hard to move in, but I love the costume,” she said.

She does a stunt in the play where she has to fall back and the other amazons catch her, which she said was hard as she needs to really have some trust, but it got easier as time went on.

What she loves most about playing Tiger Lily, she said, is the costume and her lines.

Overall, Jasmine just likes to be on stage.

“I did crew one time. I did spotlights and it’s definitely not as fun as being on stage. I just like to act and dancing is one of my favourite parts.”

Besides acting, she likes to sing dance and play her ukulele, guitar and piano.

“Last year I was a part of aerial silks which is a type of gymnastics. There’s two curtains that come down and you have to climb on them and do some tricks on them. It’s really fun,” she said.

And when it comes to calming her nerves before a big performance, she said it starts in the green room. When waiting to go on stage, Jasmine likes to either read or colour, which often helps with those butterflies.

Her mom said she’s seen her daughter grow in every way ever since she’s taken part in theatre with CYT.

“Her confidence, it helps her to just want to learn more on guitar and her ukulele, her singing, her acting, her dancing in every way,” she said.

When it comes to practicing her lines, Jasmine does it all on her own.

“She just knows what she needs to do and she figures it out and practices. She knows what she needs to work on,” said Leis.

She added she learns all the music at home before the show even starts as she’s always singing.

“Then you get to the show and you hear it and you’re like ‘Oh yeah that sounds familiar because I’ve heard it over and over and over,’” she said with a laugh.

The performance of Peter Pan will take place at New Life Fellowship and opens on Friday.

For tickets or more information on the show including dates of performances, call 403-986-2981 or visit cornerstoneyouththeatre.org.