Claire Friesen

Claire is an actress and underwater performer based in New York City. She was born in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and spent her childhood in Doha, Qatar. As a member of the Canadian National Synchronized Swimming Team, Claire spent several years competing on the world circuit ranking 4th at Junior World Championships, 1st at the German Open, 1st at the Swiss Open, 1st at the Oceania Games, and 2nd at the Spanish Open. After retiring from competition, Claire joined the renowned cast of Franco Dragone's aquatic Cirque du Soleil show Le Rêve in Las Vegas. Despite being the youngest cast member, Claire became Assistant Captain and Soloist, and created a new take on an original character. Discovering her passion for acting, Claire moved to New York City to train at the esteemed William Esper Studio. Since then, notable theatre credits include the NYC International Fringe Festival, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, and The Roebuck Theater. Television credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Jane the Virgin (The CW), Debris (NBC), and Claws (TNT). National commercials include Bud Light, DirecTV, JBL Audio, Madewell, Specialized, Lancia, and Estrella Damm. Most recently, Claire wrapped filming Utsuro-Bune (Dir. Mackenzie Sheppard, NION Tokyo), Lake of Dreams (Dir. Kenny Ortega), and Spiderlily (Dir. Amber Gray). Claire has been fortunate to combine all of her passions (acting, swimming, freediving, and dance) and become one of the world's best underwater performers. Her underwater acting, dance, and stunt work can be seen in several commercials, television series, and films. Her current breath hold is about 4 minutes. Claire has been featured in numerous publications including The NY Times, Broadway World, Huffington Post, cover of Playboy, InStyle, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. Outside of the arts, Claire is passionate about bringing awareness to ocean conservation, reducing single-use plastic, and living more sustainably through her partnership with no2plastic.