"Switched at Birth"
Season 3 Summer Premiere: June 16

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Images Provided by: ABC Family

"Switched at Birth"
Season 3 Summer Premiere: June 16

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Switched at Birth Summer 3 Season Premiere

Images Provided by: ABC Family

Katie Leclerc Gets to Get Crazy on "Switched at Birth"

Switched at Birth

Katie Leclerc Talks "Switched at Birth's" Summer Premiere and How "Daphne" is About to Get Crazy!

By: Susan J. Yeager

Life is good for actress Katie Leclerc! She's been hard at work on the ABC Family hit "Switched at Birth," for the last three years and the show will debut its Season Three Summer Premiere on June 16 at 8:00PM. In real life, she is planning her wedding that will take place in September. She is quick to classify herself as a lucky girl.

It hasn't always been that way for Katie who confesses to be being "severely bullied" growing up. She was also diagnosed with Meniere's disease, an inner ear problem that results in hearing loss and vertigo and poses daily struggles like sudden head rushes, dizziness and ringing in the ears.

However, getting bit by the acting bug while doing a production of "Annie," in the seventh grade, Katie was determined to become an actress. She was cast in several commercials and landed a few guest appearances on shows like "Veronica Mars" and "The Big Bang Theory."

Ironically, her big break would come playing a teenager who is deaf on the ABC Family, ground-breaking series "Switched at Birth!" "I will never forget the first time I heard about 'Switched.' Katie laments when she calls to talk about the show's summer premiere. "I was working a crappy job as a receptionist. My boyfriend, at the time, who was my agent said, 'Hey we got this great part for you.' I went into the first audition. I did it with the sign language but without the accent. Then they asked if I could try to put on a deaf accent and it was the first time I ever tried it. It was the most terrifying thing I ever did and I'm so glad I did it!"

The audition process is always tough on an actress, but this one was possibly more stressful on the Leclerc family. "I feel very blessed and very lucky because my sister is an ASL teacher. I'm in a unique position where I function very much in the hearing world, but technically I am also involved in the deaf world because of my Meniere's disease. Going in to it, it was a lot of homework. I'm so lucky because I had my sister who could help me. So we went through the lines because American Sign Language has a completely different grammatical structure. I wanted to make sure that 'Daphne' didn't do anything wrong even though I already knew sign language."

"The accent was really the toughest part to develop," she continues. "We sat down and we mapped out 'Daphne's' audiograms. Based on the sounds we decided she could hear or not hear, we determined what sounds she would be able to say or not say. It was actually pretty technical going into it. It made my family INSANE!" she laughs. "For a while, all I could do was try to get it down and just speak in the accent. For like two weeks they were like 'Oh my God! She'd better get this part!'"

See a commercial here:

She did get the part but had no idea just how much her life was going to change... for the better! "I read the script, the pilot, at home and you know, I'm working on it... and I'm going 'Yeah, this is pretty good. They'll probably pick it up. I feel pretty confident.' I went to the table read and I've never seen more tears at a table read before and I went 'We have something really cool!' In the room at the table read, everybody had chills, and everybody was emotional. It definitely felt like 'Man we're on to something here!'

"We've had that feeling a couple of times throughout the filming process too. When we were filming the episode "Uprising," which was the all ASL episode; there was something just electric in the air. It's really kind of hard to put your finger on it. I think what it is, is the feeling of breaking ground. It was something different. It was something fresh, a little bit risky but definitely powerful and moving and something I'm so proud of!"

Another perk to this job was adding a second family to her world. "The cast!" she answers with no hesitation when asked what she likes most about her job. "For sure! The connections that I've made, the family that we've become off screen, that's defiantly something I didn't expect. I'll never forget, filming the pilot, what... three years ago at this point? 'Switched' is the biggest thing I had ever done up to that point. We weren't even picked up yet, but it was a surreal experience to sit in a green room listening to Lea Thompson. D.W. Moffat and Constance Marie just chat. Just say 'Oh, I was at that wedding. We're you at that wedding?' With the experience that they had, just sitting there and going 'Man, I never imagined that I would be able to be friends with these people! It's a very fulfilling job, creativity wise and it's a very nurturing environment. I am the luckiest girl in the whole world!"

"We hang out afterwards. Vanessa and I live about ten minutes from each other. I moved up to where she was and we carpool all the time. We hang out on the weekends and in between takes as well. It's the kind of set that where, even if Vanessa and I weren't car pooling, there's been multiple times where I've been wrapped and hung out for an hour or two, just because it's a good place to be."

So what can fans expect from the Summer Premiere of Season 3? Katie promises things are about to get crazy; at least where "Daphne" is concerned. "On the premiere, Daphne is sort of emotional about what's happened with the East Riverside project and the danger that her Mom is in. She goes to confront the kid who vandalized Regina's store. I have a really crazy arc this season! Daphne is... she is insane at some point in this season! It is the most fun I have ever had in my whole career. It's her Senior Year and Daphne has let it loose! Her 'Senior-itis' is pretty severe."

See a clip here:

"She's definitely ambitious about being a doctor," she confirms, hinting that maybe Daphne doesn't stray too far of course. "She's taking the time she's at the free clinic, taking advantage of that time and learning everything that she can. Education comes in many ways, life lessons, school lessons. Like I said, I have an insane arc this season!"

Though "Switched at Birth" takes up a lot of her time, Katie stays plenty busy when not working. "I'm in the process of planning a wedding, so I stress when I'm not working! We're getting married in September. I'm so excited but man, there's a lot to do!" she reasons.

See another clip here:

"I've got two dogs and I love to hang out with them. Mountain biking. Exercising, a lot of fitness in my house. We're running a triathlon in September, so we're training for that. 'Switch' takes up a lot of time and then the rest of it is filled as well. It's been an exhausting couple of years, but it's been the best experience."

We wish Katie the best of luck and can't wait to see what the next round of episodes bring for "Daphne" and the Vasquez/Kennish clans. Catch up early episodes of "Switched at Birthday" on Netflix, Amazon, or Itunes before the summer premiere of Season 3 or June 16 at 8:00PM on ABC Family.

For more on Switched at Birth, visit http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/switched-at-birth

Follow Katie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatieLeclerc