Meet Jess Fraser, the Orillia woman who is making jaws drop while behind the eyes of Sierra the Utahraptor.
In 2019, Fraser was mourning the loss of her father when she saw an advertisement for a lifelike Utahraptor costume.
“I owned an inflatable raptor costume that already sparked joy and interest any time I threw it on and went outside to the public,” she said. “I figured that by purchasing this thing, it would help me bring joy back into my life by putting joy into other people’s lives.”
Fraser says the life-sized and interactive costume helped tie together her existing passion for dinosaurs and entertaining people of various ages.
“I’m an avid line dancer who loves showing off and making a wow statement with crowds,” she said. “It’s always fun putting a smile on people’s faces and making their day.”
She has had a love for dinosaurs for as long as she can remember.
“I was introduced at a young age. Unlike comic superheroes and cartoons, dinosaurs are these giant, monster-like creatures that were real,” she said.
She has been collecting fossils and dinosaur figures since she was a child.
“My interest and love for them just kept growing,” she said.
Fraser works for Scales Nature Park, just south of Orillia, where she sometimes interacts with children as Sierra the Utahraptor. When the costume goes on, she transforms into the role of the theropod that lived about 125 million years ago.
“I’ve grown up watching a lot of the movies and documentaries, so I’ve seen how they are portrayed,” she said. “I think to myself, ‘If I was a dinosaur, how would I interact?’”
She gives Sierra a sassy attitude and tries, while remaining as realistic as possible, to mimic what a Utahraptor would be like in today’s society.
“I try to get my audience scared. I snap at people and run and chase after them,” she said.
Fraser has had people laugh, cry and scream in response, which makes it all worth it for her.
“It brings me joy,” she said. “Making other people happy makes me so happy.”
Last month, the Royal Ontario Museum took an interest in Sierra’s Instagram page and invited Fraser to perform at the museum’s After Dark: DinoNite event.
“It was a very exciting day,” she said. “It’s our biggest museum in Canada, so to know they wanted me there was a crazy feeling.”
While Fraser says acting as Sierra is a side passion, she hopes to be hired on for more events, festivals, and birthday parties. She is also hoping to be invited to Fan Expo Canada in Toronto next year.
“She’s definitely a showstopper,” Fraser said. “When people see her, they take out their phones right away. It’s very rare you get to see something like this.”
More information about Sierra can be found here.
