The Grey’s Anatomy, Supergirl, and The Way Home star opens up about the book that found her at 15—and again at 40.
LOS ANGELES (May 13, 2026)—Before Chyler Leigh starred in shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Supergirl, and The Way Home, she had English homework to finish. A high school assignment led her to a book that transported her to the wilds of British Columbia: In the Shadow of a Rainbow by Robert Franklin Leslie.
In conversation with host Chris Collins on the popular YouTube series Books That Changed My Life, Leigh opens up about her itinerant childhood, a 22-year estrangement from her mother, becoming a parent, and the value of fiction as a refuge.
Roll Over, Great Gatsby
In 10th grade, Leigh was asked to prepare a book report. Rather than the typical reading response to The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye, Leigh was allowed to select her own subject. The assignment led her to a bookstore, where a cover captured her attention:
“There was a wolf, there was a rainbow, and this man who was kind of just like crouched down, and something about it kind of just caught my eye. I picked it up and was like, oh, something about this is calling to me.”
The appeal was understandable; from a young age, Leigh had been fascinated by wolves, ravens, and cats. She remarks:
“If we ever went to a zoo… my very first place to go was the wolves. Always.”
So too, it would seem, in the bookstore. Leigh’s predilection for wolves led her to Robert Franklin Leslie’s In the Shadow of a Rainbow, recounted from the true story of Gregory Tah-Kloma, or Youngpine, and his bond with an elusive female alpha.
Leigh speaks to a kinship with Náhani, the wolf:
“The alpha is a female, and she watches over everybody… I’m fiercely protective of the people that I love. Fiercely.”
Leading the Pack
In the Shadow of a Rainbow entranced a 15-year-old Leigh; decades later, it took on new meaning. When she returned to the book as an adult, with three kids and a successful on-screen career, Leslie’s work exerted an even stronger pull:
“I think it changed my life today more than it changed my life at 15.”
Throughout the conversation, Collins and Leigh reflect on the nature of leadership, a topic that takes center stage in Leslie’s book. As Leigh ponders Náhani’s model of leading by example rather than coercion, Collins presses the star to see herself as a pack leader in her own right.
As the conversation continues, Leigh’s resistance becomes recognition:
“I definitely see it. I see it, I know it. I’m still getting to the point of…”
And then, simply:
“I think I get it.”
From the set to her own household, Leigh concedes that she may take after the alpha more than she had previously realized.
Calling the Shots
Reflecting on her leadership experience, Leigh speaks about her directorial debut on an episode of Supergirl. The experience was a baptism by fire: Leigh was forced to work around COVID-19, a broken-footed assistant director, and an injured lead actress—not to mention a familiar conundrum for directors and producers:
“I had to take a $1.2 million special effects budget and cut it to $600,000.”
Rather than folding in the face of these obstacles, Leigh rose to the occasion:
“I loved every second of that chaos. Every second of it.”
The experience convinced Leigh to spend more time behind the camera:
“I want to direct. I want to keep producing.”
Leigh speaks to the bonds formed on set, highlighting the trust formed in the crucible of the sound stage. The crew becomes, in a manner of speaking, a pack, calling to mind the title of Leslie’s book. Leigh reads from the 1974 text to explain:
“In Youngpine’s native Penutian legend there is an old saw that explains witch-doctor’s magic: when anything strengthens a bond of friendship, Chimmesyans say the friends have walked in the shadow of a rainbow.”
Watch the full conversation HERE.
About Books That Changed My Life
“Books That Changed My Life,” hosted by bestselling author Chris Collins, is a YouTube show exploring how great books transform us in profound and unexpected ways. Each episode features a special guest sharing a book that shaped or inspired them, sparking deep conversations and unearthing unfiltered personal stories.
Recent guests include R&B singer Eric Benét, soap opera legend Susan Lucci, former covert CIA officer Andrew Bustamante, actress and reality star Lisa Rinna, Dancing With the Stars pro Jenna Johnson, and television legend Kelsey Grammer.
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