Aymeric Jett Montaz Career Timeline: from Montreal Child Star to Streaming Stardom
By Alexander Ross
When showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett launched casting for Anne with an E in 2016, she sought actors who could strip away the idyllic glaze of traditional period pieces. Montgomery's original 1908 text relegated Jerry Baynard to a peripheral laborer, rarely affording him inner life or agency. Walley-Beckett radically re-engineered the role to highlight the working-class French-Canadian reality in late 19th-century maritime Canada.
Montaz brought an effortless, working-class grit to the role. Jerry was not merely the Cuthberts' hired boy; he served as an intellectual and emotional sounding board for Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, played by Amybeth McNulty. Their early scenes crackled with naturalistic friction, transitioning from mutual suspicion to genuine mutual respect. Montaz portrayed Jerry's yearning for literacy with heart-wrenching understatement, showing a boy whose economic reality forced adult physical labor before he could finish learning the alphabet.
By Season 3, Montaz's screen presence commanded an independent narrative arc. His clandestine, star-crossed courtship with Diana Barry, played by Dalila Bela, exposed the sharp class hierarchies within Avonlea society. Fans and critics praised Montaz for executing this transition from wide-eyed farm boy to a heartbroken young man grappling with societal rejection.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
