I
was born in Montreal and spent some of my childhood there,
but moved to Toronto at the age of 7. I've been here now
for about 14 years.
What
inspired you to be an actress?
I
guess you could say that it was the right place at the right
time. I suddenly found myself surrounded by people in the
industry that were willing to help me in any way possible.
Even though I was at school (U of T) studying business,
I had these great people going out on limbs for me, so I
figured, hey, I'm being given an oppurtunity I have to see
where it takes me...if it's nowhere, at least I can say
I tried.
Was
it fun playing a teenage zombie?
hahaha...well....no,
it was fun. It was a totally different than anything I've
ever done before. We were working nights so I would be in
class all day, and then work 15 hour nights. No one can
say that is fun to do for three months. But at a certain
point you enter delirium from no sleep, and that can be
fun!
Any
funny or strange stories you can tell when you were filming
"Land of the Dead?"
Where
do I begin! Every night there was something new. We were
working on a horror film set with George Romero - it was
insanity all day every day! Some of the craziest days where
when we were working at the BCE place. It was cool because
it's this big Toronto landmark that we totally took over
at night. One night we actually got to break down the glass
of the front doors and bust into the building. We spent
the whole night there - had dinner in the basement, I fell
asleep by the bank, it was hilarious.
The
other really fun nights were when we were exploding things
or people were getting shot. It's the strangest feeling
being in the middle of an explosion an not be able to react
to it (that whole zombie thing...we didn't really get phased
by much). Sometimes when there were zombie masacres, they
would have a bunch of dummies on the ground all done up
to be dead, and then a bunch of live people dead on the
ground too so they could "twitch" and what not. So when
you were walking through the dead bodies you never knew
which were real and which weren't. Nothing like stepping
on something you think is a dummy and it turns out it's
really one of your fellow actors!
How
long did it take to get into makeup? I know I saw the movie
and you looked pretty gruesome !
At
the beginning makeup took about 3 hours to put on and about
an hour to get off. By the end of it though my makeup artist
and I had it down to about 2.5 hours to get it on and about
35 min. to get it off.
The
Monster Warriors, I have heard so much about this,
"Using everyday household objects to make low-tech weapons,
the Monster Warriors˜Luke, Vanka, Tabby and Antonio˜defend
Capital City against an onslaught of creatures straight
out of a 50‚s monster movie, like a giant anaconda,
Tyrannosaurus Rex and a skeleton army.
of
course" how would you describe the character "Vanka" that
you play?
Vanka
is the tough girl of the crowd. She isn't scared of anything
and is the first one to get right into the thick of things
when her friends are in trouble. You can always count on
Vanka to put herself in danger so that everyone else can
get to safety.
This
is a great all Canadian cast, I am a huge Sean Cullen fan,
what was he like to work with?
Sean
was one of the best things about working on Monster Warriors.
Every time he came to set he was always in a great mood
and just made you laugh from the minute you saw him to the
minute you left. Not only was he so incredibly entertaining
to be around, watching him work on set was like nothing
else. He is incredibly talented and I think we all learned
a little something about the technical side of acting (where
your best light is, hitting your marks etc.) from him.
Which
part have you played that you most related to?
I
think Vanka - probably because she was the longest I've
worked on a character for. We worked on Monster Warriors
for six months, so every day I got to examine the character
a little deeper and get a little closer to. I became very
attached to her because I truly admire some of her strengths
and some of the things that she does in the show for her
friends (you'll have to watch to see what I mean!).
Where
do you see you career going?
I
try not to look too far ahead in the future. Of course there's
always that dream of hitting it big, but it's generally
unrealistic. If I can continue to work in the industry on
any level I will be happy - I've discovered this really
is something I would like to do with my life and I'd like
to ride it out for as long as I possibly can.
What
kinds of things really get under your skin?
Ignorance.
I've been blessed in the fact that as a child I traveled
quite a bit with my family and got to see many different
cultures, cities, lives. People who are ignorant to how
great we have it here drive me absolutely crazy - I think
travel should be something mandatory for everybody to do,
if only to know how lucky and blessed we are to live in
such a fair, safe country.
Messiness.
I hate anything unorganized or messy. I know it makes me
a little crazy but if things are all over the place, or
there's dishes in the sink, or toothpaste in the sink -
i will literally lose my mind....or at least stop what I'm
doing to clean it up.
What
would make you the ultimate bytch?
When
you give and give to people and get nothing in return. I
surround myself with people that I care about very much
- and I am a very giving person. I love helping friends
out when they need me...as long as when the tables are turned
they are there for me too. Nothing makes me angrier than
someone who takes and takes and takes and gives nothing
in return.
he