Panic Button
No joke. Playing the computer in Panic Button is my dream job. It began as an out-of-the-blue phone call from Jennifer Liao in January telling me that the improbably named Byron Martin was going to be calling me about voicing a reality show. I thanked her and didn’t think much more about it. As promised Byron did in fact call to talk to me about the project which I was very interested in being involved in – who doesn’t want to play a creepy computer who makes people do...
Read More2011 – an amazing year!
2011 was an incredible year for me professionally for many reasons. At the beginning of January I was looking forward to returning to London, Ontario to play Madge Larrabee in the Grand Theatre‘s production of Sherlock Holmes, the Final Adventure. I was delighted to have something in the pipeline. In the second week of January my agent called and said that I had an audition for The Railway Children. Rehearsals would start two weeks after Sherlock Holmes closed. It was too good to be...
Read MoreMcDonalds Originals
It was brief. It was beautiful. This was my last acting gig of 2011. Originals is a web series written by Brett Heard and Anthony Farrell to promote McDonald’s McCafe. It stars my good chum and fellow stand-up Nile Séguin and new friend Paul Beer. It also featured another friend Scott Yaphe, with whom I worked in Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. Needless to say, it was a fabulous experience. I was cast as the Network Executive who will decide if Nile and Paul’s pilot will be...
Read MoreDrake General Store
Best. Wig. Ever. And a live chicken. Who could say no to a live chicken??? The Drake General Store is the funkiest tshatshke store you ever did see. Seriously – Sabryn Rock (my co-star in the commercial) and I wanted to buy everything in it. From Mountie napkins to red deer soap dispensers and knitted moustaches this place is beatnik gift heaven. This spot is an internet commercial I filmed with the lovely director Curt Wehrfritz of Untitled Films. We had way too much fun on this...
Read MoreThe Railway Children
It is my mother’s favourite movie which I’d seen dozens of times as a child and an adult. So when my friend Laura Schutt told me that I should make sure I got an audition for this British show that was coming to Toronto, I got right on it. Of course the delicious Fran Messinger had already been making enquiries and in January I had an audition for the roles of Cook and Mrs. Viney. I soon as I met the director, Damian Cruden, I knew I wanted to be in this show. He was lovely...
Read MoreSherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure
In June 2010 I auditioned for Marcia Kash for the part of Madge Larrabee, a scam-artist and member of Moriarty’s gang, in a theatrical adaptation of a couple of Conan Doyle’s books: A Scandal in Bohemia and The Final Problem. I liked Marcia right away – although she’s lived in Canada for many years she still has a very English sensibility and I enjoyed my audition with her thoroughly. I was very pleased when I booked the gig. It was lovely to be back at The Grand...
Read MoreThe Sad and Cautionary Tale of SmackHeaded Peter
Mother Cheapside certainly wasn’t my most glamorous role. But it was one of the most fun. A clairvoyant who gets her messages through old black and white tellys, Mother Cheapside meets the title character of The Sad and Cautionary Tale of SmackHeaded Peter when he is only six months old. She predicts his rise to tyranny and is ultimately his last victim in this extraordinary play by Simon Glass. Set on the concrete hell-hole that is Thamesmead in London, England, the play explores the...
Read MoreKraft Mac and Cheese Commercial
Love Kraft Homestyle Mac and Cheese? Who doesn’t, right? This was seriously one of the funnest jobs ever – directed by John Birkin (a fanastic British director) the premise was that Thomas Jefferson (who allegedly invented mac and cheese) comes back and is upset by Kraft having stolen his recipe. Thomas Jefferson is played by Albert Howell and Rob Baker is my husband – two lovely guys whom it was a pleasure to spend time with and get to know. We filmed this in a beautiful back...
Read MoreMarilla who?
I am a British-born actress and stand-up comic who does lots of voice work (for commercials, cartoons and corporate clients) and sometimes, when I'm very lucky, tv and film. When I was in England I did mostly theatre. Now I'm in Canada I spend the majority of the time writing and performing stand-up. When I'm not producing and mcing Storytelling at Caplansky's, that is. And that's me for you.