Canadian Actresses
A list of every living Canadian actress I know of.
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Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Ontario, Canada, to Sandra Kay (Gale), a nurse, and Lance Frederick McAdams, a truck driver and furniture mover. She is of English, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish descent. Rachel became involved with acting as a teenager and by the age of 13 was performing in Shakespearean productions in summer theater camp; she went on to graduate with honors with a BFA degree in Theater from York University. After her debut in an episode of Disney's The Famous Jett Jackson (1998), she co-starred in the Canadian TV series Slings and Arrows (2003), a comedy-drama about the trials and travails of a Shakespearean theater group, and won a Gemini award for her performance in 2003.
Her breakout role as Regina George in the hit comedy Mean Girls (2004) instantly catapulted her onto the short list of Hollywood's hottest young actresses. She followed that film with a star turn opposite Ryan Gosling in the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks bestseller The Notebook (2004), which was a surprise box office success and became the predominant romantic drama for a new, young generation of moviegoers. After filming, McAdams and Gosling became romantically involved and dated through mid-2007. McAdams next showcased her versatility onscreen with the manic comedy Wedding Crashers (2005), the thriller Red Eye (2005), and the holiday drama The Family Stone (2005).
McAdams then explored the independent film world with Married Life (2007), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and also starred Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson. Starring roles in the military drama The Lucky Ones (2008), the newspaper thriller State of Play (2009), and the romance The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) followed before she starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Guy Ritchie's international blockbuster Sherlock Holmes (2009). McAdams played the plucky producer of a failing morning TV show in Morning Glory (2010), the materialistic fiancée of Owen Wilson in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011), and returned to romantic drama territory with the hit film The Vow (2012) opposite Channing Tatum. The actress also stars with Ben Affleck in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder (2012) and alongside Noomi Rapace in Brian De Palma's thriller Passion (2012).
In 2005, McAdams received ShoWest's "Supporting Actress of the Year" Award as well as the "Breakthrough Actress of the Year" at the Hollywood Film Awards. In 2009, she was awarded with ShoWest's "Female Star of the Year." As of 2011, she has been romantically linked with her Midnight in Paris (2011) co-star Michael Sheen.- Actress
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Over three decades, Paulina's career has spanned the areas of business affairs, communications, content creation, production, post-production and distribution within Canada's Indigenous, English and French-language creative industries.
As a programming specialist, she has developed, curated and delivered a number of innovative, award-winning, multi-year digital projects reporting to public and private stakeholders.
During her tenure as Programming and Operations Lead of the Encore+ YouTube channel created by the Canada Media Fund in an unprecedented collaboration with industry partners, she oversaw the digitization and promotion of over 3000 iconic Canadian films, documentaries and television series. Passionate the preservation of Canada's audiovisual heritage and cultural memory, Paulina commissioned and oversaw the restoration of important feature films including Eclipse (Jeremy Podeswa), L'Arrache-coeur (Mireille Dansereau), The Wars (Robin Phillips), When Night is Falling (Patricia Rozema), Monica, la mitraille (Charles Binamé), Johnny Mnemonic (Robert Longo), A Silent Love (Federico Hidalgo), Remembrance (Stephanie Morgenstern) and Farley Mowat's The Snow Walker (Charles Martin Smith) over 2018-2022.
In 2020, she launched and executive produced Encore+ Originals featuring A-list Canadian talent revisiting iconic past collaborations. Recorded via Zoom during the pandemic and leveraging the YouTube Premiere feature, the initiative fostered discoverability, and deep engagement with global audiences, festivals and archives.
As co-founder and past executive producer of the Women in Film and Television International's Short Film Showcase, Paulina curated three editions of the Showcase, presented in twenty cities across three continents. Featuring award-winning short films directed by women from all continents, it proved extremely popular, serving as a vital advocate for increased gender balance in the global film industry. Prior to this role, she served as Vice-President, Programming and later as President of Women in Film and Television Montréal (Allia).
She has served as a programming specialist for First Person Digital (NFB/Ada X), the 2010 HTMles Festival of Media Art + Digital Culture and 2023 and 2024 editions of the International Film Festival of Ottawa's Save As Symposium: The Future of Restoring, Preserving, Distributing and Exhibiting Heritage Cinema.
At the start of her career, Paulina developed her curatorial competencies serving as founding Artistic Director of a Montreal-based theatre company for over ten years.
She is an alumna of the Media Leadership Program at York University's Schulich School of Business, HEC Montréal, the National Theatre School of Canada, the University of Toronto and the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at Shaw Festival.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Renee Abbott is known for Poor Boy's Game (2007), Down to the Dirt (2008) and A Bug and a Bag of Weed (2006).- Sarah Abbott was born on 22 January 2006. She is an actress, known for Ginny & Georgia (2021), Feel the Beat (2020) and Black Mirror (2011).
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Born in Vancouver B.C., Wendy Abbott is an accomplished actress in film, television and on the stage. On television, she has made appearances in Hallmark's A Christmas to Remember (2016) with Mira Sorvino, the Dustin Lance Black mini series When We Rise (2017) starring Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, and Rachel Griffiths and the critically acclaimed Amazon series The Man in the High Castle (2015). On the big screen, Wendy appeared in the Brightlight Pictures feature film Little Pink House (2017) which premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017.
Wendy is a thirty plus years' dancer, choreographer and dance instructor in all levels of dance, primarily jazz and stage disciplines and has danced with three professional companies. She was also a member of the Stratford Festival with three seasons of Shakespeare and principal leads in their musical theatre productions, most notably, a part created for her in The Pirates of Penzance (1985) by the National Ballet of Canada choreographer Brian Macdonald.- Liyou Abere is an actress from Toronto, Canada and began acting at the age of 9. Soon after appearing in print ads and commercials, Liyou began recording for the character of Sidetable Drawer in the children's animated series Blues Clues & You (Nickelodeon) and has appeared on screen as Red Wood Dr. O in Odd Squad Mobile Unit (PBS), Nyani Colom in Mrs. America (FX), Janine in The Boys (Amazon Prime) and most recently as Jamie in Locke and Key (Netflix). While not acting, Liyou loves to sing, play the piano and the guitar. She is fluent in French.
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Viola Abley is a versatile performer experienced in feature films, short films, commercials, voice overs, TV, and new media projects. She has worked alongside acclaimed actors such as Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, and Shirley MacLaine in the studio film "Noelle" (2019), directed by Marc Lawerence and streaming on Disney+. She also appeared in the Apple TV+ musical original series "Schmigadoon!" (2021), collaborating with Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose and Tony Award-winning choreographer Chris Gattelli. Additionally, Viola has recurring roles on the Netflix series "Scaredy Cats" (2021) and the Apple TV+ series "Pinecone & Pony" (2022/2023).
Viola, of Vietnamese and European descent, is not only dedicated to her acting career but also excels as a high school student. Alongside her studies, she actively participates in the school basketball team, student council, and various school events. In her free time, Viola enjoys learning to ride western horseback, singing, playing video games, and spending time with friends.- Actress
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- Jessica Abruzzese is known for Alert: Missing Persons Unit (2023), Swept Up by Christmas (2019) and Alertes (2021).
- Christina Aceto is known for American Dynasties: The Kennedys (2018), Tapped Out (2014) and Surviving Evil (2013).
- Georgia Acken was born on 29 May 2007 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Georgia is an actor, known for The Sacrifice Game (2023), Under the Bridge (2024) and Circuit Breakers (2022).
- Claire Acott is known for A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet (2013) and Less Than Kosher (2023).
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- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Carolyn is of Irish and Czech descent A graduate of the Vancouver Film School, Master Class/Acting for Film & Television, Carolyn studied under acclaimed Actor and Acting coach A.C. Peterson. Theatre performer and Improv. training with the Second City Comedy Club. Studies include William Davis Actors Study with William Davis, Sid Kozak audition class, Anne Anderson and Ann Forry acting for commercials. Audition workshop and scene study with Richard Keats.
Carolyn presently works on Features and Television Series as well as Commercials and Print Work.- Actress
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Laura Adamo is a Toronto based actor, and a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York. Her first project was the short film "Drama Queen", which she created the concept for, produced, and stared in. The film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the bronze medallion award at the Houston International Film Festival. She went on to produce and star in "Last Call", a feature film that screened at The Big Apple Film Festival and won the audience choice award at The San Diego Film Festival, which led to a distribution deal with Moving Pictures in the USA. Adamo then turned her attention to television. She created 5 scripted series and one lifestyle documentary food series. Her lifestyle show "Family Secrets" was in development with Paperny films and the pilot was shot by Douglas Arrowsmith. Her first scripted series "Cattle Call", a half hour comedy, went into development with City TV where she shot a pilot directed by Ron Murphy. Her second series, "Bait", went into development with Buck Productions and had a pilot script ordered by Much Music. Laura's most recent project is the feature film "The Wishing Tree", which she wrote, directed, and starred in. The film won the audience choice award at Filmocracy Fest.- Beverly Adams was born on 7 November 1945 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an actress, known for The Silencers (1966), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) and The Ambushers (1967).
- Elizabeth Adams is known for The Price of Fitting In (2021) and Richard III (2023).
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Enid-Raye Adams was born in 1973 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Since then, no one has ever pronounced her name correctly. Kids at school called her Igor and Enid The Peenid. (Those kids were ill-mannered and had gastric intestinal problems.) After two perms in a row in junior high, Enid-Raye bore a striking resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite (2004) from the major motion picture of the same name.
Years later, Enid-Raye began her career in theater, performing in some of Shakespeare's classics. In 1993, she made her film debut as a feature extra in the Canadian independent For the Moment (1993) opposite Russell Crowe. Her only requirement in the film was to tap Russell Crowe's shoulder in a party scene and smile at him. This was meant to launch her career in film and television and cement her as a leading lady in the minds of directors and studio executives everywhere. Unfortunately, due to a severe case of nerves, Enid-Raye looked like a rabid gopher on camera and her part was cut from the film.
In 1998, she moved to Vancouver to pursue her career and couldn't get arrested. If she jaywalked in front of the cops, they would say, "I'm sorry, we've decided to go another way," or "Jaywalk for us again when you have an agent." It was during this time that she co-wrote and performed in the hilarious one-woman show "Would You Like Fries With That?". She began and promptly finished doing stand-up comedy when she discovered she was much funnier in the privacy of her own home. Finally, she threatened to egg an agent's '87 Dodge Dart if he didn't sign her. Remarkably, he did and she has been working ever since.
Enid-Raye was a host for The 16th Annual Leo Awards (2014) and has received two Leo Award nominations for her work: One for her chilling portrayal of the psychotic and highly disturbed Laura Maitland, a recurring character in the acclaimed series Da Vinci's Inquest (1998) for Chris Haddock; And the second for her role as a Mom suffering from depression in R.L. Stine's the Haunting Hour (2010), opposite Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family (2009)). Other select credits include No Men Beyond This Point (2015), iZombie (2015), Backstrom (2015), Lawrence & Holloman (2013), Endgame (2011), Fringe (2008), Psych (2006), Supernatural (2005), Intelligence (2005), Dead Like Me (2003), Jeremiah (2002), and Steven Spielberg's Taken (2002). She was recently elected as a Director on the UBCP/ACTRA Executive Board.
Enid-Raye works regularly in film, television, voice and commercials. She lives in Vancouver where she can be found loitering in front of Lee's Donuts in her chocolate milk mustache and buffet pants.- Actress
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Katherine Adams is a Canadian actress, producer, director, and writer. She is a member of Union des Artistes and Actra. With her husband, actor Laurent Imbault, she founded the Associated Actors. the first agency of independent actors in Quebec.
In recent years, she directed the Francophone film trophies in Beirut alongside Costa Gavras. She has worked as artistic director for national and international organizations such as the Millennium Conference, the United Nations, the Olympic Committee, and Cirque du Soleil,
Katherine Adams recently wrote, played in, and directed Mixed Memories, a short docu-drama, in which three luminous women of mixed origin try to come to terms with their complex identities and the many challenges they face.- Actress
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Olunike Adeliyi was born in Toronto, Canada to Sunday Adeliyi, a Nigerian computer scientist and Roxiana Bell Adeliyi, a Jamaican nurse. Raised in both Jamaica and Canada, Olunike ultimately earned a place at the highly coveted American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. After graduating from AADA, Olunike returned to Toronto to pursue a film, television, and theatre career which ultimately landed her the series-regular role of Leah Kerns in the highly rated and vastly popular television series, Flashpoint (2009-2012). Olunike's popularity gained momentum after her appearances in films and TV shows such as Titans (2019), American Gods (2019), and Workin' Moms (2019). Currently nominated for the 2021 Canadian Screen Award for her performance in the drama series Coroner.- Actress