“In 2024, we will applaud the outstanding performances by our members in everything from short and feature films to television and animation.”
David Gale, ACTRA Toronto President
Outstanding Performance – Gender Non-conforming or Female Voice
Penelope Snodgrass in Saving Me, “Bennett the Grouch”
Stacey loves performing and has been a professional actor for over 500 years (past lives included). From her sketch comedy days with her ol’ troupe The Bobroom, to her extensive career in voice work including numerous radio and tv commercials and campaigns, video games and network announcer for both Life Network and Playhouse Disney, she’s so grateful for her favourite work – creating characters in the cartoon world.
Stacey recently wrapped voice work on Mittens & Pants, Caillou and Superbuns. Select animation highlights include Nikki on 6teen, Emma and Crimson on Total Drama: The Ridonculous Race, Blanche on Norman Picklestripes, Iris on Ruby Gloom and Rob on Rob the Robot.
When not in a studio recording, Stacey is busy designing yoga-inspired comfy apparel for her clothing company Siddhiwear.
Three ACTRA nominations for Outstanding Performance and two Gemini (ensemble) voice nominations later, her parents still wish she had gone to medical school but will settle for some quirky characters around the dinner table.
Stacey is thrilled and honoured to be included among such a talented group of actors!!
Superbuns in Superbuns, “C’mon Caterpillar”
Toronto-born Katie Griffin has had a successful acting career on both the large and small screen since her 1992 debut as Dede in Are You Afraid of The Dark – Tale of The Prom Queen. A student of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, Katie’s diverse and unique talent has been featured in a wide-array of projects over the years – from the recent gritty Netflix series Grand Army to animated shows such as Go Dog, Go! and Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe on Amazon Prime. One of Canada’s pre-eminent voice actors, Katie’s roles include Sailor Mars from the iconic Anime series Sailor Moon, Ruby from Max and Ruby, Alex from Totally Spies and, more recently, as Sam Sparks in the animated series Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs, a role which garnered her a Canadian Screen Award nomination. Katie is thrilled about the release of two upcoming animated shows, Superbuns and the newest season of the highly popular Total Drama Island. She is also very proud to be part of the Gangnam Project playing the role of Julie Shin and due for release in March 2024. She currently resides in Toronto with her husband and two sons.
Magpie in Pinecone & Pony, “Pinecone and Horse”
Emma is a multiple Canadian Screen Award-winning actor. Credits include: Moonshine, One More Time, Children Ruin Everything, Canada’s Drag Race, The Beaverton, Mr D, Letterkenny, Workin’ Moms, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Match Game, JFL All Access Gala, The LA Complex, Gary and His Demons, How To Buy A Baby, Save Me, and Goon 2. Recently, she appeared in the feature films Fitting In (which just premiered at SXSW) and Mary Goes Round. Her hosting credits include CBC’s Fridge Wars, the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards, the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards, and CTV’s Pop Quiz. Emma has just been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for best supporting actor in a Drama for the role of Nora on Moonshine, and also for best supporting in a Comedyfor the role of Nisha on Mr. D and best actor on The Beaverton. Emma has CSAs for her work on How To Buy A Baby and Save Me. She has also been nominated for a Dora Award, the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award, and is the recipient of a Canadian Comedy Award.
Pinecone in Pinecone & Pony, “The Sturdy Stone”
Maria Nash was born in Winnipeg in 2009. She began mimicking the voices of her favourite cartoon characters as a toddler and since then her interest in acting has led her to landing multiple roles in hit TV series such as USA Network’s Suits, CBS’s Ransom, Global’s Private Eyes, and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In 2018, Maria appeared in her first recurring on-screen role as Luvaya in SyFy’s Killjoys. Maria recently won an Emmy award for her performance as Pinecone in Apple TV’s animated series Pinecone and Pony. Upcoming projects include a supporting lead role in Out of My Mind, based on the popular YA novel of the same name. The film, featuring Jennifer Aniston, will be released this fall on Disney+. When Maria isn’t acting, you can find her doing a back flip in her competitive tumbling class or coaching young gymnasts.
Lime Chiffon in Strawberry Shortcake and the Beast of Berry Bog
Margarita Valderrama is a Colombian-Canadian screenwriter, playwright and Dora Award-nominated actor. She was born in Buenos Aires, raised in Bogotá and Mexico City, and Toronto, Canada. She is a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize protégé, a shortlist nominee for the RBC Emerging Playwright Award, an alumna of the Reelworld Emerging 20 Film Writers’ Program and the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Writers Lab.
Margarita has a knack for comedic roles and feels lucky to voice some incredible characters like the driven and feisty Lia Venegas on Bakugan: Battle Planet, the ever-enthusiastic reporter Hailey Daily on Paw Patrol, and the most fashionable bookworm Lime Chiffon on Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City. Working in voiceover for animation is a dream come true – especially working on funny, thoughtful and exciting projects with talented, kind and inspiring artists. Thank you so much for this nomination!
Outstanding Performance – Gender Non-conforming or Male Voice
Monsieur LaFleur in Mittens & Pants, “My Carrots”
Mr. Chameroy was previously nominated for an ACTRA Award for his voice work as Aunt Lydia in Hotel Transylvania the series. He has an extensive stage career, which has taken him across Canada and the U.S., and is currently in his 15th season at the Stratford Festival appearing as Nostradamus in Something Rotten! and Brooke in The Diviners. He can be heard on many animated series including, Open Season, Super Why, Saving Me, Mermicorno, Thomas the Train, Paw Patrol and Mittens & Pants as Mr. (MY CARROTS!!!) LaFLeur. His web series, LEER ESTATES season 2, is streaming exclusively on stratfest@home. Dan is a Dora and Toronto Critics Award winner and a multiple CSA and Dora award nominee.
Balloonicus in Super Wish, “The Ballooniverse Pageant”
Cory Doran is one of Canada’s most active Animation Performers. He is also a proud ACTRA member and member advocate. His Animation credits include My Little Pony, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Wild Kratts, Total Drama Island, Transformers: Bots Bots, Saving Me, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, George of the Jungle, Rubble & Crew, Zokie of Planet Ruby, Thomas and Friends, Blue’s Clues, Super Wish, Snoopy, Clifford and Hotel Transylvania.
Pants in Mittens & Pants, “Mysterious Crunch”
Athan is absolutely thrilled to be nominated for a 2024 ACTRA Toronto Voice Award for his work as Pants on the CBC Gem series Mittens & Pants.
Athan’s animation credits include: Mittens & Pants (CBC Gem), Elinor Wonders Why (PBS Kids), Vida the Vet (Treehouse/StackTV), PJ Masks (Hasbro/Disney+), Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum (PBS), Blue’s Clues & You (Nickelodoen). Athan has appeared in Film/TV in Accused (Fox), and made his professional stage debut in 2023 playing Jimmy Bean in the world premiere of Pollyanna The Musical, at Theatre Aquarius.
Athan is currently in Grade 5 and lives in Toronto, Ontario. A bit of a sports nut, Athan enjoys golf, tennis, pickleball, basketball and skateboarding, and plays soccer on a rep team. He sends his love and thanks to his family and is truly grateful for their continued support. A very special thank you to Sandie and Yanick for every opportunity and endless encouragement.
Damien in Total Drama Island: Reboot, “Meet the Victims”
Daniel Keith Morrison is an actor born and raised in the best city in the world, Scarborough, Ontario. Keith made his first appearance as Chris Sharpe in the series Degrassi: The Next Generation after auditioning for an open casting call without prior experience. In 2005, he landed his first feature film role in How She Move. In 2015, he appeared in an episode of Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain and the FX series, Rogue. After a long hiatus, Keith returned to the industry in 2018, eventually booking his first series, Grand Army, on Netflix. In 2021, he appeared as MC-Hammer in the Lifetime Movie Salt-N-Pepa and Touché in Tallboyz for CBC, his first comedy. After booking a role as Uriah in Shaftesbury/CBC Gem’s Topline, he expanded his talents into the animation world, landing his first animated project in Total Drama Island: Reboot as Damien. This year, you’ll be hearing his voice on a film based on a dog-themed computer animated TV show.
Ivan in PJ Masks: Power Heroes, “Ice World (part 1)”
Nylan Parthipan is an actor and a voice actor who began acting at age eight. Some of his voiceover work includes Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Zuma), PJ Masks: Power Heroes (Ivan/Ice Cub), Firebuds (Zip) and Superkitties (Kai). He is known for the role of Carl in the Disney Production movie Out of my Mind. He also appeared on the television series Odd Squad and Take Note. His most recent work includes Vida the Vet (Tidbit), Rubble & Crew (Wheeler) and Dino Ranch (Jasper).
Nylan was diagnosed with a neuromuscular condition at the age of two and his goal as an actor is to encourage kids like him to go after their dreams. Nylan has been invited as keynote speaker and motivational speaker at events.
His nomination comes for the role of Ivan, this role is very close to his heart because it was created and animated based on Nylan and his disability.
Outstanding Performance – Gender Non-conforming or Female
Kara Robinson in The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story
Katie plays the Series Regular role of Abby Littman in the Netflix hit-show Ginny & Georgia. She is also a major Recurring on Amazon Freevee’s Pretty Hard Cases. Katie recently starred in the title-role of Lifetime’s The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story. She starred in the indie feature The Walk, opposite Terrance Howard, Jeremy Piven and Malcolm McDowell. The film received nearly 50 various film festival awards in 2022. Katie was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award (CSA) – Best Lead Performance in a TV Movie for The Abduction of Lisa McVey (2019). Previously, Katie was a Series Regular on Lifetime’s Mary Kills People as Naomi Malik. She starred in the feature films Level 16 and Every Day. Katie has been a Series Regular on Spooksville and Raising Expectations, as well as recurring on Defiance, The Lost Ones, Max and Shred, and Eyewitness. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Children’s Series for Spooksville (2013). Katie sings, writes poetry & music, and signed with Columbia Records in 2023.
Trader in Trader
Actor/filmmaker Kimberly-Sue Murray is a graduate of the CFC Actors Conservatory and is best known for her recurring roles in the hit TV show Shadowhunters (Netflix), vampire drama V-Wars (Netflix), Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy video game, and indie feature Trader. Upcoming projects include The Madness (Netflix), The Boys (Amazon), Canadian feature Die Alone, starring Carrie-Anne Moss and Frank Grillo, and horror film Love is the Monster. Murray is represented by Amanda Rosenthal Talent Agency, Magnolia Entertainment, and Innovative Artists for Voice.
Tessie in Woman Meets Girl
Chelsea Russell was born in Barbados and grew up in Jamaica. Upon arriving in Toronto, she studied in the Acting Conservatory at York University. She works in TV, Film and Theatre. She notably starred in CBC Gem’s Rebirth of the Afronauts a part of the 21 Black Futures project for which she was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. She has also done various TV and film guest roles, across streaming platforms, including Fellow Travelers, recently nominated for a Golden Globe. She has had the pleasure of working across various established theatres in Toronto with roles at Canadian Stage (Fairview) and Soulpepper (Pipeline/Da Kink in my Hair) among others, some of which have been nominated for DORA Awards. She is elated to have been nominated for her first ACTRA Award and would like to thank Alix Kazman, her agent, and finally, her mother Maxan Russell, for their continued support, encouragement and love.
Sue in smokeBreak
An actor well known for her grounded truthfulness, vulnerability and considerable range, Elizabeth’s extensive career encompasses work on stage, screen, and voice. She is proud to have been a part of bringing BenchMark’s short film smokeBreak to life. Currently, she can also be seen in MGM+’s highly acclaimed horror drama series FROM with Harold Perrineau. Her film and TV credits include Mary Kills Poeple (Cameron Pictures) for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination, Guess Who? (Incendo), SurrealEstate (Syfy), Clarice (CBS), Alias Grace (Halffire Ent) It (New Line), All My Puny Sorrows (AMPS Prod.) When Hope Calls (Hallmark), Orphan Black (BBC America), Transplant (CTV/NBC), Door Mouse (Drive), Clifton Hill (Rhombus). The Strain (FX), The Hot Zone: Anthrax (NatGeo), Frankie Drake, Private Eyes, Murdoch Mysteries, Schitt’s Creek (CBC), V Wars (Netflix) and Slings & Arrows (Showcase). Upcoming are David Cronenberg’s feature film The Shrouds; RT Thorne’s 40 Acres; and ARCA’s Big Oil web series.
Elizabeth was for many years the voice of Mrs. Turtle on Nelvana’s popular series Franklin the Turtle, as well as providing voices for numerous other cartoons, commercials and videogames. She has also played leading roles on stages throughout Canada; holds a BFA and MA in theatre and performance; and enjoys teaching and coaching actors when opportunities arise. She is currently shooting the third season of FROM and is involved in the development of a couple of independent projects.
Kate in Better Days
Sonja Smits was nominated for her first ACTRA Award in the early 1980s for her role as a German war bride for the CBC movie, War Brides, which was followed by Genie Award nominations in 1984 (Videodrome) and 1985 (That’s My Baby!) for Supporting and Lead Actress. Her career has included leading roles in three TV series, Street Legal, Traders and The Eleventh Hour. Last year, she was honoured to be nominated for ACTRA’s Best Series Ensemble for Pretty Hard Cases.
Sonja’s career has included TV movies as well as feature films, including David Cronenberg’s cult classic, Videodrome and, more recently, the indie films, Drifting Snow and Better Days.
Among her honours, a Gemini Award Best Actress, TWIFT Outstanding Achievement Award and the ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence.
Sonja is a proud founding member of the ACTRA Women’s Caucus.
Sonja recently wrapped on a role in the feature film, Star Trek: Section 31.
Outstanding Performance – Gender Non-conforming or Male
Salomé in Slasher, “Everybody’s Darling”
Salvatore Antonio is an actor/writer/educator who has been performing professionally on screen and stage for almost 30 years. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, his work on screen has garnered nominations for two Canadian Screen Awards and two ACTRA Awards. Recent TV appearances include Nesting (Crave), Slasher (AMC+), SkyMed (CBC), Hudson & Rex (CityTV), Coroner (CBC), Transplant (CTV), The Republic of Sarah (CW), and Schitt’s Creek (CBC/POP). In addition to his acting career, Salvatore is also a published and produced writer; named a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Literary Drama for his playwriting, most recently he was the Story Editor for the acclaimed series, Schitt’s Creek. Salvatore is also a respected screen-acting teacher/coach; most recently, he was the acting coach on the Netflix feature film, Good Grief, and for I Hate People, People Hate Me (CBC). He is the founder/director of The Core Approach•Actor’s Studio in Toronto.
Superintendent Isaac Kashtinsky in Slasher, “Left Handed Justice”
Daniel Kash is a Canadian Actor/Director born in Montreal, Quebec. He studied acting at the Drama Centre in London and began professionally in theatre in the world premiere of The Hobbit and in Starlight Express. His film career began with James Cameron’s Aliens and has carried on with a few hundred more filming adventures. Some highlights are George Walker’s The Line, Camp Rock 2,
Bad Blood, Mama and, most recently, Slasher as well as the upcoming My Dead Mother. He is also very proud of his extensive theatre career, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Unidentified Human Remains, Jerusalem and the upcoming musical Dancer. Daniel is the son of Conductor Violinist Eugene Kash and Canadian Contralto Maureen Forrester. Daniel is happily married to Hayley Tyson and is father to Tyson and Kenzie Kash.
Willy MacIsaac in Diggstown, “Marcie Diggs”
Billy MacLellan was born and raised in Cape Breton. This year’s nomination for Diggstown marks his fourth ACTRA Award nomination. Projects include Nobody (Universal Pictures), In the Dark (The CW), The Silence (Netflix), Pretty Hard Cases (Netflix), Maudie (Sony Picture Classics), Afghanada (CBC), The Watch Dogs video game series (Ubisoft Montreal), and Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Toronto). In addition, he has also worked on Bomb Girls, Caught, Camp Tipsy, The Expanse, Defiance, and more. Billy has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the 2023 ACTRA Award for Each Man’s Son, the 2012 ACTRA Award for Afghanada, a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Starring Role, Best Actor Winner (CineMuskoka), Winner- Best Supporting Actor (Hollywood North), Outstanding Performance Nominee (Screen Nova Scotia Awards), Best Screenwriting Nominee (Charlottetown Film Festival), and Nominee Best Screenplay (Hollywood North Film Awards). He is a graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada.
Victor in FROM, “Forest for the Trees”
Scott McCord is an actor and voice actor known for his versatility in a career that has spanned over three decades in theatre, film, television, music, radio and animation. He is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio.
He can currently be seen in the contemporary sci-fi horror series FROM (Amazon/MGM+), produced by The Russo Brothers and now filming its third season, and the award-winning indie crime drama East of the Middle West (2022). This is Scott’s first nomination in the Outstanding performance category and he has been a proud ACTRA member since 1997.
Old Tom in Ruby and the Well, “I Wish I Was The Next Well Keeper”
A graduate of the National Theatre School, Michael has been working in the theatre, film and television industry for the past 40 years. A six-time Gemini Award winner, his many credits include lead roles in To Catch A Killer, Power Play, Perfectly Normal, Flash Point, This Is Wonderland, Being Erica and, most recently, Transplant. Michael was nominated for the ACTRA Award back in both 2004 and 2008.
