By Joy Tanner
(3-minute read)
Tell us about your award-winning role in Deceitful Above All Things and what inspired you about playing Anne.
Deceitful Above All Things started as a stage play I wrote in 2014, so this project has been over 10 years in the making! It’s part of the New France trilogy of plays reframing Canada’s colonial past from a female and First Nations perspective.
We decided to record an audio version of the show after receiving a generous digital media grant from the Canada Council for the Arts during COVID.
Anne is a super fun character to play; she’s selfish, she’s entitled, she’s charming, she’s a schemer and a manipulator. She’ll use any method at her disposal to get what she wants. Yet she’s also vulnerable and big-hearted and ultimately pays a terrible price for her single-minded obsession in love.
The Outstanding Performance award nominees and winners are decided by a jury comprised of ACTRA Toronto members. How does it feel to be honoured by a jury of your peers?
It’s a cliché to say that it’s an incredible honour, but it really is. To have other people respond to and be moved by something you not only played a role in, but also created and produced as well, it’s humbling and wonderful.
The ACTRA Awards in Toronto celebrate and applaud the outstanding performances, achievements, and artistic accomplishments and contributions of unionized performers. What does being a member of a professional performers’ union mean to you and why is it important to honour union performers?
It’s an achievement I’m extremely proud of. It’s great to know that someone has your back on set and beyond.
Do you have any advice for performers just getting started in the industry?
Find like-minded people and make your own work. It’s a great way to explore roles the industry may not be offering you.
What is the most significant role you have ever had and how has it impacted your life or career?
I had very small roles in the Star Trek and The Handmaid’s Tale franchises, which have both been fun in terms of getting recognized in line at Costco (no additional discounts sadly!).
Have you ever had a specific challenge with a role and how did you work to overcome it?
I wrote the role of Anne, but I never intended to play her! I’d never been cast in that kind of role before and had all sorts of self-limiting beliefs about not being the right type of person to play a passionate romantic lead.
I was interviewing directors for the original stage production, talking about the potential casting of Anne, and one of them said, “Well, just so long as you’re not playing the role! You’re way too old and no one wants to see a writer act in their own work. Everyone will just write you off as a debutante with a vanity project.”
And I thought, wow, OK. We’ll see about that. And so, I did end up playing Anne. And needless to say, I found another director!
Can you share anything about any upcoming projects?
Two of my plays are having their world premieres this summer!
Heratio is a post-Hamlet comedy told from the servants’ point of view, premiering at the Guild Festival Theatre from August 7 to 24. Click here for tickets.
The second is Rez Gas, co-written with the incredible Cale Crowe. It’s a joyful Indigenous musical about discovering home. It plays at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope from August 22 to September 7. Click here for tickets.
And you can check out my performance as Anne in Deceitful Above All Things on the Stratford StratFest@Home digital platform.
