Damn it Canada!

Really...

...thank you!

What have you done Canada.

I'm crushing hard...

Evelyne Brochu.

Many of the new Eve's admirers, like me, became aware of her existence through Orphan Black. Her beauty was striking, however, her character and undeniably, her performance didn't inspire me. Don’t get me wrong, she was great at playing puppy face. But then I decided to watch her films. And now she's starring in the new Xavier Dolan's film, Tom à la ferme, which will be absolutely great and I'm so looking forward to see her because I'm sure it will be one of her most challenging roles to date. I know, I know, she already performed it in the theater, I guess the challenge it’s partly on us.

From a young free spirited and charming teacher in the late sixties, being a heartwarming considerate human being to a kid going through the lost of his father, to being the leading character in a dramatic take on the Israel and Palestine conflict, I am definitely waiting for more demanding and dimensional roles, where she isn't too nice or too depressing! 

At a younger age, she was undecided between acting and dancing, but then she had a terrible bike accident, yes that's where her scars come from, she eventually chose acting. She may look like a cute girl (and a total heart breaker, she will really melt you) but she may also be quite the rebel. We'll see. From now on I will certainly be paying close attention.

Yap, heart breaker.

So, Charlotte Sullivan.

Looking at her gorgeous self, she has the kind of face I describe as: "Yap, it's just her face."

It's really...

...just...

...her face. Sometimes it's hard to believe, I can't imagine her in person.

Seriously, it's just her face. She has this face.  

These days, known to many, like me, through the cop show Rookie Blue, Charlotte Sullivan plays Gail Peck, which you slowly and gradually become head over hills with her offbeat, charming, amusing and heartfelt character. Because she's a cop, she wears black clothes more often than not, which intensifies greatly her pale skin and her striking eyes. 

Gail: "I get all pale and sweaty...ok fine, just sweaty."

Season 1.

Rookie Blue is this really cute cop show, and as though it may sound like I’m describing Rizzoli & Isles, unlike this last show, Rookie Blue doesn’t rely on gags.

It’s a show about five rookies, like the title suggests, who have gone through the entire training and qualifying process together and are now part of the 15^th Division and the first season is really sweet and frank. Three girls, two boys, each with their own struggles, their qualities and treats that make them singular and very distinctive from each other.

The thing that makes Rookie Blue a pleasant and likable cop drama is that the people are genuinely good hearted people. They’re flawed humans and they are honest.

Gail Peck stands out in the group from the very first scene. At first, it seems mainly because of her family history and rather celebrated reputation in the force. Not only she has some high standards to live up to, she also has to deal with it almost every day, mostly by confrontations and indirect clues. So all of this and on top of it her natured offbeat self. She’s genuinely upfront and sometimes sounds cold but as the story unfolds and the episodes move along we see there’s much more to her. And this is what is so interesting to see as we go.

Gail Peck

Damn it Canada! Is this woman even real! Sometimes it’s hard to believe, you know, especially when you’re looking at her. This woman’s face. But don’t you just love Charlotte’s voice? I love her voice, it’s unlikely soft. I love the way she moves her lips when she speaks and her hands’ movement, it’s always part of her.

I’m done.

DAMN IT CANADA!

The skin tone, look at their skin tone...

It’s not surprising I started talking about Charlotte by mentioning her face, it makes sense. The point is that her face might have been a problem for her. I would suggest part of the problem, because her roles simply suck. They all look pretty much the same shallow stuff and it’s annoying. I think it isn’t hard to say that a woman with an image like hers probably becomes impossible to find something profound and really just interesting. Not to mention that there are none of those roles to begin with. It is so incredibly annoying that if you take a look, her roles are all the same. So to see her in Rookie Blue playing someone that is not just interested in a man’s love, or playing a disgraced hooker or playing with her visual attributes is nice for once. With Gail Peck we can see someone with a conscious growth.

Maybe Charlotte’s not having a great time in castings, maybe her agents don’t help and maybe there isn’t a wider thinking when someone looks at her and doesn’t just think “the girlfriend”, “the Maxima Sexiest Female”. And I won’t even mention her Marilyn Monroe role, because to start with, watching portrayals of Marilyn Monroe it’s boring for me because most of the time it’s all about her life revolving around men. I love a romantic story as much as the next person, but I want more.

Why do I always end up falling on the same discussion, it’s like I can’t never cope with reality.

I think it’s interesting to compare these two Canadian actresses. Charlotte and Evelyne are the same age. They’re both gorgeous right? So how come it seems like Evelyne isn’t suffering from my rhetorical excuse for Charlotte and not playing “the girlfriend”? She did played a couple times those roles, but the films are bearable to say the least and she has a leading role playing someone not solely focused on a man’s feedback.

Sullivan started acting when she was a kid and eventually stayed around. Evelyne only started acting after college. She’s a Quebec, focusing her work in the French community. Charlotte headed to US since her early twenties, I believe (even though I can see that most of her career was filmed in Canada). To make a point here, I will mention a couple of things: there are trillion of actors trying to find something interesting. Given the statistics, most of the roles are male centric, so most of the available female roles that are good go to Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron and Meryl Streep.

Tatiana Maslany

I don't think I have more words for her. Except for this, I genuinely want to see Orphan Black again.

I need to get over the fact that just because I would love to see them in great films, playing this variety of roles, it doesn’t mean every actor is filled with such opportunities. Take Tatiana, she played the ‘supporting character’ in how many films? And Sarah Gadon, she happened to jump on the Cronenberg train, and she got lucky.

Other Canadians to look for:

Sarah Gadon.

Sophie Desmarais.

Monia Chokri.