The humming of
conversation and muffled laughter in the distance are forgotten as Helene Joy’s rich and musical voice
resonates. She is immersed in our conversation even though she’s sitting in the corner of one of her
favourite restaurants, Camros Organic Eatery, near Yonge and Bloor in Toronto.
“It’s just a hole in the wall, but there are not many organic places to eat around town and this place is
great — it’s all organic,” she says. Being organic, for this Australian-born beauty and Canadian television
star, is something that she incorporates into her lifestyle as much as possible.
She goes to Chinatown to buy real water chestnuts and lemongrass to make her favourite meal, coconut curry.
“You have to get the real ingredients,” she explains. However, staying organic and making her own meals can
be difficult for Joy when she flies between Montreal and Toronto every week to film her two shows.
In Murdoch Mysteries, Helene plays Dr. Julia Ogden, a pathologist who helps the eccentric Detective
Murdoch solve cases in Toronto circa 1895. Her character is independent and liberated from her gender role by
working alongside men with absolute equality. Joy says she identifies with those attributes in the character:
“I haven’t really focused on domesticated things because I’ve been travelling and working a lot and doing
everything that I want to do without holding back.”
However, she says that there are not really any significant similarities other than that. The character she
plays is graceful, but strong and commanding. Joy claims she doesn’t possess any of these because her friends
and family describe her as extremely “goofy.”
Joy received a Gemini Award nomination in 2006 for best actress in a supporting role for Murdoch
Mysteries. Two years later, in 2008, she won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a
Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for her character in Durham County. “The nomination alone is
lovely,” she says. “So it was nice to have that recognition and it was quite a surprise [when I won].”
In Durham County she plays Audrey, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer who is married to the lead
character, Mike Sweeney, a homicide detective. The show has been nominated for 13 Gemini Awards and has won
five altogether. “It’s great that the show got nominated because I think it is special and still is,” she
says. “It is one of the better shows that have come out of Canada in a long time.”
Audiences agree as well. Even though there’s only been two seasons so far, many viewers are itching for more.
Joy says Durham County has wrapped filming and Season 3 is in post-production and scheduled to air
later this year. She says she’ll find out soon if there’s going to be another season, but she’s not concerned
because she says there’s a huge demand for it.
When Joy isn’t filming, she spends a lot of time travelling to Asia, South America or back home in Australia.
She loves travelling, but this summer she predicts she’ll be shooting. Murdoch Mysteries is
currently in its third season, which premiered March 14, but production for the new season will most likely
happen soon. If they let her, Joy will book two weeks off because she’s always wanted to go to Morocco. “If I
go to Morocco, I’d like to go into the Sahara,” she says.
You can spot Joy around her Parkdale home. She’ll be strolling along the streets sipping a cup of coffee,
glancing at the art in galleries, sifting through jewelry stands and buying organic produce from the farmers’
market. •
Photo
by Susan Findlay
