Q&A with Rachel Wilson

In the late ‘90s Rachel Wilson charmed TV viewers as Tamara, the resident socially awkward teen on the Canadian series Breaker High. Since then, the Toronto actress has continued to grace both the small and big screen and starred in the quirky web series My Pal Satan. She currently plays the fiery Dr. Nikki Renholds on the Newfoundland-based private eye series Republic of Doyle, which made its debut in January. Wilson talks to Lifestyle about life on the East Coast, getting bitten early by the acting bug, and hiding her “Canadian accent.”

Lifestyle Magazine: Congratulations on Republic of Doyle being renewed for a second season. How did you hear the news?

Rachel Wilson: You know what’s really funny is because it’s word of mouth, and we sort of had unofficial word. My husband saw it posted on Twitter, which is hilarious, and I didn’t technically know until I got confirmation from [series producer and star] Allan Hawco.

LM: What has it been like shooting the show?

RW: It was amazing. I had such a fun time in Newfoundland; it was really special and probably tops any of my acting experiences that I’ve had so far, just because I got to actually move to St. John’s and really experience the city and the people, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful place to live.

LM: You started professionally acting at the age of 12. Was there any sort of ah-ha moment or was it something you always knew you wanted to do?

RW: I moved to Los Angeles when I was 20, and I sort of had the sense then that I was starting my career professionally. So I guess if there was any ah-ha moment that may have been it. But I had always loved doing it. Acting is the kind of thing that it bites you or doesn’t bite you immediately, so I think I was bitten at a young age.

LM: Can you remember your very first acting role?

RW: I was doing theatre at eight or nine, but my first onscreen acting role, I think it was a pilot [called] Power Pack, and it was about these kids who had superpowers. I didn’t have a superpower but I was cast as, like, the tall Amazon woman to the shorter guy, and I remember being about 12 or 13 and being sort of gawky… but I was excited to do my first part!

LM: Breaker High was set all around the world, but everything was shot in Burnaby. What was working on the show like?

RW: The set guy and the art department were amazing because they made Vancouver look like any number of different countries, which was pretty cool. They were really talented people, and on a very low budget. (laughs) And it was great just because of the relationships that we formed and the work ethic. We did a lot of episodes, like three episodes every 10 days for eight months, so that was pretty intense. It was really good training ground for serial television work for sure.

LM: Do you still get recognized for playing Tamara?

RW: Yes! (laughs) It’s crazy. I’m sometimes flabbergasted that I could still be recognized 10 years later but I think because they played it so much, even with dark hair — because I had blonde hair and now I have dark hair — people still do recognize me, yeah. Which always makes me laugh but usually makes me blush.

LM: Another series you’ve worked on is Teletoon’s Total Drama series, as the voice of Heather. What’s working on an animated show like?

RW: Oh it’s so much fun, it’s the best. You get a chance to do characters that you wouldn’t necessarily normally get to play on screen because it’s just your voice, and I’ve been playing this really mean-spirited, sort of evil character for the past three years. She’s sort of like the Regina George character from Mean Girls, the Rachel McAdams character, and that was really fun because I don’t always get cast as mean and evil on screen.

LM: You’ve worked all over — Toronto, Vancouver, L.A., St. John’s. Have you found being a Canadian actor to offer any sort of positives, or on the flip side, challenges?

RW: Both, for sure. I mean, on a very basic technical level, when I was 20 and I moved to the States to work as an actor, the accent was a bit of a hurdle. They were really on us about not having a Canadian accent, so I remember that was something I was hyper-aware of… But the good part about it is — [what] people you’re working with would say — is that Canadian actors have a real humility. That’s the flip side, like a great sense of humour and there’s a sense of not taking themselves too seriously, which I think is refreshing and interesting to watch. •

The second season of Republic of Doyle airs January 2011 on CBC.