Cara Gee Interview (new interview 10/24/14)

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After a slow summer, (it's hard to get interviews with people who are busy filming during the summer) I was eager to find another new face to interview for the blog. I came across the name of a Canadian actress who is currently rocketing to fame through a couple of film and television roles; and thanks to Crystal Braunwarth, I managed to get in touch with Cara Gee.

A huge thank you to Cara Gee for this interview. She's extremely talented and well established as an actress, having performed in theatre for years prior to landing her first film and television roles. You can check out the website for her theatre company, Birdtown and Swanville, linked below in the interview.

Without further ado, the interview:

Photo of Cara from the Birdtown and Swanville website.

If you had to describe yourself in 5 words, which 5 would you use?

I don’t know, 5 words? Silly. Does Badass count as one or two? Smarmy, that has to be one of them, ‘cause I was just being really smarmy about having to list all the words. I’m at three. Confused, I’m really just discovering my state right now. Excited. I must sound insane, you’d have to ask someone who knows me. They’d do better at answering it. 

When did you realize that you wanted to get into acting, as a career?

I was in my last year of high school and I took a drama class. I had a really inspiring drama teacher. Around that time I figured out that I wanted to do this as my job.

What do you like best about acting?

I like that there are always new challenges. That’s my favorite thing about it. Ever changing.

A photo of Cara that I found on Google.

Do you have any favorites out of the characters you have played?

I think that every time you’re playing a character, that character has to be your favorite for the time that you’re doing it. So, I think all of them, at the time that I played them.

Do you have any particular method for preparing for your roles?

Yeah, I guess I have my own quirky ways of doing things. I think the key is putting in the hours. There’s no winging it. There’s no way around it. You just have to sit down with the text, go through it, read it a hundred million times, so you know it inside and out. I think that reading it over and over and over and over is really the key for me, because each time you go through it, there are new insights.

Can you describe your dream role? A character you’d love to play, existing or original?

I think I’d like to play Iago in Othello. I think that character is such an interesting, interesting, strange, human. I will one day.

Another photo of Cara from Google.

You were involved in theatre for some time before you landed any film or television roles - can you tell us a little about how that transition between mediums came about?

When I graduated from theatre school, I started getting work in Toronto, on stage, and that momentum just kept on building and I was able to make a career of it. I followed that pathway. I didn’t have an agent, at that point in time, because you don’t need one to get theatre work the same way that you do for film and TV stuff. Eventually I ended up meeting the agent I have now and signing with him and then I started auditioning for film and tv stuff.

Describe the differences between acting for theatre, and acting for film and tv.

I think the biggest difference is that in theatre, your audience is right there with you and in film it’s like your audience is one step removed, through the camera, but they are there. They are watching the performance. You have to keep that in mind.

Have you every considered doing work as a director?

I haven’t. I really, really love acting. I think it is the thing that I’m best at.

One more photo of Cara from Google.

Can you tell us about a few people you feel privileged to have worked with, and why?

I would have to say that the people I feel very lucky to work with are the members of my theatre company in Toronto and the bonds that we have developed over time. Our name is Birdtown and Swanville, be sure to check out our website!

Can you tell us a little bit about your current projects, current roles you are playing?

We just wrapped filming the first season of “Strange Empire” for CBC, last night. It is a western drama and I play a character named Kat Loving.

The other thing that I’m working on is a short film called “Anne Darling” that’s written and directed by Norman Yeung.

So that’s what is up next. Those two roles could not be more different, one is a period piece, a Western, and the other is completely contemporary.

Cara Gee as Kat Loving. Pic from the CBC.

Cats or dogs?

Horses. Can I say horses instead? I had never met any horses before shooting “Strange Empire” and I have a horse that I ride in the show. I am in love with him. So, if I was going to have any pet at all, that’s what it’d be.

Is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans, that my questions haven’t covered?

I hope people tune into Strange Empire. If I were watching it, I would watch them all in one go. You can watch previous episodes online to catch up, and new episodes air on Monday nights on CBC. So, if I hadn’t started yet, I would catch up online and then watch the new one on Monday night. The story builds and builds. So, it’s a good one to watch in order.

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Once again, thank you to Cara for taking the time to answer my questions. 

Learn more about Cara by visiting Wikipedia and IMDb.
Follow Cara on Twitter.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview belong solely to the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ZEM Interviews/Zachary Evan Medley, or employers/collaborators of the interviewee; past, present or future.