Miranda Frigon Interview (new interview 10/31/14)

Welcome to ZEM Interviews! We hope you enjoy our interviews and gain new insight into your favorite people in the entertainment industry! 

For this interview, I got back in touch with someone I'd interviewed in the past, namely, Miranda Frigon. (Another shoutout to Crystal Braunwarth for putting us in touch in the first place, almost 2 1/2 years ago. My, how time flies!)  

A huge thank you to Miranda for this interview. Miranda is brilliant, she's multi-talented and not only is a great actress, but is an extremely skilled musician and beautiful singer as well. Be sure to check out her Kickstarter campaign to fund her debut EP album and help her out if you can!

Without further ado, the interview:

First off, I'd like to ask you about your new music album and your Kickstarter campaign that you've recently launched?

Yes!  I am very excited about this new album.  I've launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to record it.  We've reached 90% of my goal and it's growing every day.  I definitely need more support.  If I don't reach my goal by the end date, I get none of the money and it all goes back to whomever donated it. So, I would LOVE to have my fans go to the page to support and pre-purchase my album!  It's going to be awesome and I can't wait to share it with you all!

VISIT MIRANDA'S KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN BY CLICKING HERE!

How would you describe yourself in 5 words?

Strong, quirky, quick-witted, compassionate, driven.

When did you realize you wanted to act?

When I came out of the womb. ;)
I was making up long intricate stories, putting on plays, doing comedy routines, writing songs on the piano and making up dance performances for my family since I was 2.
Always had this strong desire to tell stories.

What do you like best about acting?

Being able to take people away from their reality for a moment. To make them feel something. Happiness, sadness, compassion, to make them laugh, to make them cry...to tell a story and bring myself into the life of someone I am not.

Do you have any favorite characters that you have played?

I fall in love with all of the characters I play. You kind of have to to really embody them. One of my favorites was  playing "Fat Carol" on "Ugly Betty". She was funny, quirky, manipulative and totally out for herself.
I often get placed in villainous roles.  For a while I would read reviews of people being so angry with my characters and hating how mean they were but now I've really started to enjoy it!
Angelika Finch on Primeval: New World was a blast to play as well. I love playing strong female roles.

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

Well, it starts with a few thorough script reads to really take in the whole picture. Then I think a lot about the relationship I have to the characters in the story. Sometimes I'll get together with the other actors in the show and we discuss our thoughts and sometimes we just search for our own truths and story lines on our own. There is only so much that is written on the page. Creating the backstory of the character to determine where their true motivations lie, is what makes a character the most truthful. In my opinion.

Do you do a lot of your own stunts?

I've almost always done my own stunts. I like being able to use my gymnastics and martial arts in shows but I am still waiting for that action role! I have hurt myself a few times doing my own stunts so it's sometimes best to leave it to our talented stunt people. They tend to be less emotionally invested and don't let the adrenaline get the better of them in a scene like most of us actors do. I think that's why we get hurt!

Do you prefer heroes or villains, from an acting standpoint?

Well, since most of my career has been playing villains, I'm gonna have to go with that! There is just so much more going on in the mind of a villain. If you have ever heard that saying "hurt people, hurt people", it explains it all. Villains always have such an interesting backstory that leads them to be villainous. It always comes from a place of pain and being hurt and that's what I find so interesting about these characters. I can find compassion for them and find their motivations that come from a pure place of just simply surviving or defending themselves.

Describe your dream role (existing part or an original one):

I have dream roles on the drama side as well as the comedy side.
For a dramatic role, I would love to play a kick ass action character. A strong female who is quick and witty but will jack you up if you get in her way. A role where I can use all of my martial arts and gymnastics skills and where I can wear tight leather pants, haha.

For comedy, I'd looooove to be on a show like "Arrested Development" or "Modern Family". Growing up with the family I have, we weren't too far off. ;) I'd love to play a character that appears as though she has it all together but really she is clumsy and totally dysfunctional and just straight up a hot mess. I think that would be a blast. Puttin' it out there to the universe!!!

Have you ever played in a theatre production?

I have done quite a bit of theater. I was involved in a theater show a few years back that was a cross between "Seinfeld" and "the Sopranos". It was called "Inch of your Life" and it was episodic theater, so every few months we would put up a new episode. My character was a Bronx/Jersey hybrid Italian woman in the vane of Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinnie." Total blast.
Another production that I was involved in for many years and toured with was called "Mental the Musical".

Have you ever considered doing any work as a director?

I would absolutely love to direct. It's definitely on my list of things to pursue in the future. Directing is hard though, so I will have to really shadow a few directors to learn what they do on the other side of the camera!

When did you realize you wanted to be a musician?

Music was always part of my life since I was little, but it was always more of a creative outlet and a place for me to escape.  I never thought someone could make a career out of music.  When I first moved to Vancouver, I was playing live in any coffee shop or pub that would have me. It was definitely not for the money, haha.  After I got a couple of songs placed on a Network television show it just really inspired me to keep going.  The thought of having my songs play while my fellow actors were acting in the background was pretty awesome.  It was a blend of my two favorite things!

What instruments do you play?

I play the guitar and the piano.  Next I will learn the Ukelele.  I just think it sounds so cool!

What do you enjoy most about music?

It absolutely inspires me to be creative.  No day is ever the same.  No one can tell me I can't wake up and write a song.  It's my therapy, it's my escape, it's where I share my feelings and it's where I get to put everything I'm feeling wrapped up into this piece that people will listen to and feel what I felt when I wrote it.  Music gives us a connection to each other.

Do you have a favorite song that you have written?

I have a connection to all of my songs.  They are like my children in a way, haha  I'm proud of them and they are a part of me. "Hiding Place" I wrote in about an hour and it just fell out of me.  I was going through something and the words just poured out.  It didn't take a lot of editing or working on it.  It was one of those magical sad moments when music helped heal me. "All I Need is You" took a bit longer, but I still love the beat of it and it makes me want to bop my head.  That one I wrote with my guitarist and friend Todd McCool.  Super talented musician.

Judging by your martial arts reel, you're pretty skilled. What forms are you familiar with?

I trained in MMA for about 11 years.  Boxing, Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

Do you have any causes/charities that you support?

Yes, I've been working with a non-profit organization in Los Angeles called Hope Hollywood.  It's an incredible place and it's brought a lot of inspiration and gratitude into my life.

Hope Hollywood is a non-profit organization that provides help to its local community through its feeding program, holiday giveaways, and its housing and healing program for those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

The Manna Room is the branch of Hope that focuses primarily on providing hot meals to its surrounding homeless and underprivileged community, twice a day 5 days a week.  Manna Room also supplies food to smaller non-profit organizations all over the Los Angeles area who then distribute to their communities.

Every year, Hope runs one of the largest toy drives in Los Angeles.  In 2013, Hope handed out over $250,000 in toys to over 1,700 underprivileged children in one night!

In addition to the Toy Drive/Giveaway and Food Programs, Hope also created a free center where those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction can come and stay and get the counseling they need to make positive changes in their lives.  Those living in the recovery center are able to donate their time working in the kitchen preparing the hot meals, picking up food, helping with the toy drive, and building healthy relationships.  Through this, they are able to learn to be of service, feel a sense of community, and develop a better understanding of what it means to live a life of gratitude and spirituality.

Is there anything else you'd like to say to your fans?

Thank you so much for supporting me in all I do, whether it be music or my films or TV shows. Fans are what keep us going and I for one, have a crazy appreciation for all you.  My fans were the first people to donate to my Kickstarter campaign and they still trickle in every day.  It's been amazing and I feel really supported, so thank you to all of you!!! Please visit my campaign!  I need all the support I can get, only a few weeks left to the campaign!

VISIT MIRANDA'S KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN BY CLICKING HERE!

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

Learn more about Miranda by visiting her Official Website and IMDB page.
Follow Miranda on Facebook and Twitter.

Learn more about Hope Hollywood and the Manna Room by visiting their websites.

Check out Miranda's Kickstarter campaign and contribute if you can! :)

Follow ZEM Interviews for more interviews on Facebook and Twitter.

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. 

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

Welcome to ZEM Interviews! We hope you enjoy our interviews and gain new insight into your favorite people in the entertainment industry! 

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.

Follow ZEM Interviews for more interviews on Facebook and Twitter.

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.