Heartland Soul

(Page 14)

By Todd Curran
Remember when the best Canadian television content consisted of Degrassi Jr High, Anne of Green Gables and The Littlest Hobo? It sucked out loud. But the Canadian entertainment industry has undergone some major changes in the last few years. Most notably, it's gotten good. And the world is noticing.
Quality is up across the board and the ever increasing popularity of our contributions to the global entertainment industry is a direct reflection of these efforts. At the heart of this change are shows like Canadian television hit Heartland, which is currently filming season 4 and has their spotlight set on releasing a made-for-TV Christmas movie to be aired on December 12th with a Christmas Day encore.
The Heartland cast and crew are going gangbusters with their recent U.S. syndication, along with airing in Africa, Turkey, Libya, England, New Zealand, South America and other areas. “We're really happy,” says Heartland publicist Gordon Imlach. “It's so nice to work on a show that the fans are crazy about! Everyone that works on the show is really proud of it and this season is going to blow peoples' minds.”
Making a show like Heartland is certainly a team effort, but the soul of it lies in the actors and actresses that keep drawing new fans to the show. “I'm basically Amy when I'm off the set,” says Amber Marshall, who plays Amy Fleming on the show. “But I'm a little more diversified in my animal world. We've got quite the menagerie of cats, horses, chickens and pigs on our ranch by Calgary and I'm not into partying, so last night I came home and did some fencing and winterizing.”
As with many great things that flourish from humble beginnings, this TV star's career started in a London, Ontario Community Theater. “I was 9 or 10 years-old,” Amber recalls, “and the Director asked if I had ever thought about screen acting. We were about two hours from Toronto, but my mom drove me to auditions and I started getting roles when I was about 12 years-old.”
Amber didn't land her role on Heartland right away, showing a lot of heart as she paid her dues, and she encourages hopeful Canadian thespians to do the same. “It's a cruel business to get into,” she says. “It has to be something you really love because it's hard on your self-confidence when you don't get a part. But when you do break in and get the role of your dreams it's incredible! You've just got to stick with it.”
While the next generation of Canadian TV stars has yet to be discovered, existing ones like Amber are achieving entertainment excellence on a global scale. They arrived at a historical time for Canadian Television and they're the heart and soul of a movement that's propelling it headlong through the Heartland.

See Photographs on Page 6