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Heirs to the Throne
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With performances ranging from the ribsplittingly hilarious to the heart-breakingly tender, these young Canadian actors have already made their mark – and they’re just getting started. The next generation of Hollywood royalty has arrived.
By Andrew Clark, Madeleine LeBlanc, Benjamin Leszcz, Jason McBride, Mark Slutsky and Olivia Stren
Photos by Jeremy & Claire Weiss
EMILY VANCAMP
The Go-Getter
In 2005, when Emily VanCamp was starring in the series Everwood, she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.“ Just before I went on,” recalls the native of Port Perry, Ontario, “a woman from the crew brought me this mirror and said, ‘Look in this and think of all the people who have looked in it before you.’ I almost cried.” After Everwood, VanCamp was handed a starring role on the ABC series Brothers and Sisters, but the 21-year-old is hungry for more: “Rejection doesn’t faze me.”
JESSICA LUCAS
The Sensation
For months, Lost producer J.J. Abrams’ much-hyped Cloverfield existed only as a trailer and a clutch of mysterious websites. But by the time you read this, it may have made Jessica Lucas a star. The 22-year-old Vancouver native has been performing since she was seven, shifting from musical theatre to film to television. Last year, she landed a role on CSI, playing the perky forensics scientist Ronnie Lake. “TV is more challenging than film,” she says. “It’s faster.” Cloverfield, however, was no walk in the apocalyptic park. Calling it “the most physically demanding movie I’ve ever done,” Lucas is wary of the success Cloverfield may bring. “If it gives me the ability to choose roles, then great,” she says. “But I’m a very private, shy person.”
JAY BARUCHEL
The Goofball
Like so many great Canadian actors before him, Jay Baruchel is coping with a harsh reality of a thriving film career: living part-time in Southern California. “L.A. is where I earn a living,” says the 25-year-old, who calls Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood home. “I’m homesick as hell.” Alongside his best pal, Seth Rogen, Baruchel played a charmingly hapless freshman on the critically adored Judd Apatow-produced television series Undeclared. In 2004, Baruchel appeared in Million Dollar Baby as aspiring boxer Danger Barch. Last year, he played Rogen’s roommate in Knocked Up, and this year, he’ll appear in the buddy film Fanboys and the Ben Stiller-directed comedy Tropic Thunder. Nonetheless, Baruchel’s real ambition is to write, and he’s currently developing a script for a hockey film with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg. “Writing is all I want to do,” he says. “Acting has been really good to me, but it’s not my reason for getting up in the morning.”
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