Canada gained a considerable talent when the Rennies brought their four-year-old from England in the mid-1960s. Callum Keith Rennie did not become an actor until he was twenty-five, but he has made up for it, earning over a dozen nominations and awards and appearing in over a hundred productions. He has been in five TV series this last year, and will feature in ‘The Firm’ in this coming year.

Much of Mr. Rennie’s work associates him with gritty, often antagonistic characters, though he has received critical acclaim for comedy and children’s shows. It seems his forte is the character with rough edges. Some years battling alcoholism likely helped hone those portrayals, but delayed his career.

Fortunately, he returned to acting and began collecting awards. Following a year of TV roles, he was nominated for the Genie Award (Canada’s ‘Oscar’) for best supporting actor in ‘Double Happiness’ (1993). This was one of nine productions for him that year. He has won the Genie twice since then, for ‘Last Night’ (1998) and ‘Normal’ (2007).

‘Last Night’ also earned him a nomination for the Canadian Comedy Award (for his portrayal of a sex-athlete). The same year, he received a nomination for a Gemini Award (Canada’s ‘Emmy’) for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role’ –as did his co-star, Paul Gross, both for ‘Due South’ (1997-99).

These two actors have collaborated on several other projects, including 2004’s political thriller ‘H2O’ and comedy-drama ‘Wilby Wonderful,’ and comedy-western ‘Gunless’ (2010). Mr. Rennie has appeared in a number of Hollywood films as well, including ‘Memento’ (2000); ‘The Butterfly Effect’ (2004); and ‘Blade: Trinity’ (2004).

In Canada, he is remembered for such films as David Cronenberg’s ‘eXistenZ’ (1999); ‘Hard Core Logo’ (1996); ‘Trigger’ (2010); and ‘Suspicious River’ (2000). It is in ‘Hard Core Logo’ that he exhibits his singing skills as a rock-band guitarist; he reprised the role for ‘Trigger,’ which starred Molly Parker, who also co-starred in ‘Suspicious River.’

Callum Keith Rennie is perhaps best known for his extensive TV work. He has been seen on ‘The X-Files’ (1993-2002); the reinterpretation of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (2003-09); the horror-series ‘Supernatural’ (2005-); ‘The L-Word’ and ‘Smallville’ (both 2006); ‘Californication’ (2007-); and ‘24’ (2001-10), for example.

In 2011, he appeared in the US version of ‘The Killing’ and headlined ‘Shattered’ (2010-11), in which he played a detective with multiple personalities; again, he appeared with Molly Parker. In 2012, they will reunite in the high-profile ‘The Firm,’ based on the John Grisham novel and film. The often dark character actor has a bright future indeed.

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Many recall Molly Parker’s breakthrough role, as a sympathetic necrophile in ‘Kissed’ (1996), among others. However, beyond this Ms. Parker has been recognized for dozens of turns in many other films and TV series. Now, she is filming next year’s ‘The Firm’ for television.

Ms. Parker’s career has seen a few understated roles, and she has earned praise for even minor characters. But a number of her roles have been colourful. She played a flat-mate living in a closet in ‘Twitch City’ (1998); a prostituting, married receptionist in ‘Suspicious River’ (2000); an escort in ‘The Centre of the World’ (2001); and an alcoholic mother in ‘Men with Brooms’ (2002), to name a few.

Three of her roles have required singing. ‘Under Heaven’ (1998) and ‘Marion Bridge’ (2002) each featured a song performed by Ms. Parker; ‘Trigger,’ last year, had her and co-star Tracy Wright, who was dying of cancer as they filmed, singing as rock-stars (for which they shared the ACTRA Award for ‘Outstanding Performance – Female’).

It was her performance in ‘Kissed’ that won her not only major acclaim, but also a Genie Award, Canada’s equivalent of the Oscar. She has a dozen nominations in television and film and half a dozen awards, so far.

Her versatility is visible in the styles of projects she has chosen: whether comedy or drama, feature film or music video, Ms. Parker has been a perfect fit in each context.

She played a rabbi in the macabre drama ‘Six Feet Under’ (2001-2005); she narrated the documentary ‘Undying Love’ (2002). Her character was a laudanum-addicted widow in the western ‘Deadwood’ (2004-2006); she was an unfaithful and abandoned wife in the comedy-drama ‘Who Loves the Sun’ (2006).

This last film was directed by her husband, Matt Bissonnette. They gave their son, William, his middle name ‘Strummer’ after the singer of The Clash (Joe Strummer).

Molly Parker’s natural beauty is matched by a gentle and sometimes vulnerable façade, which she uses expertly in many of her roles. She has been the love interest, or part of a romantic triangle, on more than a few occasions. Her interviews, too, give the impression of a sensitive, kind, modest woman with a twinkle in her eye.

‘The Firm’ has her cast as the wife of the protagonist, a high-profile role for her and for co-star Josh Lucas. Her brother-in-law will be played by compatriot Callum Keith Rennie, with whom she has worked in a number of shows. Her steady work continues to offer the balance of quality and quantity and, already, 2012 appears to be a busy year for Molly Parker. So much the better.

Image Courtesy of  Josh Jensen

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She will turn 33 in a few weeks (and a happy birthday to her!), but Sarah Polley has accomplished more already than many people can as a group –she has the awards, and lost two teeth, to prove it. Many audiences know her work as an actress; many know she has directed; some know she has written films (writers are often unsung); some might know she can sing too.

And soon, she will be a mother. She has another of her babies, her directed film, ‘Take This Waltz,’ touring international film festivals this year. The Canadian star has been nominated for over two dozen awards, and has won nearly half of them. One of these nominations was for her performance in the 1988 TV series, ‘Ramona,’ when she was eight, four years after she had begun her film career.

Last year, Ms. Polley received a star on ‘Canada’s Walk of Fame,’ which celebrates successful Canadians. Some of her time has been spent as a political activist, fighting for Canada’s leftist party and campaigning for such causes as health-care, the homeless and the arts. In 1995, two of her teeth were knocked out in a skirmish with riot police.

In 1991, Ms. Polley, only twelve, wore a peace sign to protest the first Gulf War; Disney executives were denied their request to remove it and, despite her success in the highly popular ‘Road to Avonlea,’ blacklisted her.

The list of directors with whom she has worked reveals the artistically subversive company she keeps: Terry Gilliam, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Zack Snyder, and Wim Wenders, to name a few. The range of styles is equally impressive: (voice-acting) the Canadian children’s-classic, ‘Babar: the Movie’ (1989); the haunting ‘Exotica’ (1994); the tragic ‘The Sweet Hereafter’ (1997); the horror ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004); the comedy ‘Slings & Arrows’ (2006); and the sci-fi thriller ‘Splice’ (2009).

She can sing, too. In ‘The Sweet Hereafter’ she sings three songs, one of which she co-wrote and is featured as the title track. Ms. Polley has also written a number of short films, and wrote and directed ‘Away from Her’(2006), starring Julie Christie and compatriot Gordon Pinsent.

The film received an Academy Award nomination in 2008, and was awarded the Canadian equivalent, The Genie Award, for Best Achievement in Direction –she was the first woman to win this. Her latest film, ‘Take This Waltz,’ stars Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman and another Canadian, Seth Rogen. It has already received a nomination for a festival Best-Picture award. Ms. Polley will be very busy indeed.

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