Georgia Findlay

Georgia Findlay (she/her) is a Toronto-based actor, playwright, producer and younger sister. This summer she made her Fringe debut with her first original script “Joan & Olivia: A Hollywood Ghost Story,” which explores themes of sibling rivalry through the ghosts of real life Old Hollywood movie star-sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. Selected credits include: several roles in the 2019 Newmarket National 10-Minute Play Festival; Mrs. Clandon, “You Never Can Tell” (2019, George Brown Theatre School, Susan Ferley); Arsen Kazbeki/The Fat Prince, “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” (2019, GBTS, Richard Greenblatt); Josie Hogan, “A Moon for the Misbegotten” (2017, GBTS Scene Study, Elizabeth Saunders). Georgia learned so much in her whirlwind Fringe experience, and can’t wait to continue following her passions and expanding her career.

Instagram: @georgiagfindlay

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Transcript

Welcome to Stageworthy. I’m Phil Rickaby, the host of this podcast. This is episode 333.

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And as I mentioned, my website is philrickaby.com. My guest this week is Georgia Finley. Georgia is a Toronto-based actor, playwright, and producer who made her Toronto Fringe debut with her play Joan and Olivia, a Hollywood ghost story. She joined me to talk about her fringe experience writing and producing her first play and much more.

Here’s our conversation. Fringe just finished like a couple of days ago. So how do you feel? I feel great.

I mean, I feel like I haven’t had that much time to really process everything. But I mean, it was an amazing experience. So I’m feeling very good.

And you know, having had this as like the first Fringe back in person, and being part of that, that’s that’s pretty awesome. Were you part of the the cohort that was in the 2020 Fringe and then had to wait? I was not. So I got incredibly lucky.

The way that it broke down this year is, of course, they’re doing all these great initiatives to have more inclusivity in who gets pulled in the lottery. So they did reserve half of the spots for BIPOC artists. So as a Caucasian person myself, I was not part of that.

So among the group that was, what’s the word? Anyway, in the category, that’s what it is. So in the category of Ontario 60 Minutes, there were 19 spots, nine of which I was eligible for. And they actually picked my name first in the lottery.

And I just was completely shocked and incredibly excited. I mean, that’s so rare. But I mean, somebody does have to be first.

So that’s a thing. But it’s pretty rare to have that happen. Yeah.

And the odds, literally one of nine. I was not expecting to get it. So it was an incredibly exciting surprise.

So what was it like? I mean, is this your first time producing a show of this size? So what was it like getting ready to produce for the Fringe? Oh, my gosh. It was tough, because this is… I mean, I think I have that classic theatre school thing of you’re trained to be an actor. And so, you know, I know you went to George Brown as well.

And we have the business of acting class. But I don’t feel that I necessarily soaked in enough of that as I would have liked. So my producing knowledge was pretty minimal.

But I did approach my partner, Mwanzi, and my good friend, Cassie Davidson, who actually was on your podcast once before. And she is a fantastic producer, actor, stage manager, just triple, quadruple threat. So I definitely knew I wanted her to be involved right away.

And so we kind of had three producers on the project. So I had a lot of help, but it was definitely a crash course in just kind of figuring things out as you go along. Are they still not talking about self-production at theatre school? I mean, they are.

But I don’t think you quite grasp how much you’re probably gonna have to do it. I think there’s so much focus on auditioning and getting an agent and all that stuff. But yeah, I mean, and to be completely honest, I mean, it was always the first class of the day and I was just a sleepy gal.

And so sometimes the information just didn’t quite sink in for me just due to my lack of awakeness. That is completely understandable. I do feel like they should be like self-producing and producing your own work is so essential to a career in right now that it always amazes me that it’s not something that is stressed more in school.

Yes, we’re going to teach you how to audition, but you also really know how to do this other thing. It’s actually really important. Yeah.

I mean, we had one workshop, I believe in either second or third year where Alex Doe came and he ran a little self-producing workshop for a week or five days or something like that, where we just did little Christmas or winter performances in the distillery. So we would come up with a 10-minute concept and put it together. And we had to approach different stores and ask if they wanted to sponsor us in some capacity and get people to come out.

So that was honestly the most we did in terms of self-producing. And then we had a grant writing assignment at one point, but yeah, this was definitely my first foray into producing. You know, one of the good things about fringe as a first producing experience, it is a good way to sort of get your feet wet because it’s not as intense as producing fully without the backing of fringe because you don’t have to come up with quite as much money as renting the place.

There’s a built-in support. There’s also you’re working under the fringe name. So that’s always going to help bring people out.

Outside of fringe, it’s almost a different ballgame. So fringe is a good way to sort of test the waters there. Yeah.

Well, I think this was the first year that they started it. They had producer pods. So anyone who was interested, who was a first-time producer or just hadn’t done it in a while, wanted to get back into it, was put into a group of about five or at least there was about five in my group.

And we had a experienced producer mentor. And so weekly or biweekly or however often we could meet, we would have Zoom meetings where we would just talk about different aspects of producing. And that was super helpful.

And even when we couldn’t make it, they would record the conversation so we could refer back if we had any questions. And I really feel like that made a huge difference in my experience. Absolutely.

And I’ve never heard of them doing that before. So that is super helpful. And also, everybody was rusty.

I mean, let’s face it. Everybody, the live performance thing, that’s a muscle that we haven’t been able to exercise for the last two years. So producing is much the same way.

You can do Zoom stuff, but that’s not the same. So really good on them for having that. Yeah, it was great.

My producer mentor was Maricris Rivera, who produces with the Teva Collective, and Alia Seniza Rasool’s Moral Girl, which was awesome. And yeah, she was super, super helpful, really nice, and just available for whenever we had any questions. And it created a nice community of artists.

So a lot of us got to see each other’s shows and support each other and just see each other throughout the whole process, which was really, really cool. That’s also so important because we do need that sort of support throughout and getting ready for Fringe. Sometimes it can feel like it’s just you and your cast in a bit of a vacuum until Fringe starts and you’re suddenly like, oh, there’s all these other people.

So it’s really good to have that network. Yeah, yeah, it was great. Now let’s talk about writing.

Is writing something you’ve always done, or is that something new for you? It’s new for me. I mean, I’ve written in school, but I’d never written a play before. Yeah, I mean, it has been a very, very, very long time since I’ve written anything.

Primarily, my favorite thing to write in school was essays. I just really love to argue, I guess. But yeah, I often struggled with short stories, and poetry really wasn’t my thing.

I did write a couple short films in high school, and I really enjoyed that. But yeah, I guess I always sort of thought, oh, maybe I could write a play, but it wasn’t necessarily my ambition. But I would definitely say it is now because I just had such a wonderful experience that I definitely want to develop that more.

Mm-hmm. Now, did you have this play before you applied to The Fringe, or did you start writing it after you got in? I did not. So yeah, I honestly was sort of just… It was about two years deep into pandemic, and I was feeling pretty bleak about my career prospects as an actor, especially a predominantly theatre actor.

And I saw that this year, they waived the application fee for Fringe, which is not much. It’s like, I don’t know, $25, I can’t remember. But either way, it was totally free to apply.

And I was like, well, here’s an opportunity to get on a stage. And I probably won’t get it, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. So I just came up with a theatre company name, got my partner to co-sign with me, and applied on a whim.

And then it was actually funny because the day of the lottery, I was homesick from work because I had just had a bed bug scare in my house. Yeah. And so I had stayed up for 24 hours, cleaning my room, and dismantling all of my furniture and putting things in plastic bags.

So I was just sort of recovering on the couch for the whole day. And I looked at my phone, and I was like, oh, the Fringe lottery is live streaming on Facebook, might as well take a peek. And then they called my name.

Everything, I felt like my whole life, at least for now, you know, really did a 180. And I was like, well, I guess I have to write a play now. But it was the kick in the pants that I needed, for sure.

And I’m just, I’m so, so grateful that I got that opportunity. So you find out that you’re in the Fringe and you don’t have a play yet. So what is the next step? How do you come up with the idea that you eventually come up with? Or are you rifling through different ideas, trying them on? What’s that process like? Well, I knew I was always going to write about sisters because I am a younger sister.

So my sibling relationship is incredibly formative to the person that I am. And I often think that in some ways, if you’re a sibling, your relationship with your sibling can almost be more formative to your personality than your parents. Because that’s sort of your role model.

That’s your marker. That’s what you’re sort of following the guide that you see going through the world close to your own age. So I wanted to do something about that.

And I talked to my sister about it. And, you know, she was fine with it. I was like, you know, it’s not gonna be autobiographical.

But of course, you know, there’s themes that have come up in our lives and dynamics that I wanted to play with. But I didn’t want to make it too autobiographical. I wanted to have some kind of outside element.

And I’ve always found for me, I mean, I say as a writer, but I guess I didn’t think of myself as a writer before this. But all of my best ideas were usually riffing on something pre-existing, like parody or satire or historical fiction or something like that. And my sister and I, my whole family, growing up, we watched a lot of old Hollywood movies.

And my sister and I, because we were both actors when we were young, we used to joke that we were Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. And so at the dinner table, we would just like bicker about them and be like, well, this person, like I won the Oscar first. Yeah, well, I won too.

Well, you know, I was in the Hitchcock movies. Well, I was in this and blah, blah, blah, as though we were actually them. And we took it quite personally anytime, you know, someone would say something nice about the other one, even though they are not us.

But so just in the middle of the night one day, I just, it just sort of came to mind that that sibling relationship I remember. And I was like, oh my gosh, I should do something with that. And I didn’t want to do just a straight sort of bio play.

So I just came up with the idea that they would be ghosts and that they would sort of influence these other young sisters, because in a way, the idea of them kind of influenced us growing up. One of the things, this being like your first, really your first play, you get to discover what your process is like. So I’m curious, like how, what’s your writing process like? Do you have a method? Is it a, you start at the beginning, you just write through, are you a planner? How does your writing process look right now? I mean, it’s definitely evolved throughout this process.

I think the big thing for me was that I started with pretty extensive research. I did about a month of reading biographies, watching their movies, looking at interviews, collecting quotes and pictures and all that. I made like a massive research Bible.

And I found once I felt like I knew at least those two characters well enough, sitting down to write them, their voices just came pretty naturally. So that’s definitely a big part of it. In terms of planning, I’ve always kind of struggled with yeah, like creating outlines.

But I did, there were some ideas that I just had from the beginning, and I have a very, very full note, notes app page on my iPhone. That’s just full of ideas that I would have in the middle of like a walk or at work, or just like in the middle of the night, and I would just write it down. And so I knew I wanted to do something with a diary.

And I mean, that was the main thing that first came to mind was just someone reading, a younger sibling reading older sister’s diary. And honestly, I mean, the main thing that kept me on task and kept me with somewhat of a structure was Matt Eager, who was our director, but also worked with me as a dramaturg and was just so, so, so helpful. He gave me deadlines, which I occasionally actually met.

And he really helped me sort of trim the fat and edit and really narrow my focus and make things more specific. So I really, I did write the first draft mostly on my own, but with some feedback from him. But the final draft ended up being quite different.

And so much of that was to his guidance. Deadlines are hard. I mean, there’s something necessary.

Like I wrote, it took me, I’ve mentioned this before, it took me like eight years to write my first solo play that was on and off. And then suddenly I realized the only way I was ever going to finish it is if I like had a performance date. And so I ended up getting into the Hamilton fringe.

And so that was like the performance date that I did that. So that’s, otherwise I think I would still be writing it today. It would be 12 years later, 13 years later, I’d still be writing it.

But yeah. So, I mean, deadlines are hard, but also really helpful. Definitely.

I definitely struggle with things like that. I’m someone who’s kind of famous for coming up with, you know, quote unquote, brilliant ideas, telling every single person I know about them and then never following through. And then of course people, you know, a year later, like, whatever happened to that thing? And I’m like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Totally. It’s coming someday. And it’s like, I didn’t even start writing it.

I just, I just jumped the gun and was like, yeah, you have to hear about my idea. It’s going to be amazing. And sometimes I should just stay quiet, but I have a hard time.

I’m a bit of a blabber mouth. For me, I always find that, that if I’m telling somebody about something I haven’t written yet, I have to be very careful about how much I tell them. Because if I tell them the whole thing, I don’t need to write it anymore.

I already told somebody that story. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s tough.

I’m, I’m definitely learning to be a bit more tight-lipped with those kinds of things. Like, especially now, you know, now that Fringe is over, I’m, and I’m sort of thinking more about pursuing playwriting. I just keep coming with all up with all these ideas and I just want to tell like everybody, I’m like, oh my God, isn’t this so funny? But I, I feel like I need to, I need to just cool it a little bit and take my time and make sure that I actually know what I’m doing.

Also, cause I don’t want to give away my ideas for free, you know? Like I don’t want to put it out in the universe and then find it somewhere else on YouTube, which I doubt would happen. But if it did, that would be my fault. Um, now you mentioned graduating in 2019 from George Brown theatre school, um, which means that, that you went into, you know, the, the, the, the, you went into 2020 with lots of hopes and ideas as we all did, but you were looking to start the acting career and get that moving.

And then we all know what happened. Um, how did you, where, what were you doing at the time of the pandemic hit and how did you deal? Yeah. So I got, I mean, lucky and unlucky, but I think very, very lucky with when I graduated because I was the last class that didn’t have their like season, either cut in half or put entirely online.

So we got to have our full season and that was fantastic. And I also got incredibly lucky because I almost right after did a three month trip to Europe before, you know, all the borders closed and all that. So that was amazing as well.

But I, uh, I had done one professional project out of theatre school, which was the new market 10 minute play festival where I met Matt Eaker, we worked together and really bonded. So that’s how we got to work together again. Um, but yeah, I did that.

And then I went to Europe and I came back and my focus was more at that point, just finding a stable job for, you know, a steady income. And then I was sort of like, okay, once I have stability, I’ll start auditioning again and, you know, reaching out to agents and things like that. Um, so I was doing phone fundraising from about November to when the pandemic hit March.

Um, and you know, it was, uh, it was, I mean, it was kind of related. It was a lot of talking to people and using, you know, tactics and all that fun theatre terminology to get people to give you money for a good cause, but still, you know, it was a lot of paddling, but I was doing that and it was definitely very difficult, but I was starting to get a couple auditions here and there, but not many. Uh, and then the pandemic hit and I was still living with my parents at the time, as was my sister.

So we were a pretty full house and we stayed that way for about a year. And that was difficult, even though, you know, I’ve, I’ve lived with them for most of my life being stuck together as a different, as a different beast. So, you know, tensions definitely arose.

And I do think that definitely informed some of my writing because so much of it is about being stuck together. Like, you know, you got these two ghosts, they’re quite literally stuck in the same house and they cannot escape each other. And I find that, you know, your family sometimes brings up the best in you, but can often bring out the worst in you.

And so I didn’t really like, you know, who I was, how I was feeling at the time. I did start therapy for the first time in my life, which was really, really, really helpful and helped me a lot with sort of being able to communicate with people throughout the pandemic, within my family or outside, and being clear about boundaries, especially when you’re all stuck together and all that. But I was really, I did feel very lost without Peter.

And I was not one of those people who continued to self-tape throughout the pandemic, because honestly, I just, I found it really depressing. And so I thought, I’m going to take a break and sort of figure out who I am without Peter. And that was definitely very helpful for me as a person.

But if anything, it did reinforce that this is what I love and what I want to do and what I need. And having it back now, I could never take it for granted again. And I feel like it’s just, it’s my life source, you know, I don’t need it to survive.

I know now that I can survive without it, but in order to feel happy and fulfilled and feel like myself again, theatre is just a necessity for me. That sense of trying to figure out who you are without theatre is something that I think a lot of people did over the last two years. So many people who their life was theatre or, you know, like working, going to all the networking things and how many play readings and cold reads and this, that, and the other thing, and all of these events that you can go to, and you can fill your day and never really discover who you are without it.

And never really have like quiet time because you’re always going, going, going. The treadmill stopped for two years. And suddenly it was like a lot of people trying to figure out like, who is this person if I’m not on that treadmill? Yeah.

And it was, I mean, I found it especially difficult because I hadn’t had the time to establish myself in the, in the business, you know, I, I didn’t have an agent. I still don’t have an agent. I didn’t have really any professional credits outside of that New Market Festival.

And so I felt like, I mean, in some ways there was sort of that feeling at the beginning of like the Great Equalizer. I mean, that’s a terrible way to look at a horrible tragedy, but you know, it was, it kind of put everyone a little bit back to square one, but I felt like I had sort of lost momentum since leaving theatre school because I, you know, went to Europe. And as much as that was an amazing opportunity, I was also like, oh man, all my friends are out here auditioning and doing shows and I’m, I’m missing a chance.

And now I realize in retrospect that, you know, I got very lucky in being able to travel before everything shut down. But yeah, I just expected the trajectory of my post-school career to go very differently. And I had focused so much on training for so many years that I really didn’t get myself out there in a professional capacity.

So this has really been my sort of, I guess, professional debut, if you will, because I just, yeah, I just kind of missed out on the opportunity before everything changed. Well, now that you’ve, you’ve sort of started creating work for yourself, how do you, do you feel like that’s something that, that you want to continue or is it a means to the, to an end? Because it can be both, like some people really like it. Some people want to stop doing it as quickly as possible.

Where do you land on, on, on creating your own work? I would say both. I think, again, I really just did not expect to be creating my own work initially. I think I was very, I’ve always been very enamored by classical theatre.

So, you know, Shakespeare, Shaw. So of course my, my dreams for a very long time were, you know, to go to, one of the big festivals. But I also realized that it’s incredibly competitive and there’s limited roles and, you know, I’ve, I’ve learned so much from doing fringe from so many of the different artists that I’ve met.

Rebecca Perry was someone who was incredibly helpful to me throughout this process. I spoke to her at the beginning because I knew that she’d done From Judy to Betty, which was, you know, all about stars of old Hollywood. So I felt like this project was right up her alley and she definitely gave me a lot of very, very helpful advice.

And we touched base throughout the, throughout the festival as well. And seeing how she’s been able to carve out a career for herself, doing a lot of fringes and self-produced work and self-written work was definitely very inspiring to me. And also just because I find so often casting can be very obvious, I guess.

And I’ve always been someone who wants to expand my range and go outside my comfort zone or against my type, I guess. And so being able to create roles for myself that are actually the kinds of roles that I want to play is a very exciting idea to me. And the fact that I’ve done it, you know, somewhat successfully once, I’m like, okay, what, what’s next? You know, what, what else do I want to do and how can I make it happen? Yeah, definitely.

There’s something about, about, you know, being able to show what you can do, right. To, to show that, that, to have, to have work that says, I’m not just what you think my type is. I see, I’ve done it.

I can prove it. Right. And that’s a really great thing to sort of have.

And to do that for yourself is pretty rewarding. For sure. I mean, again, like growing up, watching all these old Hollywood movies, I was very taken with all the, you know, the female stars of the day.

And I wanted to be like them and be all glamorous and beautiful and stuff. And, you know, going to theatre school and even in high school, I frequently got typecast as either the mom or the boy. So the glamour and the, you know, sort of ingenue vibe wasn’t really there.

And I know there are much more, some much more needy and rewarding roles that are not ingenues, but I’ve always sort of, I’ve always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder about sort of proving like I, I can be the, you know, the, the pretty princess. I may not be like, you know, a size zero and, you know, five foot one. I’m very tall.

And that’s always sort of been something where people are like, ah, yes, tall girl, either mom or man. So I think this was just a fun experience for me to just really indulge in that, that fantasy that I have. And I do think that there will be a lot more opportunities to explore different types, but it was super fun to just sort of, I mean, play dress up and get to be the, the fabulous movie star.

It was so much fun. Now looking at fringe as a whole for you, is there something, is there a lesson that you feel like you’ve learned about, about producing, about, about playwriting, about, about performing, about, about fringe that, that you could sort of just sort of like, what have you, what’s your takeaway from this festival? I mean, so much. I think, I think I’ve learned a lot about networking, which is something that I found very daunting in the past.

I just, God, I would just go to networking events and just sort of hover and not say anything and get uncomfortable and maybe go cry in the bathroom, come back. I have to jump in and ask this important question, important question. You are an introvert or an extrovert? Hard to say, because I think people who know me would say that I am an extrovert, but I think I’m, I think I’m like a loud introvert in a sense, because I talk a lot and I talk loudly and I’m a very open book.

Like I’m not very secretive, I guess, but I also am very, very nervous around strangers. And if I’m in an environment where I’m like, you know, I don’t know anybody else, I tend to just sort of become a turtle and just go inside my shell. And I also do really, really like my alone time.

And I just, I need to grow comfortable with people. I’m not usually the one to introduce myself first. I often take a while to start using someone’s first name because I find it weirdly familiar.

So yeah, once you get to know me, I seem like this, you know, very, you know, sort of outgoing extrovert, but I do think that I’m always kind of fighting my instinct to just sort of run and hide a little bit. So yeah, networking has always been pretty difficult for me, but I’ve sort of just had to embrace it in this and also just meeting a few people, they introduce you to more people or, you know, you go to someone’s show and you say, I loved your show and you start a conversation. So it’s not as scary as I thought it once was, but I definitely am still intimidated by the idea and I’m sure it’ll be an ongoing journey for me.

For sure. What you’re saying sounds like classic introvert behavior, by the way, it’s just when you’re comfortable, you could seem very, very extroverted, but the real challenge is in those networking events. Like I always hate going to the fringe club, fringe patio, beer tent, whatever you want to call it.

I hate it. It’s always like, it’s always like it’s fraught. It’s like, if I don’t know somebody there, I’m leaving.

Yeah. I had one day where I went completely alone and I really didn’t know anyone. And I was like, well, I came all the way here.

I have nowhere else to be between these shows. And like, I knew people in that, like, I knew there was like a friend of a friend that I couldn’t particularly remember their name at the time, but I was like, Hey, you. And so I, you know, chatted them up a little bit, but it was definitely not someone I was already comfortable with, but you know, they introduced me to people and that was really nice.

And then I saw some people that I knew had graduated from George Brown, sort of like a, I know you, but you don’t know me. I followed you on Instagram for several years, but I’m going to pretend like I haven’t. And I just walked up and was like, Hey, George Brown, you have a show.

Cool. And so we started chatting and that was great. And then, you know, we went to a show together and kept chatting throughout the festival.

And that’s now, you know, a person that I know, which is super cool, but it was definitely awkward at first. I was, and also I, I always feel very awkward because I tend to walk around with some massive backpack on. It’s like, I feel like I look like this, just big kid, just like, who’s like lost their mom.

And I’m just, I’m just not looking very cool. And then if I take my backpack off, you see that it’s soaked in sweat, which is also not very cool. So it’s summer.

Yeah. Well, also just, you know, it’s heavy, sweaty gal, but you know, I just, yeah, I, I would not describe myself as someone who’s like effortlessly cool and chill. I just, I get it.

I have a nervous energy when I first meet people. And so that can be tough, but I definitely think I faced some of my fears this time and I hope to continue. Awesome.

Awesome. So here’s one of the things that I love to do on the show is I love to talk to people about their theatre origin stories. I want to know what made you first start doing theatre? What made, what attracted you to theatre? What, what brought you to this thing that we do? Yeah.

So it’s pretty funny because it does quite directly relate to the play that I wrote, which is I copied my sister. You know, I, she took an acting class and I was like, that looks fun. I want to do that too.

I was very much the copycat sibling. Uh, I have her to thank for a lot of my interests, opinions, you know, sometimes I have opinions and I think I’m like, wait a minute, is that actually my opinion? Or did I inherit that from someone slightly older and cooler than me? Not sure. But she started taking drama classes at Dragon Trails Drama School with Jill Frappier.

And I thought it looked so fun. And funnily enough, I remember actually, I had initially signed up to take the classes at the same time as her because we had, um, we’d been looking for drama classes online. I think I’d maybe done a play at like a day camp or something before that.

And my parents were looking for, you know, extracurriculars for us to be involved in. My family is, you know, pretty, um, artistic, I would say. My dad’s a documentary filmmaker and my mom teaches adult literacy and I have some, you know, musicians in my family and things like that.

Um, but so we were looking online for drama classes and we found that the teacher of Dragon Trails, Jill Frappier, had voiced Luna the cat on Sailor Moon and we were big Sailor Moon fans. So I was like, well, I gotta get this animated cat to teach me how to act. So we both signed up for the classes and I remember I showed up the first day and I think I was slightly late and I walked in and they were going around in a circle and doing one of those classic get to know you drama games where it was like, you know, go around the circle and make a funny noise.

And I ran out crying and I was definitely the introvert in me just being like, I can’t, that’s so embarrassing. I can’t, you know, make a funny noise and do a thing in front of strangers. Like, oh my gosh, that’s just, I can’t.

So I didn’t join that year, but then I, you know, at the end of that either it was a camp or a semester of the classes, my sister did a play and I watched it and I was like, okay, well that looks so fun. I have to do that. So then the next year I, you know, I had a bit more courage and I went in and I stayed there for about, I want to say maybe like eight years.

While also I did a lot of like day camps, like I did Shakespeare in Action for several years and really loved that. And we had sort of like a daycare ish program after elementary school and we would have some little plays that we would make up there. So I was kind of always involved in, I did, you know, a school musical in elementary school and then yeah, but I was just, I just always really loved it.

And funnily enough, when I was a kid, I was kind of known for starting things and not finishing them. I was a big quitter. I quit, you know, visual art, I quit dance, which I still really regret.

I really love dance and I think it is one of the most amazing art forms. And I found an old home video of me recently outside of a tap dancing class, practicing my little tap shoes. And I was like, why on earth did I ever stop tap dancing? That seems so fun.

What, what possessed me to leave that class? I don’t know, but I just could not stick with anything. And the one thing that really stuck was acting. And I just loved it so much.

And I think another reason was because I was a very emotional kid and I didn’t really know how to express myself and communicate with people. I was, you know, a big tantrum thrower, I would say. And I just, yeah, it’s like, I just had a lot of feelings and didn’t know what to do with them.

And when I got into theatre, that was an outlet for me. And I really do feel like the more I got into it, the more I sort of calmed down as a person and became more friendly and approachable and easy to get along with because I wasn’t just sort of constantly on edge because I had a way to express myself. So that was always really important to me.

And then I continued, I went to Etobicoke School of the Arts for high school in the drama department. And my sister was also in the drama department at that school. So again, back to sort of things relating to the play, I just, there is that sort of natural comparison and competition built in when you’re siblings that are close in age and interested in the same thing.

So I’ve always been interested in that. And that definitely created some very interesting and sometimes difficult dynamics, but also a bond because we loved the same thing and we could just talk about it for ages. So I went there and that really, really nurtured my love for theatre and all things performing.

And I knew from then that I wanted to go to theatre school. And right out the gate, I had auditioned for the National Theatre School coming out of grade 12. And I did not get in, which was a tough blow to my ego, but it was very, very helpful because I definitely, one, needed that wake up call of it’s not so easy, you know, you gotta really work for it.

And I had been in this, you know, I’d had this big role in the school play that year. And so I was so focused on that, but I just like did not prepare my audition piece enough at all. And I also just picked terrible choices.

It was just, it was a bad showing all around. And in retrospect, I’m like, well, of course, but I had applied to, I’d applied to the University of King’s College as well for their foundation year program, which is a one-year program where it’s like one class, but it’s about, I wanna say like eight credits. And it’s like the history of literature from the beginning of recorded text till the present day.

And you read plays, you read philosophy, you read early science texts, you read early novels, just like tons and tons of different things. And that was an amazing experience for me because yeah, not getting into theatre school meant that like, that was sort of just automatically where I was gonna go. Cause I really just applied for two schools, got into one early, didn’t get into it and was like, okay, well that’s where I’m going then.

And it was really cool in a way to not be in a theatre environment then because I was suddenly in Halifax, which I’d never lived anywhere but Toronto at that point. And I didn’t know anybody and they had like a theatre society, but I didn’t know anybody there and I wasn’t one of the people on the inside. So I had to mingle and make myself known and work hard to get parts in the plays.

And I did, and that was super, super rewarding. But I was also just learning so much more about the world and the origins of certain types of thought and a lot of just amazing old plays. And I really just felt like I expanded so much of my knowledge as a person, which was then so helpful going into theatre school the next year, which I did.

And that time I auditioned for many more schools cause I was like, okay, you know, let’s see what, what everywhere has to offer and then decide what’s actually right for me as opposed to just sort of looking at a title and being like, that sounds cool. And then I found George Brown and I just, it was a perfect fit and I loved it. So that was a very long answer.

You mentioned applying to a bunch of different schools. Did you get into more schools and how, what, how did you eventually choose George Brown as a school? Yeah. So I applied for NTS, Ryerson, George Brown and Windsor.

I got into George Brown and Windsor and I yet again did not get a call back for NTS, but this time it was, it was like sad, but I was very at peace with it because it was, I had lost my voice the morning of the audition, like fully. And I just, there was no way I had. And that time I really had prepared, I’d picked much better suited monologues.

I actually got a coach to work with me and was like, okay, great. Which did benefit me for the other auditions as well. But this was the first one.

And I was, you know, drinking tea all day and trying to get my voice back, but there was just, it was completely gone. And I really didn’t want to make any excuses, even though like, it was pretty obvious that that’s not how I normally talk, but I was just like, hey, it is what it is. Like sometimes things happen.

So I went and I did my audition. And I remember I was, I was doing a Rosalind monologue from As You Like It. And the first line is, and why I pray you.

And with my little hoarse voice, I’ll see if I can recreate it. It was like, I was like, well, I’m, I’m out, you know, and I powered through, but it was very embarrassing. So I was very prepared to not get in.

And I was like, that’s fine, whatever. But Ryerson, I don’t know. I just, you know, they’re just, they pick who they want and it was not me and that’s fine.

But I think I wanted to do like a, I definitely wanted to do a conservatory program. And I liked the idea of Windsor, but also staying in Toronto was great for me because my parents lived here. So I could live rent free, but also I’d made a very close friend at King’s who was very determined to go to George Brown.

And so she really sold me on it. So we auditioned together. And then I remember the day of the audition coming in and Jimmy just telling us about the program.

And I just immediately was like, yeah, this is the energy here. There was just something about it that I was like, this is definitely it for me if I get in. And I did.

And I really do feel like it was the right choice. I will say the one thing I envy about people who went to a university program is that I do feel like my other education is pretty limited, especially going into the pandemic. I was like, man, I really didn’t cultivate any skills outside of theatre, did I? So I, yeah, I envy people who got to do like general education studies and things like that along with their theatre training.

But in terms of the quality of the education and what I got out of it, I’m very happy with how it worked out. Yeah. It’s a very intensive course, but you certainly don’t come out of it with too many skills that are not theatre related.

No. Yeah. And when there’s no theatre jobs during a pandemic, I’m trying to apply for things and I don’t feel qualified for literally anything.

You know, it’s like, yeah, I can do phone fundraising because I know how to speak, but that’s about it. So, yeah, there’s pros and cons to any type of program. That’s true.

That’s very true. One of the things I find interesting, so you, aside from theatre, you were into visual art, makeup, drag, and podcasts. We’ll take podcasts off the table here because we’re doing one right now.

Tell me about visual art. You mentioned painting and things like that. Is that something that you’ve continued to do or is that something you admire and don’t do so much? It is and it isn’t.

It’s something that I’ve always sort of had an affinity for. It was, yet again, another thing that I copied from my sister. I’m, you know, just owning up to it.

I can’t pretend like I came up with all these things myself. I, you know, she was good at drawing growing up and I was like, I could do that too. And so, I would, you know, do that as well.

We both really like to draw faces, so just mostly portraiture. And as we got older, our styles sort of diverged and we stopped, you know. It was nice because we were very different as, you know, artists, I guess.

But I got really into doing, like, photorealistic portraits. And so, but I always knew I didn’t want to be a visual artist. It just felt like a lot of work and, I mean, yeah.

It was a lot of work and I’m also just like a huge perfectionist and especially with the style that I’m doing because the style is that I want it to look like the photograph. So, if it’s not exactly perfect, I will just drive myself insane doing all these details and everybody else will be like, it looks fine to me. I’m like, no, you don’t understand.

This mole is out of place. Like, I’ll look at it and be like, is this even good? I don’t even know anymore. I’ve been working on it for six months.

It’s one drawing, you know. And so, I knew it wasn’t like a sustainable career for me. But I always enjoyed it.

But it also did stress me out because even though I was just doing it for pleasure, like, I wanted it to be good. I wanted to feel like I’m proud of this piece of art that I made. So, I continued it.

But honestly, as I got older and as I, like, developed my skill for it more, I started to do it less and less because the better I got at drawing, the longer it would take me to finish a project. So, I just couldn’t keep doing it. Like, I literally drew one picture of, like, Matthew McConaughey and it took me seven months.

I was like, well, this looks great. But oh, my God, that was torture. I would literally spend, like, a full day working on, like, an inch of hair and drawing every single strand.

And it was just, it was very neurotic. But one thing I really got into later was actually adult coloring books. So, when I was in university, that was something that I really used to de-stress because I love the motion of drawing.

But when I’m creating something, I have to really focus and be really precise. But when it’s already there for you, you can just kind of have fun with colors and things. And I especially like the ones that are, like, a color by numbers.

There was this one brand of coloring book that I have, like, several completed books of. I think it was called, like, like, Sporkle or some weird word like that. And they would have different themes.

They would have some that were famous pieces of art or, you know, celebrities or animals or something like that. And it would have these pictures that just looked like a bunch of blobs, but there were, like, numbers in all the blobs. And you would pick a color that corresponds with one number.

And then you just color in all of those. And then by the end, it’s like you’ve drawn the Mona Lisa, but in, like, funny colors. And I just found that so incredibly calming.

And so, something that I’ve actually started doing later where I’ve sort of married my interest in that with the sort of photorealistic portraits is that I started to draw coloring book pages of my friends. So, I would just do, like, the outlines. And so, I would stop there and not do, like, the months and months of shading and doing all the creases in their faces.

I would just do sort of, like, a pen outline, but base it off, at least with my theatre school friends, I would, like, base it off their headshots. And that was really fun for me. And I could do those way quicker than anything else I ever did.

So, that’s sort of my primary outlet right now. And it’s really fun, too, because then you can give it to them, and then they can color it in and, you know, make it look however you make yourself look. Create an alien or try on a new hair color or something like that, but it’s still your face.

So, that’s sort of where I’m at with art right now. But I am a big fan of art, you know? I love going to the art gallery. But, yeah, I’ve always been really drawn to portraits of people.

And just, like, I would go to, you know, portrait galleries and things like that and look at these paintings where I was like, this looks like a photograph. Like, how do you accomplish that? And I’ve never been a painter. So, I really admire that.

Like, I was always just, like, you know, black and white pencil or pen. And when I see that people can do that with color, especially because it involves so much mixing and things like that, I’m just, it’s so impressive. Or like, you look like you see fabric or something, and it really looks like velvet, and you can tell that it’s velvet.

Like, that’s insane to me. And then with makeup and drag, it was sort of a natural marriage of my two interests, which was visual art and performance. Drag was actually sort of more what led to the makeup because, honestly, in theatre school, you know, you work really hard, but it can often take, you know, a bit of a toll on one’s mental health.

And for comfort, I really got into RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is quite the cultural phenomenon. And I really have that to thank for so much because it was like a light in a very dark time. It’s this just very life-affirming, queer-positive, just beautiful celebration of multidisciplinary artists.

And I think I had a bit of a complicated relationship with femininity before, because like I said, like, I’ve been sort of boxed into like, not being seen as particularly feminine, even though I felt feminine. And I am a cisgender woman, but I still was just, I was not received the way that I felt due to just, you know, I have a bit of a lower voice, I’m taller, whatever the case may be, I was not seen that way. And so watching that, it gave me sort of a boldness to be able to just sort of embrace that part of me.

And so I started sort of dressing more flamboyantly and trying out different makeup. And I actually am surprised I got away with it, because I went to theatre school with like bright orange eyeshadow and lipstick like every day. And only once did a teacher say anything.

And it was because we were doing a neutral mask, and they were worried about my makeup getting on the mask. But I had set the makeup very well. And I rubbed my finger on my eye and showed her that nothing came off.

And she was like, okay, proceed. And so it was fine. And no one ever said anything, even though there’s some times where I’m like, yeah, you probably could.

I look like a bird or something. Very bizarre. But I was trying things out.

And it was like really empowering. And so when I would not be in theatre school, I would be, you know, watching a lot of drag, going to local drag shows, I really got very, very into not just the show, but the art form in the community. And I started practicing drag makeup on myself.

Which was just so fun. And when you do it, you really feel like a different person. It’s like a superpower.

So you feel like you can do anything. You’re this incredible, glamorous, you know, goddess or whatever. And I came up with my drag name, which I’m very proud of, which is Trinity Bellwoods.

And I performed, I’ve only ever performed for school events. Partly just, you know, because drag is very expensive. And if you want it to look good, you have to pay a lot of money.

And, you know, I broke the bank on two wigs. And so my outfits are very, very, very basic, but I have hair at least. But so I liked to.

So yeah, it had that like fun, you know, expressive makeup aspect, but it also is a performance art. So I was able to sort of take on this persona. And I made these performances for our winter cabaret at George Brown, where I would take a pop song and edit it with a Shakespeare monologue interspersed in it.

So I did the first year, I did a Lady Macbeth monologue that was edited into an Ariana Grande song. And then the next year, I did Romeo and Juliet. I was Juliet and I was doing Toxic by Britney Spears because, you know, poison and toxic and love and all that stuff.

And it was so much fun. And of course, it’s, you know, your theatre school cohort. So it was a very, very supportive crowd.

But like, people were just like, really eating it up and like, they get on their feet and they were screaming. And I just felt like a total rock star. And then you go home and you take off the makeup and the wig.

And it’s like, that wasn’t me. That was my alter ego. And so that was like something that was just an amazing discovery.

And I do remember when I started getting into drag, like everyone kind of did notice a shift in my personality and the way that I carried myself. And I just gained so much more confidence. So that’s something I’ve still really taken with me.

And, you know, I just, I want to go see more drag shows now that they’re, you know, we’re able to see them live. But I was still trying to, you know, support local artists through the pandemic, you know, watching their live streams and tipping digitally, as well as, of course, still watching Drag Race because it is the best comfort food in the world. And then, yeah, throughout the pandemic, one way that I was sort of keeping myself sane was that unlike most people who were like, oh, I’ve, you know, I’ve been wearing sweatpants for six months and I haven’t washed my hair and all that stuff, which is totally respectable.

Everyone deals with, you know, a global pandemic differently. But in order to feel like a human being, I like put on makeup every day. And it wasn’t the kind where I’m just trying to, you know, cover up and look, you know, like a look like I’m not wearing makeup.

I was doing like very grand, you know, pink and purple and sparkles and all this stuff. And then I would put on like a crazy outfit and then I just go for a walk. And sometimes people would stare at me, but I was like, kind of happy about it because they always seemed like they were entertained.

And I was like, well, I made them smile today. That’s, that’s a win, I think, even if they’re laughing at me, like, it’s something to look at. And I just felt, yeah, like I felt better.

It helped me. Everybody dealt with the pandemic in their own way. And if you were able to bring some joy and laughter into somebody’s life, then you’ve done it, done them a service.

I hope so. Yeah. It made me feel good.

You know, it was something to do, you know. Well, Georgia, thank you so much for talking with me today. I really appreciate it.

Thank you. I really appreciate it as well.