Aug 22, 2024

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and CBC are pleased to announce another remarkable group of performers who will make up the 2024 cohort of the CBC Actors Conservatory starting September 3, 2024 at CFC’s campus in Toronto and running until February 28, 2025.

Eight exciting actors with a range of experience in film, television, and theatre have been selected to participate in the 2024 Conservatory. This full-time, six-month immersive screen acting program will provide hands-on experience, expand the performer’s reel and their instrument, establish strong creative partnerships, grow their professional network, strengthen their abilities to navigate the business, and help build their confidence.

“The CBC Actors Conservatory has helped strengthen and expand Canada’s on-screen talent network and by extension the industry as a whole. We’re proud to continue our partnership with the CFC to offer mentorship and training to this year’s dynamic group of performers - we wish them all the best in the program,” said Trish Williams, Executive Director, Scripted Content, CBC.

Thanks to the generous support of program partners CBC, the RBC Emerging Artists Project and the Government of Ontario, the CBC Actors Conservatory has supported and helped elevate the voices and talent of over 112 actors including Supinder Wraich (Allegiance, Sort Of), Lovell Adams-Gray (Coroner, Brother), Andy McQueen (Station Eleven), Michelle McLeod (Women Talking), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Star Trek: Discovery), Giacomo Gianniotti (Wild Cards, Grey's Anatomy), Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek) and Eli Goree (One Night In Miami).

"We've met so many wonderful actors from across this country reinforcing what an inspiring and creatively resilient talent community we have,” said Kathryn Emslie, Executive Lead, Programs, CFC. “This program and our longstanding partnership with the CBC is all about nurturing and celebrating the incredible contribution actors and actor/creators make to the storytelling process and to the stories that need to be told. I cannot wait to see how these actors shape the future of storytelling!”

Theresa Cutknife (She/Her) is an Alberta-born Toronto-based Nêhiyaw/Puerto Rican actor, writer, and producer. She is a member of the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacîs, Alberta located on Treaty 6 Territory. Theresa is an alumni of The Centre for Indigenous Theatre and a graduate of the 2023 Soulpepper Academy. Her co-written play Talk Treaty To Me received two Sterling award nominations for Outstanding Fringe Ensemble and Outstanding Fringe New Work at the 2023 Edmonton Fringe Festival. Recent credits include assistant directing De Profundis: Oscar Wilde In Jail (Soulpepper). Acting credits include: Heartless (Favour The Brave Collective), Niizh (Native Earth Performing Arts), My Sister’s Rage (Tarragon Theatre/Studio 180 Theatre/TOLive), The House of Bernarda Alba (Aluna Theatre/Modern Times Theatre), Diggstown (CBC Gem).

Anna Morreale (They/Them) is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Hamilton, Ontario and now based in Montreal, Quebec. Since graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2021, Anna has been working professionally in the theatre, film and voice acting industries. As an actor, writer and producer, they have been lucky enough to collaborate with companies like Playwrights Workshop Montreal, Centaur Theatre, Repercussion Theatre, Difuze Inc and more. They are also the artistic producer for Scaredy Cat theatre, an emerging theatre company helmed by Chelsea Dab and Cole Hayley. Anna is consistently inspired by art that is absurd, surreal, intrepid and accessible. Their own work spans themes of queerness, mortality, oral history, grief, dreams and corporeality. Their practice is informed by various movement based techniques such as dance, contact improv, mask, and clown.Eva Foote (She/Her) is a Dora-Award nominated actor and musician based in Edmonton, Alberta. She attended the National Theatre School of Canada and Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Eva was a recipient of the 2019 Montreal English Theatre Award for Lead Performance in a Musical & Emerging Artist and the 2019 Syd & Shirley Banks Prize for Emerging Musical Theatre Artists. Some of Eva’s credits include Kelly v. Kelly (Musical Stage Company/Canadian Stage), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stratford Festival), Once (Segal Centre), Uncovered: The Music of Fleetwood Mac & The Eagles (Musical Stage Co.), Murdoch Mysteries (Season 15), and upcoming After the Rain (Tarragon Theatre).

Emidio Lopes (He/Him) is a Black Angolan-Canadian actor fluent in English and Portuguese. He currently trains at The Lighthouse Acting Studio under Angela Besharah, with whom he has studied since 2019. His recent credits include the NBC series The Irrational and the feature film Welcome, directed by Jevon Boreland and produced by Mark Taylor, which is set to premiere in the fall of 2024.

Taelor Lewis-Joseph (She/Her) is an actor based in Tkaronto. Born in Scarborough and first generation Canadian, she studied theatre at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts and graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University studying Communication. She created a docu-web series, How.T.O Art, which won best web at the Canadian Diversity Film Festival and official selection for festivals internationally. Taelor is an alumni of New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade, The Second City Conservatory Programme and acting schools in Tkaronto. Her credits include Digi Art (CBC Gem), How to Fail as a Popstar (CBC Gem) and Abroad (OMNI).

Aldrin Bundoc (He/Him) is a Dora Award-nominated actor, physical-theatre creator, and producer born in Manila, Philippines, and currently based in Toronto. Aldrin has made a significant mark in both theatre and screen acting. Aldrin's notable screen credits include Schitt’s Creek (CBC/Netflix), Glamorous (Netflix), The Boys (Amazon), Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (CityTV), and Star Trek: Discovery (CBS). Currently, Aldrin stars in the satirical sketch comedy series Abroad (OMNI), now in its third season. The show offers a humorous and insightful look at the experiences of Filipino immigrants in Canada.

Arianna Laya-Garcia (She/Her) is a Toronto-based actor whose on-screen credits include World’s Best (Disney), Macy Murdoch (CBC Gem), and Accused Season 2 (Fox). She attended the Etobicoke School of Arts, where she majored in Musical Theatre and Canada’s Model and Talent Convention twice, where she won first in Best Cold Reading Scene (2017) and Best Self-Tape (2022). When not in front of the camera, Arianna has freelanced as a Production Assistant, and recently worked as a Production Coordinator working with Canada's premier food and tabletop production company for clients such as A&W, Tim Hortons, Wendy’s, Nissan, and McDonald’s.

Ed Pinker (He/Him) is a British-Canadian actor based in Toronto. He trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and graduated from East15 Acting School in London. His TV/film credits include The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu/MGM), The Love Club (W Channel), How To Win a Prince (ReelOne), and Locke & Key (Netflix). Previous theatre highlights include Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Mousetrap (West End), The Beggar’s Opera (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), and Top Story (Old Vic Tunnels).
Learn more about the CBC Actors Conservatory here.