Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is Netflix’s latest break-out star, playing the American-Indian teen Devi in ‘Never Have I Ever’. But, it’s far from the first time that a Canadian has broken into Hollywood. With the young Tamil-Canadian actress on the rise, we take a look at some of the most famous Canadian faces in Hollywood — from the clear-cut Canucks to a few total shockers. Let’s get into it, eh?
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Dwayne Johnson: WWE star turned Hollywood’s highest paid actor, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is American-Canadian. Though his mum is Samoan, his dad, Rocky Johnson, was from Nova Scotia. In fact, the actor once played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League in 1995. The Rock reportedly got his Canadian citizenship in 2009.
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Finn Wolfhard: 'Stranger Things’ Mike Wheeler— aka Finn Wolfhard — is one of the youngest Canadian actors breaking into Hollywood. The 17-year-old actor (of French, German and Jewish descent) was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His dad researches aboriginal land claims. Wolfhard is set to star in the upcoming film ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ (2021).
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Mena Massoud: Mena Massoud’s breakout role was in Disney’s 2019 live-action film ‘Aladdin’, which surpassed $1billion at the box office. The Egyptian-Canadian actor was born in Cairo and immigrated with his family to Canada aged three. He grew up in Markham, Ontario before moving to Toronto.
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Simu Liu: He’s going to be Marvel’s first Asian superhero, but he’s always been a hero in our hearts. Simu Liu, best known for the sitcom Kim’s Convenience, is set to play Shang-Chi in Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021). Born in China, the actor grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and went to University of Western Ontario and Ivey Business School for finance and accounting.
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Matthew Perry: Could he be anymore Canadian?! Universally known as Chandler Bing in ‘Friends’, Matthew Perry was born to Canadian mum Suzaanne Marie Morrison, a journalist and former press secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, father of Justin Trudeau. Perry, whose dad is American, grew up in Ottawa with his mum after his parents divorced.
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Manny Jacinto: Best known as the incredibly handsome Jason Mendoza on ‘The Good Place’, Manny Jacinto is a Filipino-Canadian actor. The 32 year old was born in Manila. He moved to Canada as a toddler. He grew up in Richmond, British Columbia. Jacinto’s high school was the all-boys Catholic institution Vancouver College. He has a degree in civil engineering form the University of British Columbia.
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Jim Carrey: Born in the suburb of Newmarket, Ontario, Carrey grew up in Scarborough before moving to Burlington. His family struggled financially and was at one point homeless and living out of a Volkswagen van. Before Carrey found tremendous fame, his dad drove him to Toronto to debut at the Yuk Yuk’s comedy club, where he bombed.
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Mike Myers: Mike Myers was born in Scarborough, Ontario, to English immigrant parents from Liverpool. As a kid, he appeared in a commercial for British Columbia Hydro; at 12, he was a guest actor on the Canadian television series King of Kensington. His brother, Peter, famously worked at Sears Canada, and the two even filmed a Sears ad together.
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Ryan Gosling: Firstly, we need to apologise for Ryan Reynolds for putting Ryan Gosling first on the list — Mr. Reynolds, it was completely random and we promise to buy you timbits (a Canadian delicacy) for your troubles. Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario to French-Canadian Mormon parents who moved around the province a lot, from Cornwall to Burlington.
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Ryan Reynolds: Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ryan Reynolds’ farmer grandfather Chester Reynolds was actually a Canadian politician who represented Stettler in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1940s. Reynolds got his start on the Canadian-American teen soap ‘Hillside’. There are plenty of Canadian jokes tucked into Deadpool, including a particularly crude joke about Regina, Ontario.
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Seth Rogen: Born to Jewish parents in Vancouver, British Columbia, Seth Rogen holds dual Canadian-American citizenship, but has said that he identifies with being Canadian “much more than American, seeing as that’s where he grew up.
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Keanu Reeves: Maybe even more surprising than his Canadian-ness is the fact that Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to an English mum and a Hawaiian dad, whose ancestry includes Chinese, English, Irish, Native Hawaiian and Portuguese. Reeves grew up in Toronto, Ontario.
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Michael Cera: Representing Brampton, Ontario, Michael Cera’s first role was an uncredited appearance in a Tim Hortons commercial — which is, perhaps, the most Canadian debut known to mankind.
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William Shatner: William Shatner was born in Montreal, Quebec to an immigrant Jewish family from Eastern Europe. Shatner went to the Montreal Children’s Theatre when he was younger and eventually studied Economics at McGill University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce.
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Will Arnett: Canadian actor Will Arnett, best known for his role voicing BoJack Horesman — and playing Gob in Arrested Development — was born in Toronto, Ontario. But his parents were originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was asked not to return to Lakefield College School in Ontario because he was a troublemaker. He later attended Concordia University in Montreal but dropped out after a semester.
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Taylor Kitsch: ‘Friday Night Lights’ heartthrob Taylor Kitsch perfected his Texan accent as Taylor Kitsch, but he’s 100 per cent Canadian. Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, he played ice hockey from the age of three. He was even on the junior ice hockey team Langley Hornets, part of the British Columbia Hockey League. A knee injury took him out of the game in 2002, after which he moved to New York City. At one point in NYC, he was homeless and sleeping on subway trains.
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Evangeline Lilly: Born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, ‘Lost’ actress Evangeline Lilly grew up in British Columbia. As well as waitressing and oil changes for big rig trucks, Lilly was also a flight attendant for Canada’s Royal Airlines.
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Anna Paquin: 'True Blood' actress Anna Paquin grew up in New Zealand, but she was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her mum was an English teacher from Wellington, New Zealand, while her dad was a high school PE teacher from Canada. Paquin moved out of Canada at the age of four.
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Rachel McAdams: Just like her ‘The Notebook’ co-star Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams was born in London, Ontario. Before acting, she competed in regional figure skating until she was 18. She worked at a McDonalds for three summers as she attended secondary school in Canada. McAdams is a York University alum in Toronto, where she studied theatre.
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Pamela Anderson: Pamela Anderson has a pretty crazy Canadian origin story. Born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Anderson got her first taste of fame as a newborn, when the media dubbed her as a ‘Centennial Baby’. She was born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada’s official founding date. Anderson later worked as a fitness instructor in Vancouver.
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Emily VanCamp: Emily VanCamp — known for her roles in the Captain America films and TV series such as Everwood and Revenge —was born in Port Perry, Ontario, before convincing her parents to move her to Montreal at the age of 11 so she could become a professional dancer.
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Sandra Oh: Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve actress Sandra Oh was born in Nepean, Ontario to South Korean immigrants. She performed in a school musical called The Canada Goose at the age of 10. Later, she would reject a four-year journalism scholarship at Carleton University instead study drama at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, which she paid for out of her own pocket.
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Carrie-Anne Moss: The Matrix and Jessica Jones actress Carrie-Anne Moss was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. She grew up with her mum in Vancouver and at the age of 11 joined the children’s musical theatre of Vancouver.
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Shay Mitchell: You’ve seen her in Pretty Little Liars and, more recently, ‘You’. Shay Mitchell was born in Mississauga Ontario to a Scottish-Irish father and Filipino mother; she’s the first cousin-once-removed of Disney songstress Lea Salonga. After her family moved to West Vancouver, a pre-teen Mitchell was selected by a modeling agency for representation.
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Kim Cattrall: She was born in Liverpool, England, but ‘Sex and the City’ actress Kim Cattrall is in fact Canadian. Her family emigrated to British Columbia when she was a baby. She moved back to Liverpool when she was 11 after her grandmum got sick but later returned to Canada. She moved to New York City at the age of 16 to act.
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Cobie Smulders: Cobie Smulders was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She aspired to be a marine biologist and even registered at University of Victoria. But acting soon took over her life. She’s known for roles such as Robin in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and Maria Hill in MCU films such as ‘The Avengers’.
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Nina Dobrev: Best known for her role as Elena Gilbert in the hit CW series Vampire Diaries, Nina Dobrev and her family immigrated from Bulgaria to Canada when she was only two years old. She studied sociology at Ryerson University in Toronto but dropped out to pursue acting.
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Hannah Simone: Born to an Indian father and English mother, Hannah Simone grew up in Calgary, Alberta. The ‘New Girl’ moved around a lot, living Cyprus and New Delhi before relocating to Vancouver to attend the University of Columbia. She got a second degree from Ryerson University in Toronto.
Image Credit: AP
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