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Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Handmaid's Tale' star Amanda Brugel looks back at her career: 'I'm appreciative for the hell that I went through'
Award-winning Canadian actor Amanda Brugel has starred in beloved projects, including comedies like Kim's Convenience and Workin' Moms, dramas including Dark Matter, The Handmaid's Tale and Brandon Cronenberg's film Infinity Pool. She was also a judge on Canada's Drag Race. Brugel spoke to Yahoo Canada about her career. Growing up in Canada with a passion for performance and developing into the brilliant actor she is today. I am eternally grateful for what that show did for my career, uh, at 40 years old, in which a business has told me from the beginning that I will expire by then and have to go and like take a teaching job or do something else. But I am thrilled to be able to venture off into other things. What kind of got you started with like that bug of acting? I think, um, from when I was reading, kind of like in high school, you had one of those moments. I was like, oh yeah, this is like where I'm, this is where I'm meant to be. This feels comfortable. Well, I mean, I was a dancer at first. It was a a ballerina and then just loving performing in general. And um, and then I really wanted to be an actor when I was younger and tried to type out a little uh letters to agents and my parents just wouldn't let me. And I tried to mail them, and I found them actually hidden a couple of years after my parents told me they sent them. Um, I found them hidden behind a bookshelf. And so it was something that I sort of just had to let go when I was younger. But then in high school, I was in drama, I had completely forgotten about, um, wanting to be an actor, but I was doing a drama credit, and my drama teacher, Ms. Jenkins, just sort of pulled me aside and said, I think you like this. And I think you're probably really good at it. And so had me audition for a school play, and the moment I stood on that stage facing outward, it was like empty auditorium, but the moment I stood on that stage, it's very cliche, but I just felt whole and like I belonged and like I It's just such a magical feeling to be bitten by the bug, but it's like, it's, it's accurate. It truly happened. But as a parent yourself now, do you think that that moment of like, you having that drive and that desire, but also kind of wanting the best for your kid and in some ways, wanting to protect them from something that, you know, is known as like a very difficult, hard, challenging. industry to get into. I love that my parents did that because child actors, I know several of them, and I just don't know if it would have been great for a, a black biracial kid growing up in the 80s to be thrust into on sets. And so I'm, I'm really thankful for them that they did that. And I have the same impulse to answer your question for my children, but The one thing my parents did do that when I got into it, when I decided to go into acting for university, and even when I quit acting, I'm jumping forward, but when I quit in my early 30s and then decided to go back into it, my parents encouraged me, and they said, this is your dream, it's not the most stable. It's Chaotic. It's probably gonna break your heart, but it's your dream, so go for it. So I had a bit of both with I want to protect my kids, but I also want to do the same thing my parents did for me, which was to sort of push me towards my dream. So was Vendetta your first like job, your first your credit to get into? I think it was. Yeah, it was. I was still in university. And, uh, I was just, uh, just really excited to be able to, uh, start being on film sets. I went to theater school, I went to York, but just theater, um, film sets are an entirely different beast, and so it was very exciting, and I believe Christopher Walken was in it, if I can remember correctly, and uh we had a scene and he was very nice, and the scene was cut, and I was Wasn't even devastated. I was just so happy to have had the the chance, and then, yeah, and then it started. Amazing. Um, so when you, you know, finally get your first project and you're going into auditioning, I think, you know, after that you had like a pretty impressive like episodes here and there and films here and there and doing all this stuff. Um, what do you remember of just, you know, really having to kind of ground it out in a sense and just be like, hey, we're going from job to job and auditioning and being on that kind of hamster wheel of like having to go and do things and audition and kind of hope you get the next job. Awful. It's hard. It is devastating and heartbreaking and uh confidence shattering, uh, but if you have a certain temperament, and I truly do think that this business, to be an artist is very specific, like ever all are all artists are different, but to be able to be successful. In business as an artist, you have to be two very different personalities. And so luckily for me, I, um, and the type of type of person that when presented a challenge, I don't crumble. I, I, uh, rally against it, and that's, um, that's not always good, that's stubbornness, that's a slight amount of arrogance which is necessary, that is, um, uh, but it is in me. And so even though it was really difficult. Sometimes doing, uh, working 3 jobs. I worked as a, uh, perfume salesperson at Holtz, and I sold dog and cat perfume, if you don't mind. And I worked at a as a hostess at a restaurant at Yin Eglington, and then I would do temp temp work like sometimes for offices. And so you're doing that and then you get a call for an audition and you have to memorize, and then This is now before I started before emails were really a thing, so they would, you would either get a project faxed or they would leave the audition sides out of business, so you would have to go and find them next time. It was just, it's, uh, mayhem and very difficult, but it really built up a resilience that I really appreciate. I love the idea that it took me so long to sort of build a career, because that type of resilience is what's kept me going into my 40s, uh, I've seen people have the reverse where they had very big large success at the very beginning, and without that resilience, as soon as they sort of started to hit a wall, it almost broke them. And so I'm appreciative for the hell that I went through. I have to ask about Kim's convenience specifically because I think what's interesting about that show, obviously incredibly beloved, the writing was so great and so many people loved it. But I think it was also one of those shows that um really presented to like an American audience, like, here's a Canadian show and everyone can love it. It doesn't necessarily have to be. There's been like, I think a few shows before that have like maybe then that, but I think that really, because when it came out and because our streaming is, and because we're kind of the global scope of of being able to consume stuff is. That was one of those shows where it was like, oh, everyone around the world can kind of love this story and love these characters in a way that I don't think was really felt that much in Canada. What was it like to be on a show like that and just to see the kind of response that people had? Uh, it exactly how you said, it felt like a first, and I, uh, it was, um, It's not like it was in hindsight that we realized, oh, this is sort of a first and we are uh relatable, uh, globally, we really were cognizant of that, um, and it was exciting and and there was a lot of uh pride in it and when you have um Uh, a group, a company, your cast and crew, a part of something that you know is bigger than you, uh, it, it really lifts it. I, I really think that, um, it built everyone, it made everyone bring their A game because Not only were we doing this for our own individual careers or only individual successes, we realized that we had a story to tell that was, um, impacting people on a global level, which was really exciting and very rare, particularly for a Canadian television show. And so it was, um, it was thrilling. It's still my, I still call it summer camp. It's still one of my favorite jobs that I've ever done. Um, in terms of like the comedy there, I think for your acting career, you've done so many different things, and I think in a show that has so much comedy and a show that's like really dark, you have such a beautiful way to handle both. Um, what really appeals to you about being able to do one or the other? Do you like being able to kind of bounce back between the two genres? I love being, I have to jump back and forth between the two genres, uh. Originally, initially, it started as a, uh, a very specific strategy strategy between myself and my agent, in which we were really trying to not have me typecast as a black biracial woman in Canada, there were only so many roles available. And very quickly I realized I was only being offered just the, the most stereotypical roles that you can imagine in the 90s and then early 2000s. And so we just decided if I tried to show and then seek different genres, people wouldn't really be able to pin me down. And so by doing that, I fell in love with all of the genres, but to answer your question, I, it's it's split equal between um like horror, scared, like horror dark horrors dark stuff, um, and comedy, and the thing about those two genres, even though they're very different, they're very similar. Um, it's very easy to transition from, uh, being scared to, uh, it being funny or vice versa. And so I like, I like infusing comedy to everything that I do, but I, I love to run and be scared. Drama is the trickiest for me, I will say. And even though a lot of people seem to think that it's something that I favor or I do, because those are particularly the projects that I'm known for, it's the most difficult for me. What do you think makes it so difficult for you? You know, it's, I think my personality is, uh, it's not really muted. I'm quite emphatic. I'm a little like silly and loose, and for drama, technically you have to sort of be still, um, a little more stoic. You you can be uh you can be crazy, but just, uh, technically for me there's not as much room to improvise and play and um. And have a lot of fun and take a lot of really crazy swings, uh, and so that's why I feel, I feel a little more constricted with drama and that I have to behave, and I don't like that. um. Kim's convenience obviously came to an ending that not a lot of people were happy about the timing and a lot of people were very vocal fans, cast creators, everyone was kind of that that is not exactly how everyone I think wanted it to end. How do you feel about it now? Just as equally equally as disappointed as everyone else, you know, I, I think I would not have been as disappointed if we had been warned, if the, if the stories had been wrapped up um with the same amount of care. And um just um grace that we had been given from seasons to seasons, Paul and Gene and I had been with the those characters for decades. I went to school with Insert, and he invited me in university 20 years before to the first reading and like a coffee shop on campus to read the play. And so they had been with those stories for so long. And so it just felt like the carpet was ripped out from under everyone, and that the characters weren't honored in the way that they should have been. I have to ask about Ashgrove as well. Can you tell me just a little bit about kind of the process of being able to kind of craft that story and and kind of craft what we. Got to see. It was wild. I wish that every, uh, project that we were able to, specifically actors were able to go into it like we did with Ashgrove. Uh, Jeremy Lalonde and Jonas Chernick, which are my co-fellow writers, just had this idea. It was pre-COVID. But had this idea to uh do sort of a a film dramatic exercise in which we would improvise a movie, um, structure it out, structure all of the scenes, and be quite um uh detailed with what the story we wanted to tell, but during, um, having the ability to play and have freedom and improvise together, um. That being said, I did not know that behind my back, they uh were creating a different story, and there was a documentary being made about the fact that I thought I was on one path, making one movie, where in reality they were making a completely separate movie and I was new to all of the decisions and choices. So all of the reactions are in real time, and I had no idea how the story was going to end, and I did not know that everyone else was in on it except me. There you go. I mean, great product. I mean, I know, but we didn't, he didn't know that it was, I mean, the fact that we, I mean we were uh nominated for an ensemble award for the Canadian um uh Canadian Film Festival, and we were premiered in Glasgow and like the fact that it became this thing was extraordinary, but the um the exercise as an actor to have to truly be present all of the time is exhausting. It's, but it's so much fun and it really tells you how much um how much as an actor on film sets we sort of, um, are almost lazy, and we sort of block out a scene and know what's going on, and yes, we stretch ourselves, but not to the degree that you would if you have literally no idea what's going to happen next. So it's um it was a good exercise in reminding myself that I'm, I have to keep learning as an artist. Dark matter, um, what a Trippy, thrilling, great show and story to be on anything about that project that really kind of appealed to you and said like, yeah, I definitely want to kind of be a part of this. So, uh, Joel Edgerson and Jennifer Connelly, absolutely, just the two of those names, just to be opposite to uh Them on a screen, I thought would be thrilling and just to be completely honest, I thought if I have a couple scenes with either one of them, I would love it to have it for my reel. It's something besides Handmaids or Kims, just to update, so I just like given so much of my time to those projects, I really did it thinking it was just going to be a fun. not exercise, but just a a fun role for me to play, not realizing how much I would fall in love with Chicago with the Chicago crew are the showrunner and creator Blake Crouch and his wife, uh, Jackie Ben Zachary. They're just, they're the nicest, most collaborative people, and they're so generous and and the story is fantastic, the acting is great, it's just, it's been a, it's, it is currently in my adult life my dream job. Um, your character, I think in the first season that we saw was so interesting because I think, you know, in the frantic like, what's going on, what kind of box are we in? I think your character really had this interesting kind of like conviction about like, listen, I'm here, this is what's happening. You had some like really great lines, some really great kind of deep conversations, um in terms of getting your head around that character and where she sat in kind of this really interesting world, um, anything you thought about or anything that really kind of appealed to you about where she kind of sits in the larger arc. I, I really think someone yesterday told me she's sort of the, the moral compass or the moral barometer and that usually is, I, and I have no idea why, because I don't really think of myself as that moral of a person. But um, even though I play different genres, sort of being the moral compass, the, um, the, uh, uh, champion of ethics for, for, for things, it's quite easy to me now. Um, so I really didn't really have a lot of um deep thinking. I sort of just played, uh, I loved her. I thought she had a great sense of humor which I could like latch on to, and also I understood where her heart was. This season, holy moly. I now have to, without spoiling too much, get into the science behind it, the science behind Blake Crouch's world specifically around entanglement, and I I'm a, I'm feel like I go I'm going to university, and I have a PhD now in quantum physics, and so, um, that's been really, really exciting and I haven't been able to, being on projects, long running projects for a long time, you don't really research anymore, so I love that I'm getting to research again and really diving into, um, yeah, the quantum physics of it all. Speaking of long running projects, Handmaid's Tale, which is like 10 years of your life, I think, around there, which is like insanely long period of time, um, and especially for a story that I think what everyone finds so interesting about the show, I think, is that every year it's almost like more relevant for better or worse, for happiness or sadness. Like I think this season, I've seen up to episode 8. Um, is like more relevant than ever. Now that we're kind of wrapping up the end of the show, I'm assuming it's kind of bittersweet in the fact of, you know, it seems as though, you know, you had a great time on the show, but also, does it feel good to be able to kind of like move on a little bit from something that you, you've been doing for so long? Yes. Uh, yes, I, I am eternally grateful for what that show did for my career, uh, at 40 years old, in which a business has told me from the beginning that I will expire by then and have to go and like take a teaching job or do something else. I'm eternally grateful with the character and what the cast, uh, my relationships on the cast have done for me personally, but I am thrilled to be able to venture off into other things. Again, again, going back to a little bit of that, the idea that you can become Complacent, and not that any one of us were, but being staying with the character for 10 years, you get very comfortable, which is beautiful because it can help with performances, but you also get comfortable in a way as an artist, you need to be challenged, you need to fail, you need to have to go and research quantum physics. You, you just need to grow, and I felt like I had Uh, grown as much as I possibly could, and I'm thrilled for it, but I'm happy to say goodbye. Um, with Handmaid's Tale, you know, like you kind of mentioned, for a lot of people that probably really kind of thrusted you into their kind of space and their orbit, you know, some people around the world maybe didn't get to watch like Seed, but they got to watch like, but Handmaid's Tale is like very accessible to them and and top of mind. Um, when you kind of are able to, to step into that, what was that transition like for you to be like, oh, like this is very much like on a global scale, lots of eyeballs, lots of initial interest to be able to be on a show that kind of has um that kind of impact on people. Uh, I mean, it's so rare if you think about all of the actors in the world, and then to be thrust into the zeitgeist is just, it's, it's, it's so rare. It's like a 1% of the 1% of like working successful actors. Um, I still don't know if I've really wrapped my brain around the impact of it. Uh, and the only time I am able to is when I go to really remote places around the world, a small towns outside of Hungary where someone, and I'm the only visible minority. Uh, like in the area, and people will run and want to hug me and talk to me about Rita. And that the, the human connection with strangers and the stories that have come out of it are the thing that I really started to realize, oh, this is, this is massive. This is different. It's one thing to be a fan of a show and like a character, but it's one thing to be able to uh connect with people on such an intimate level so quickly. That I, I don't know if I will ever have that again, and that is what I will miss. That is what I, I do still love and did love about being a part of something like that with the conversations that were inspired from our show. Before I let you go, um, When you kind of look back at your career, is there a project that stands out to you to say like, I'm really happy that I got to do this, whether it be a small role or a big role or something that kind of has stuck with you. Canada's Drag Race, uh, judge, by far, uh, till the day I die. It was, uh, I only got to do one season. And I still love it. I loved it wholeheartedly. I love drag queens. I love the art of drag. I loved my cast, the experience, it was beautiful, so that one. How did you feel I have to leave that because I think it was a pretty big deal. I was heartbroken when you left that working. It was a very big deal. It is still a big deal. To be honest with you, I haven't watched the seasons afterwards because I can't, and I'm not that kind of person. If I don't get a job or if I, if I lose out to a role, I'll still watch the movie and celebrate the actor, because I think if someone got it. Let's, that's good for them. But Drag Race, no, no, can't watch it after my season and too heartbroken still. I'll still, I'll talk to my fellow judges. I talked to them a lot, but uh I can't, I can't watch that my chair filled by another. Have you ever thought about, you know, I think obviously primarily everyone knows you as an actor, but being able to take on roles that do give you kind of more control behind the scenes of of what's happening. Yes, I really do, and people ask me that all the time and I love it, and I always think I will do that when I'm a big girl, like I'll do that when I'm an adult, realizing fully that I'm 2 years away from 50. It takes so much time and so much heart. Uh, for example, my fiance and I right now are in the process of writing, um, a, a show, a pilot, and it's, it's been going on for a year and a half, and we are nowhere near as close as, like, I mean now we have options, but it just feels like it's this long. The hard road and it's not the hard road that I'm uh I'm sort of hesitant about taking, um, it's just I don't have the time to give everything that I would like to to my own project because I'm usually working. Possibly when I'm done here, and if there's a bit of a lapse here, I would love to do a short. I would love to make my own, and I would, I would love to direct. And I've always, I've always said I don't want to, but now being on enough sets and meeting enough directors, I'm like, oh dear, I could, I think I could do that. Uh, so yes, I would love to, but the short of it is I, I need time.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Handmaid's Tale' star Amanda Brugel is excited to 'grow' after the series, reveals one show she can't watch after her exit
One of Canada's most acclaimed actors, for more than 25 years Amanda Brugel has starred in beloved projects, comedies like Kim's Convenience and Workin' Moms, to dramas including Dark Matter, The Handmaid's Tale and Brandon Cronenberg's film Infinity Pool. She was also a judge on Canada's Drag Race. An absolute powerhouse as an actor, Brugel's career in entertainment actually began as a ballet dancer, where she recognized that she had a love for performing at a young age. But a moment on stage in a high school play solidified that this was the right career path for her. "I really wanted to be an actor when I was younger and tried to type out little letters to agents, and my parents just wouldn't let me," she said. "I tried to mail them and I found them actually hidden a couple years after my parents told me they sent them. I found them hidden behind a bookshelf." "The moment I stood on that stage, facing outward, it was an empty auditorium, but the moment I stood on that stage, it's very cliché, but I just felt whole and like I belonged." Looking back, Brugel is happy that her parents put the brakes on her attempt to be a child actor. "I just don't know if it would have been great for a Black, biracial kid growing up in the '80s to be thrust into on sets," she said. "And so I'm really thankful for them that they did that." "One thing my parents did ... when I decided to go into acting for university, and even when I quit acting ... in my early 30s, and then decided to go back into it, my parents encouraged me, and they said, 'This is your dream. It's not the most stable, it's chaotic. It's probably going to break your heart, but it's your dream, so go for it.'" But while the film and TV industry has long favoured young women for the best roles, Brugel highlighted that being on her most high-profile projects in her 40s, working toward success for decades, there's a "resilience" that she established. "I've seen people have the reverse, where they had very big, large success at the very beginning and without that resilience, as soon as they sort of started to hit a wall, it almost broke them. And so I'm appreciative for the hell that I went through," she said. Brugel was still in university when she landed a role in the 1999 movie, starring Christopher Walken, Bruce Davison and Joaquim de Almeida. Set in 1890 New Orleans, Vendetta is based on a true story about the largest lynching in American history. After the police chief was killed, Sicilian dock workers were tried for murder. "I was just just really excited to be able to start being on film sets," Brugel said about working on the film. "I went to theatre school, I went to York [University], but film sets are an entirely different beast." "[Christopher Walken and I] had a scene and he was very nice, and the scene was cut. I wasn't even devastated. I was just so happy to have had the the chance." While Brugel went on to continue to audition for different projects, taking on roles in episode of various TV shows like Soul Food, Leap Years, Wild Card, Doc and The Newsroom, Brugel described the process of auditioning, particularly during that time, as "devastating and heartbreaking and confidence shattering." "To be able to be successful in this business as an artist, you have to be two very different personalities," she said. "And so luckily for me, I am the type of person that when presented a challenge, I don't crumble. I rally against it. That's not always good. That's stubbornness, that's a slight amount of arrogance, which is necessary. But it is in me. "So even though it was really difficult, sometimes working three jobs, I worked as a perfume salesperson at [Holt Renfrew] and I sold dog and cat perfume, ... and I worked at a hostess at a restaurant at Yonge and Eglinton [in Toronto], and then I would do temp work sometimes for offices. And so you're doing that and then you get a call for an audition. ... But it really built up a resilience that I really appreciate." Brugel actually went to university with Kim's Convenience co-creator, Ins Choi, and even read a first draft of the play at a coffee shop on campus. Playing the role of Pastor Nina Gomez, the show was one of few Canadians projects that wasn't just embraced in Canada, but had international fandom. "It felt like a first," Brugel said. "It's not like it was in hindsight that we realized, 'Oh, this is sort of a first and we are relatable globally,' we really were cognizant of that, and it was exciting, and there was a lot of pride in it." "When you have a group, a company, your cast and crew, a part of something that you know is bigger than you, it really lifts it. I really think that it built everyone. It made everyone bring their A-game. Because not only were we doing this for our own individual careers or only individual successes, we realized that we had a story to tell that was impacting people on a global level, which was really exciting and very rare, particularly for a Canadian television show. And so it was thrilling. I still call it summer camp. It's still one of my favourite jobs that I've ever done." Fans of Kim's Convenience will remember the unexpected cancellation of the series. Brugel feels "equally as disappointed" about the show's ending now than she did when it happened back in 2021. "I think I would not have been as disappointed if we had been warned, if the stories had been wrapped up with the same amount of care and just grace that we had been given from season to season," she said. "It just felt like the carpet was ripped out from under everyone, and that the characters weren't honoured in the way that they should have been." While Brugel is likely more known for her more dramatic roles, Kim's Convenience shows her great range as an actor, and an example of how she likes to jump and forth between different genres. "It started as a very specific strategy between myself and my agent, in which we were really trying to not have me typecast as a Black, biracial woman in Canada. There were only so many roles available," she said. "And very quickly I realized I was only being offered just the the most stereotypical roles that you can imagine in the '90s and then early 2000s, and so we just decided if I tried to ... seek out different genres, people wouldn't really be able to pin me down." "Drama is the trickiest for me, I will say. ... I think my personality is not really muted. I'm quite emphatic. I'm a little silly and loose, and for drama, technically, you have to sort of be still, a little more stoic. You can be crazy, but just technically, for me, there's not as much room to improvise and play, and have a lot of fun and take a lot of really crazy swings. And so that's why I feel a little more constricted with drama and that I have to behave." Among all of Brugel's impressive projects, being a judge on Canada's Drag Race Season 2 will always be a memorable moment for her. "I only got to do one season and I still love it," she said. "I loved it wholeheartedly. I love drag queens. I love the art of drag. I loved my cast. The experience, it was beautiful." She added that it's "still a big deal" that she could only participate in one season on the non-union production. "I haven't watched the seasons afterwards because I can't, and I'm not that kind of person. If I don't get a job or if I lose out to a role, I'll still watch the movie and celebrate the actor." "But Drag Race, no, no, I can't watch it after my season. I'm too heartbroken. Still, I'll talk to my fellow judges. I talk to them a lot, but I can't watch my chair filled by another." Collaborating with Jeremy LaLonde and Jonas Chernick, her fellow co-writers for Ashgrove, it all started with an idea to improvise a movie. The result was a psychological thriller set during a water pandemic and Dr. Jennifer Ashgrove, played by Brugel, is the world's best chance for a cure. But experiencing a "blackout," she's instructed to take some time off of work, heading to a rural farmhouse with her husband Jason (Chernick) and their friends. "I wish that every project that we were able to, specifically actors, were able to go into it like we did with Ashgrove," Brugel said. But the way Ashgrove came together as a film was actually a surprise to Brugel. "It was pre-COVID, but [Jeremy LaLonde and Jonas Chernick] had this idea to do sort of a dramatic exercise, in which we would improvise a movie," she explained. "Structure all of the scenes and be quite detailed with the story we wanted to tell, but having the ability to play and have freedom and improvise together." "That being said, I did not know that behind my back they were creating a different story. And there was a documentary being made about the fact that I thought I was on one path, making one movie, where in reality, they were making a completely separate movie, and I was new to all of the decisions and choices. So all of the reactions are in real time. And I had no idea how the story was going to end, and I did not know that everyone else was in on it, except me." For another Dark Thriller, Brugel took on the role of Blair Caplan in the Apple TV+ sci-fi, thriller series Dark Matter, and sharing the screen with Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly was a highlight for her. Teasing what we can expect from Season 2, Brugel gets to really dive into the research for the character, specifically for the quantum physics elements of the show. "To be completely honest, I thought if I have a couple scenes with either one of them, I would love to have it for my reel," Brugel said. "I really did it thinking it was just going to be ... a fun role for me to play, not realizing how much I would fall in love with Chicago, with the Chicago crew, the showrunner and creator Blake Crouch and his wife, [Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry]. They're just the nicest, most collaborative people, and they're so generous and and the story is fantastic. The acting is great. It is currently, in my adult life, my dream job." With The Handmaid's Tale in its sixth and final season and filming of the series spanning 10 years, Brugel's character Rita quickly became, and still is, one of the most beloved characters in the show. While the series has been a massive success, Brugel is ready to move on to new projects. "I am eternally grateful for what that show did for my career at 40 years old, in a business that has told me from the beginning that I will expire by then," Brugel highlighted. "But I am thrilled to be able to venture off into other things." "Staying with the character for 10 years, you get very comfortable, which is beautiful because it can help with performances. ... As an artist you need to be challenged. You need to fail. You need to have to go and research quantum physics. You just need to grow. And I felt like I had grown as much as I possibly could, and I'm thrilled for it, but I'm happy to say goodbye." While Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel has been particularly impactful for many since it was published, the story was amplified when the show was released, with the resurgence of the red Handmaid's cloak as a symbol in the fight for women's rights around the world. "I still don't know if I really wrapped my brain around the impact of it, and the only time I am able to is when I go to really remote places around the world, a small towns outside of Hungary and I'm the only visible minority in the area, and people will run and want to hug me and talk to me about Rita," Brugel said. "The human connection with strangers and the stories that have come out of it are the thing that I really started to realize, oh, this is massive. This is different. It's one thing to be a fan of a show and a character, but it's one thing to be able to connect with people on such an intimate level so quickly that I don't know if I will ever have that again, and that is what I will miss. That is what I do still love and did love about being a part of something like that, with the conversations that were inspired from our show."
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Simu Liu engaged to girlfriend Allison Hsu after two years of dating
Simu Liu is officially engaged to Allison Hsu. The Kim's Convenience actor shared the news to his Instagram followers on Sunday, posting a photo with his now-fiancée, who showed off a diamond ring on her finger. 'From weekends in Paris, day trips to Palm Springs, long nights on set, afternoons vegging on the couch and everything in between, I choose you forever and always,' the caption read. Liu and the marketing actor were first romantically linked back in November 2022 when they both attended the Violent Night premiere in Los Angeles. One year later, in 2023, the Barbie actor opened up in an interview with People about what he learned from Hsu. 'I think she really just has taught me the value in so many things. She's absolutely changed my life, so I'm very, very grateful to have her,' he said about her at the time. 'She's really taught me that you have to fight for the time with the people that you love, she's really taught me that you need to be intentional and tend to each and every one of the relationships that matter to you.' Liu's engagement comes a few months after he starred as a guest Dragon on Canada's Dragons' Den, where he sent the internet into a frenzy for accusing a boba tea brand of cultural appropriation. During the episode, Fiset and Frenette, both from Québec City, asked for a $1m investment from one of the Dragons for an 18 percent stake in their company. The due claimed that Bobba offers 'unique' ready-to-drink bubble tea with 'popping boba.' Bubble tea typically combines flavorful milk or regular tea with chewy tapioca balls for an added layer of sweetness. In their pitch, Fiset and Frenette defined bubble tea as 'that trendy sugary drink that you queue up for and you're never quite sure about its content.' Liu interjected to say: 'Hang on, hang on. I'm quite sure about its content, but continue.' The two entrepreneurs declared 'those days' of bubble tea were 'over' as Bobba has now 'disturbed' the market and 'transformed this beloved beverage into a convenient and healthier ready-to-drink experience' with 'high-quality tea, fruit juice, and our famous popping boba.' According to Britannica, bubble tea originated in T'ai-nan, Taiwan, in the 1980s. However, variations of the drink have since popped up throughout East Asia with fresh flavors like matcha green tea and taro tea. 'I'm concerned about this idea of 'disrupting' or 'disturbing' bubble tea,' Liu said in response to the pitch. However, Minhas asked, 'Why?' cutting Liu off. 'There can be new takes on things,' she added. 'Sure,' said Liu. 'But I'm looking at-' 'Not everything has to be traditional,' said Minhas. 'Then there's also the issue of cultural appropriation,' Liu continued. 'There's an issue of taking something that's very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote unquote 'making it better,' which I have an issue with.'
The Herald Scotland
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Kim's Convenience jumps from Netflix to the stage. What's the verdict?
The Pavilion, Glasgow All life walks through Kim's Convenience, the Toronto corner shop that gives Ins Choi's play its title. Best known to many from its Canadian Broadcasting Company TV adaptation that ran for five series between 2016 and 2021, and which can still be found on Netflix, Choi's 201l template set the tone by putting a Korean immigrant and his increasingly westernised family at its centre. Where Appa (Korean for 'dad') works all hours holding court from behind the counter, Umma ('mum') quietly keeps the family together. Their daughter Janet has ambitions to be a photographer, while estranged son Jung can only communicate with his mother at church. The TV cast of Canadian comedy Kim's Convenience (Image: free) The shop may be at the heart of the local community, but with Janet looking set to embark on a fine romance with local cop Alex and everything else going on besides, it doesn't look like Appa will have anyone to leave his empire to any time soon. Jung, however, might just beg to differ. What emerges over the play's seventy-five minutes is an everyday meditation on inter generational relationships, cultural traditions, and navigating through a brave new world in which Appa and Umma's offspring have never known anything different. James Yi throws in a few martial arts moves to go with it as Appa in this touring revival of Esther Jun's production, which sets out its store - literally - on Mona Camille's forensically observed shop interior. Read more While fans of the TV show will recognise some of the scenarios and dramatic tics that began life on stage, Choi's longer form original has more space to breathe, and the duologues that emerge similarly combine seriousness and underlying warmth. As Appa, Yi is the pivot on which the play hangs. Candace Leung's Umma is a loyal pragmatist, while Caroline Donica and Andrew Gichigi make a sweet couple as Janet and Alex. Daniel Phung is a redemptive prodigal as Jung in a show that is very much a family affair.
Hindustan Times
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Marvel star Simu Liu gets engaged to long-time gf in Paris; Priyanka Chopra, Florence Pugh drop well-wishes
Another dreamy man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ready to tie the knot! If you hit play on Shang-Chi (2021) or even Barbie (2023), for that matter, just to watch Simu Liu throw punches or sing in slow motion, we've got news that'll shatter your multiverse: he's engaged. The Kim's Convenience star made things official with longtime girlfriend Allison Hsu in the most romantic way possible — under the sparkling lights of Paris, with the Eiffel Tower as the third wheel. Both dressed in crisp white, the couple posed for dreamy engagement pics, and yes, her diamond ring did all the talking. Liu kept the captions sweet and simple. 'Us forever,' he wrote on one photo. In another, he poured his heart out: 'From weekends in Paris, day trips to Palm Springs, long nights on set, afternoons vegging on the couch, and everything in between — I choose you, forever and always.' Cue the collective meltdown. A post shared by Simu Liu (@simuliu) Fans and celeb friends wasted no time flooding the comments with love. Florence Pugh let out a caps-lock scream: 'AHHHHHHH HOW AMAZING! Sending love to you both.' Priyanka Chopra Jonas hit the emojis hard with a flurry of hearts and confetti, while John Legend chimed in with a classic, 'Congratulations.' Simu and Allison have been going strong since late 2022, and while they've made a few glamorous red carpet appearances, they've mostly kept things low-key. Still, Liu has never shied away from gushing about her. Over the past year, he's praised her for bringing peace, happiness, and 'the kind of love that makes everything feel right.' Now, with that Paris proposal, the internet's new favourite couple just became official goals.
