I’ve been in three major US cities in the past two weeks and upon landing I have gotten emotional each time. I’ve wept, I’ve smiled, I’ve skipped.
In Detroit there was a rainbow pride flag that greeted me on my way to baggage claim.
In Louisville the rainbow was not only on the streets but in every restaurant and store.
This past weekend in Philly my friend @coltonlhaynes literary masterpiece Miss Memory Lane was front and centre at the “buy before you fly” section.
I have to say I am surprised. HAPPILY surprised! I grew up with strong LGBTQ+ role models in my family and supportive parents but in the past I’ve been told to be “cautious” about my queerness that it could “limit the parts” I might get to play and even a few weeks ago someone close to me was worried the US consulate would ask me about my sexuality and that it might hinder my ability to work in the states. It took me awhile to find myself as part of the Q in the acronym of love and I constantly wonder what it would have been like to have gotten to this knowledge earlier in life.
My friend @emrellz and I talk about this ad nauseam but we always end up in the same place – grateful for who we are, who we have become, and immensity grateful for those that helped the rainbow get into the airport, the restaurant and the bookstore.
I am also beyond grateful for the friends that have guided me toward being me (two pictured here who I miss the most in this moment), the unwavering patience of my parter and the LGBTQ+ community that without fail is the best this world has to offer. xoxo queer baby 🏳️🌈
CALAMITY JANE
I had the honour to dive into this woman’s life – From wherever she is watching, I hope she enjoys our retelling of her story. Select theatres and digital release Feb 2.
***
Movies take a village y’all. They start in a dream to end up on our screens. The community is endless but here is a start: @tkmiles @jannieklompje @realtimrozon @stephenamell @priscillafaia @christiansloan @garrett_black @llangfor
@guiltlessglamour @sofiephllips
As always big thanks to my team and to the champions who dive deep with me when the words are still scrambled eggs on a page. You are heroes. @mattkevanderson @mcilroyandassociates
See you soon Jane 🤎
Growing up our relatives were always on the other end of a plane ride. My parents, brother and I were west coasters but my memories of summer are all east coast. Thick air, mosquitos the size of quarters, bagged milk… My cousins backyard where the meals were dominated by corn on the cob and whatever nuclear colour of powdered mixed drink was popular that year.
The next (and every) morning Dad would convince me run with him to the house he grew up in just so we could cannonball in the ancient pool.
I miss this the most.
Not the relief from humidity or the smell of fabric softener but I miss something I don’t think I ever saw: my Grandmother seeing her favourite boy barrel through the front door, out the back one and into the water.
Grandma stayed a Polish mystery to me. A stout woman with a yellow car that spoke German when you turned it on, a sun room full of Eastern European dolls and a patio frequently visited by the animals in the area waiting to feed on peanuts out of her pockets. She was known for her stern nature, for illegally slipping me cash, and her killer apple pie. She was hard to get to know but I loved her.
I spent eras in her house but Grandma only made it out west once to visit me. I remember her in our kitchen scolding me for playing with a raw egg. I remember her telling me she hated flying and I remember feeling brave next to her when she got scared stiff by the thunderstorm that struck our house one night. As a child, I felt so “other” to her. Strangers if not for family.
I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t fly to see me more? Why with what few planes she did take she did so to visit Hawaii?
Walking the beaches as an adult myself I think that her need for a different form of peace was stronger than her fear of flying. In my early teens she fell sick. Right before she passed she finally let us hear the stories from the war that lived deep in her blood. I understood her then.
We spread her ashes here so she could rest forever.
I have her stubbornness, her hands and her weird pinky toe that I take everywhere with me, especially when I am fortunate enough to be a guest on the sands of Hawaii.
Mahalo.
Recent Reads:
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Did Yee Hear Mammy Died
Sex Muscles and Diamonds
The Housemaid
The Second Circle
… various plays and books on Art.
Recommendations needed and pleaded!
Merci ✨
overdue thank yous pt 1…
I turned 32 this past July, an age my childhood self glazed over assuming it uneventful. I was generously celebrated in Kentucky by a crew of people who I have dedicated an entire journal to since meeting them in May. Normally the spines of my notebooks are dated by year when completed, this one also importantly states the season and place. My experience with these impactful humans, their expertise, and love for storytelling was nothing short of transformational. I’m long past due to reiterate my thank yous to them, my NuLu neighbourhood cat Kermit and to the character who honoured me with her life.
Thank you.
More merci’s to come, until then
Hello September meet diary Fall 2023. Dear Diary…
Miranda and I met in the era of Lizzy McGuire, Lost and Popular. We ran into one another in a hallway that smelled like seasoning salt French fries, and was lined with wooden lockers that weren’t allowed to be locked.
She, with train tracks on her teeth. Me, with bad BAD eyeliner and the both of us with side bangs straightened to early 2000’s perfection.
From then on every Friday after school we would stop at the neighbourhood Subway – chicken onion teriyaki – split it, and document the walk home on my very first camera (that would get stolen out of my unlocked locker). If any sandwich remained when we got to one of our houses it was doused in miracle whip before its demolition and jumping on MSN to talk to our ~*crushes*~
Braces, smudge and bangs are gone but we are still going strong. I can’t imagine a world without this woman, she knows me deeply and yet I constantly wonder what it’s like inside her mind.
How is it humanly possible to be an excellent athlete, a legit class partner and be the life of the party?
How can one person do a keg stand, nurse your dog back to health and take out your kidney when you’re ill?
How do we end up meeting the people that talk us off ledges, hold our hair back and inevitably change our lives…
Some people are just born to make the world better and Mir is the worlds MVP.
overdue thank yous pt 2…
When I returned home to BC late into a Pacific Northerners summer I tried to pack in the most fun one could possibly have in the ocean (thank you), with the friends who touch my heart from far away (thank you), crewed for a Death Race Champ (thanks Champ), and spread the ashes of two of the people who made me who I am (thankyouthankyouthankyouboth).
I stumbled the treacherous scenic route back to myself by hugging my mom more times than I can count, eating ocean gifts and unpacking the whirlwind of art with my longest mentor and friend. I’ve recently been admiring the miracle of a blade of grass and recognizing the magic of all the little helpers I met along the way. All folks under the age of 8 and 4 feet who, though strangers, sensed my imagination was on sleep and took it upon themselves to converse it back awake.
To the girl in the campsite bathroom who told me she was with her “friends” who were most definitely her parents, thank you. The young one french kissing an ice cream who told me all dogs are zombies, thank you. And to the young boy on his tricycle who taught Ri and I how to open a garbage can with his fists, thank you.
These aren’t even close to the amount of thanks needed but Meta has a cap on characters. I however do not. ||:Thankyou:||
I made my first daring fashion choice at the age of 11. With Gwen Stefani as my guiding light I entered the local Winners and perused for what would be the product of my hard earned horse shit scooping cash.
The winner: A periwinkle blue spandex cotton blend shirt with the number 8 (my favourite) screen printed in iridescent synthetic right on the torso for $6.99. A steal of deal for something so HOT. I tried it on in the mirror hidden in the back corner by the toddler toys and as predicted it was stunning. It had the spandex ratio of the early 2000’s (a lost art form) that would allow me to do emergency kartwheels when needed and would conceal my not quite yet boobs sans bra. But here’s the best part, it was a ONE shoulder tank.
Listen, the one shoulder tank-top was the beige sweatsuit of 2020. It was viral, it was necessary and it was finally mine. With the gorgeous trendy homage to my pop music icon adorned I strutted back home, slammed the side door open with a Gwen non chalance and flicked my frizz back when my dad looked up from Chrétien and said “I hope you got that half price.”
There’s a lot to say about the effervescent @linzzmorgan … She’s incredible at Secret Santa, at talking you off ledges, and helping you jump off tall boats. She’s an awesome artist that speaks honestly about the heart of art and the comedy of life. And not lastly but beyond worth a mention she has recently proven that without a doubt she can throw one hell of a wedding! (Not to mention she can’t take a bad picture!) That doesn’t go for everyone of us sweating in the BG of most of my dance floor film rolls… I just got them back but don’t worry they will be politely filtered and coming to this gram soon near you XX
Cheers to the @catherineregehr dress of my dreams who instantly became my favourite dance partner of all time. I miss you already sweet yellow, till we dance again. Oh and to @rihowlett who ain’t so bad either 🤤
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Canary was a frontierswoman, an adventurer, a performer, a fighter and even a nurse during a turbulent era known as the Wild West.
Studying her life there seems to be no break from pain or courage. She defied social norms and relentlessly demanded to have a place in history. In 1880 she was Americas “most famous woman”, arguably the first heroine of the United States. Plays were written about her in the East and New York newspapers called her “The Queen of the Plains”. She was the “female cowboy” that every townsfolk wanted to grab a drink with and every journalist wanted to speak to. That would explain the pictures we have of her, especially the one where she is standing in front of Wild Bill Hickoks grave. This photo helped cement the infinite lore that these two legends were in relationship, though some accounts say they rode into town once together and that was it.
I’ve thought a lot about when the persona of Calamity Jane became most if not all of her and if at times it was more of a burden than she bargained for. Sitting on my computer in my comfy bed drinking matcha next to my snoring senior dog I have the luxury of considering this, where as I assume Jane was too busy trying to survive.
Jane died at the age of 51 most likely due to excessive drinking but if there’s one thing I can gather from the internet it’s that she embodies the saying “larger than life” even in death.
As we get further from places in time we realize the information we have is most likely skewed and that history was always written form the victors POV. There are others stories that have yet to be revealed from this era. I encourage the filmmakers of today to dive into the rich unpredictable rhythm of the Western frontier, for until we have access to time travel… we have movies. Kamloops, British Columbia
Home is where your puppies are (and momma)
I haven’t been dancing in an embarrassingly offensive amount of days and once you’ve danced with @eliseleblanc.xo in an open field your kitchen tiles just don’t quite cut it any more.
Please name drop your favourite places to dance, wherever in the world they may be and we will actively search these out to check off our bucket dance list. Right Elise?!🕺 🪣 💃
Plongez au cœur d’une amitié extraordinaire ! 🐆👧🏻
Après MIA ET LE LION BLANC et LE LOUP ET LE LION, découvrez LE DERNIER JAGUAR, notre nouveau film, le 7 février au cinéma. #Autumnandtheblackjaguar #ledernierjaguar #maijuinproductions #mediawan #studiocanal
nature be bloomin no matter what you doin
What do two moons in the jungle talk about as they watch us running around rehearsing lines, and sweating off our makeup?
Whisking matcha on the beach in the middle of the Pacific North West is my love language. That and telling me you recycled everything properly. 🍵 ♻️ British Columbia, Canada
In honour of the French premier of The Last Jaguar – here is a picture of @lumipollack et moi drying off our sweat in the Mexican jungle just after our characters had survived the impossible.
On a note about Lumi – it’s wild to think the year I graduated high school a baby was born that would not only greatly inspire me artistically but become the only person I would ever want to be stuck in the jungle with. Lumi is extraordinary in this film. I’m in total awe of the woman and actor she is.
Big thanks to our French, Quebecois and Mexican crew for working so hard to capture this story about preserving our planet. @gillesdemaistre and Prune our fearless leaders, may you continue to turn us all from enthusiasts to activists.
Merci @studiocanal.fr – c’était un rêve de faire partie de votre production et j’attends avec impatience d’en voir plus dans le futur!
Stay tuned to find out where the jaguars are now and go get your tickets to the cinema already! 😍
bisous bisous!
XX Playa Del Carmen
