The impressive career of this dynamic actress has taken her to Alerts And Indefensible. Much appreciated by the public and her colleagues, she confided without restraint.
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In AlertsPenelope and Dominic (Charles-Alexandre Dubé) are going to have a big decision to make, which could really change their lives, both professionally and personally. It’s going to bring a lot of emotions to the couple, they’re going to experience some minor tensions. It’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster,” she confides. Catherine and the entire team ofAlerts are currently filming to finalize this new season. “Penelope and Dominic are concerned with the disappearance of a young girl from a classical ballet school. There will be another story, that of a man who goes missing and is found dead with a black feather on him. Through this plot, my character will do interviews and meet the different victims.”
An impressive CV
Catherine has been practicing her profession for 20 years, and her CV is impressive to say the least, since she has played in numerous TV series (The Whole Truth, 19-02 French and English versions, Breakups, District 31 and several others), while pursuing a career in English, in series and on the big screen. “Yes, I have had the opportunity to act several times in English, and at the moment, I am auditioning more for roles. In general, actors who land a role in a show like Alertsfor example, will say that stability is nice. The first thing people say to us when we talk about our freelance status is: “My God! It must be so difficult to live with this instability!” But I like it, I have no trouble with instability. This fall, I only have the filming ofAlerts14 days in total, but I know I’m going to have other contracts. I don’t worry about it. I like the fact that I never know what my year is going to be like and that anything is possible. I’ve been like that since I left drama school. My years are totally different from each other.”
Photo: Bertrand Calmeau / RADI
This summer, for example, Catherine went to Newfoundland to play in the Canadian series Hudson & Rex for a week. “I had a small role in the seventh season. I didn’t have any vacation, so I took advantage of it because I had short days of filming. But my boyfriend couldn’t come, he held the fort at home with the baby and our big girl. I was extremely lucky, the weather was nice, I walked, I climbed mountains. It was fun.”
Of course, when she is called to audition in English, Catherine knows that she should not create too many expectations for herself, even if she has a solid reputation. “You do your audition and you let go. Especially since on the English side, there are so many of us auditioning. Sometimes, for certain cases, I ask my agent if he can have some feedback, especially when it’s an audition that I really liked. There are always plenty of opportunities.”
Optimistic by nature
Catherine is fundamentally optimistic. “I have blind faith in the future. I always feel like I have something to do with it when things are going well. Of course, chance and luck play a big part, but you have no control over that. I have always been proactive. I feel like things are going to go well and I tell myself that life is going to take me where it has to take me.”
That said, the actress confides that family has taken up a lot of space in her life. “We had restarted the machine for a second baby. It was the last call (she is 41 years old). We had been thinking about it for a long time, but because of the film Snow Angelthe feature film that we wrote, financed and produced together, our project was delayed. And then, there was covid. We said we would wait for the film to come out, but it took longer than expected. That’s when we decided to have another child. But I admit that it’s a lot of work! she exclaims with a smile, about the youngest. It’s really fun. She’s great, but she’s a baby… she’s only 16 months old.” Catherine and her partner also have an eight-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
“My eldest daughter adores her sister, but she was an only child for seven and a half years. Now, that’s not the case anymore, and she has other needs than her little sister. She adores her, but she finds it a little difficult to have to share our attention and our life experiences. I had forgotten the lack of freedom: being a slave to sleep, and all the constraints that you have to deal with. With the introduction of food, you have to make sure your child eats and drinks enough. And when you go out, you have to think about everything you need to bring. But it’s slowly getting easier. She started walking, she says words. It’s a long time, the first four years, but she’s a little gem. She always wants to kiss. She’s adorable! At daycare, when she leaves, she hugs all her friends. I want to die when I see her leave,” she says, moved. I was 39 when I had my daughter. It was a beautiful pregnancy and I had a dream birth.”
A project that is dear to him
A word about the film Snow Angelfilmed in Gaspésie and released in theaters last year, which was directed by Gabriel Allard, Catherine’s life partner for 13 years now. This was his first feature film, after having directed several documentaries. Snow Angel is a psychological thriller that was filmed in English, then dubbed into Quebec by all the actors. Catherine plays the main role, a former snowboarding professional who is going through difficult times. Catherine and her partner are managing international sales for their film. It can be seen on the illico platform. For now, the couple has no other film projects, but they have lots of ideas and six or seven projects in the pipeline, she says. But none of them have started yet.
This fall, we can see Catherine in Alertsnot to mention her first participation in a plot of the daily Indéfendable. She plays a woman who is killed by her husband, a famous Quebec chef played by Guillaume Cyr. “Guillaume and I play a couple who were very publicized. I had some very intense scenes to play for this character of Agnès. It was a super great gang! We had some emotionally heavy things to shoot. We took the time to do things well. It was fun to see Guillaume again; I had filmed with him in the series Épidémie. He is a very good acting partner.” We have also been able to see Catherine, in recent years, in the series In Memoriam and the comedy Survivre à ses enfants. Next year, we will see her in the police comedy Double jeu; she will play the wife of Rachid Badouri. This series will be presented on Crave. “It was really fun to film. I play a very career-minded woman, a lawyer, while her partner, Rachid’s character, is a comedian who wants to make it big with his partner, played by Mehdi Bousaidan. They are offered the chance to become double agents, but my character doesn’t know that he does this job. Normally, he is at home and takes care of their daughter. It was great to play with comedians! It keeps you on your toes because the lines come quickly. We laughed a lot!”
Alerts is broadcast on TVA, Mondays at 9 p.m., and previous seasons are available on TVA+. Indefensible is broadcast from Monday to Thursday at 7 p.m. on TVA, and on catch-up on TVA+. The film Snow Angel is available on the illico platform, which will become illico+ on October 23, 2024.
