Sarah Gadon
It's so often that I read for the bouncy, sunny girl men fall in love with who will solve all the romantic problems in the narrative. I don't choose to work that way.Collection: Romantic
I'm a really proud, happy Canadian. I think we've got it figured out in our country. For example, gay marriage has just been legalized in all of the U.S. and it's like, 'Wow, hashtag lovewins,' but that's not necessarily a leap forward compared to what we've already experienced in Canada years ago.Collection: Marriage
It's really a testament to my parents, because I was active, curious and creative as a child, and my parents nurtured that. But I wouldn't say that I was a professional child actor at all. I was never the breadwinner of my family.Collection: Family
I think my generation is defining themselves as Canadian artists.
It was a very critical moment for me when I began working with David Cronenberg and seeing this amazing director and creator choose to base himself out of Toronto.
I was getting a lot of pressure to go to the States, but I never really wanted to. I saw Cronenberg forge his own path, and that made me believe that I could do that, too.
It's fun being a princess, but it's not very practical! You're trudging through the forest and the mud and all of the elements. You kind of think, 'How did they do this back then?' Thank God I can put on my Nike trainers and walk around the rest of the day!
I don't love L.A. It's a great place to visit; it's a great place to meet and work, but I don't want to live there.
Toronto is such a progressive city. When you've travelled to other places in the world, you realize how unprogressive they are.
I love film, and I love short films.
When I sit down with filmmakers, I feel like we speak the same language in a lot of ways. We watch the same movies and have the same influences. If anything, it creates a dialogue that makes my work more effective.
We have a strong tradition in Toronto of really great film writers, and growing up in that climate is a big reason I pursued cinema studies.
Film is an art form. Dissecting and understanding it is a part of our own interest in humanity.
Growing up, you have all these ideas, and then you're confronted and faced with the real world for the first time. And you have to think of what you want your life to be.
I wore Armani Prive to Cannes, and that was incredible. The craftsmanship is something I never understood until I wore it: the structure, the integrity of the fabrics, the colours, how things photograph.
In the summer, I love to go up north to a cottage and relax by the lake, swim, go canoeing... I also love riding my bike around Toronto, going to the farmer's market, cooking. That sounds simple, but it's a luxury you don't have when you're living in hotels.
If we learn to understand each other, we will have a better understanding of ourselves.
Without disruptions in life, where would we be?
I can walk down the street and have a human experience every day.
My grandmother is British. She was in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II. That's where she met my grandfather, who was sailing for the British Royal Navy. She was a war bride.
What happens when we questions power structures? What are the consequences?
I do build my own backstory as an actor. It's important to know where your characters have come from in order to know where they're going - in order to exist in that state of being.
It's particularly important for a young woman to be in control of her image - to a certain extent. I mean, there's only so much you can do, because people take photos with you and then all of a sudden they pop up all over the place, they're completely out of context and you have no control over how they're used.
I've studied dance since I was very young, and I continue to study ballet.
Movement is very important to a character, no matter what period you're working in. So when it came to playing Emma Jung and lacing up in the corset, it was really not a foreign thing for me.
When you're in a very specific kind of wardrobe, it kind of dictates your movement; it also kind of enables you - or, I guess, disables you - from certain kinds of movement.
When you fall in love with favourite movie stars, it's not because they're movie stars and unattainable, but because they show you sides of themselves that are extremely personal.
You can have a bunch of great actors in a film, but if you don't have anyone telling a great story, it's a moot point.
It's mostly directors whom I get starstruck around.
When you're wearing a corset for a long period of time, things that were important to you hours before are no longer important, because doing them exhausts you.
I'm a part-time student, and I plan to finish my degree. I think there are a lot of part-time students with jobs on the side or stressful careers. I'm certainly not the first person to be working while I'm in university.
Since 'A Dangerous Method,' I've had meetings with everyone from J.J. Abrams to the producers of 'Drive.' And they all have the same thing in common; they say: 'Wow you worked with Cronenberg.' He gave me instant film cred.
It's tempting to think, 'This is silly. I'm an artist. I care about my work, my work is first. I don't care about what kind of dress I wear... That's so secondary to me.' But if you care about your work... then you need to take this part of it just as seriously as you would going into an audition and going into work.
I think when you work with really wonderful directors who have a really strong vision, it lets you as an artist set the tone for your own career.
I think Tilda Swinton is terribly interesting. I think she's fascinating. I love her work.
I have these surreal moments where I'm like, 'I'm pregnant with Jake Gyllenhaal's baby' and 'I'm telling Robert Pattinson that he smells of sex.' But you're acting, so the focus is on the work.
I wore a pink Betsey Johnson dress to my prom, and I pretty much looked like a pink cupcake. I loved that dress!
I'm really into acquiring film paraphernalia - that's my hobby. I love old movie posters, cameras and film reels.
I think I'll always base myself out of Toronto. I don't have any plans to move to L.A.
My chosen occupation isn't necessarily movie star; I see my chosen occupation as actor.
I think a liberal arts education isn't necessarily about doing something with your degree; it's about becoming a critical thinker. And I think that critical thinking is so integral to being an actor.
I look at scripts, and sometimes I apply theory to them. For 'Antiviral,' for example, I was reading Laura Mulvey's 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,' and it was all about the psychological process by which we fetishize the female image. It's all about scopophilia.
You have to find your projects and track them as they go along that long process of being made.
I think it's really important for artists in general to invest in themselves. And I view my schoolwork as something I'm investing in for me. And I'm my own product as an actor. There's a kind of career that I want, and I feel like I'm making choices to obtain that.
It was really great to be part of the Philip Roth story as a woman in a very complete way.
I think everyone's had that moment where you're sitting there in class and notice someone for the first time.
That's the amazing thing about our jobs; it's constantly changing, and it's extremely dynamic, and you, therefore, have to be dynamic as well.
It varies, but in my experience, directors who are the most comfortable with themselves and confident in their work give you and everybody on the crew the freedom and the space to create.
It's the people who are more insecure who feel the need to control and micromanage. But that's true of any profession and hierarchy with a boss. You have people who know you are competent enough to do your job, and then you have the ones that just hover around.
I really like directors who give you a certain amount of autonomy because I think a lot about my characters and I think a lot about scenes and choices.