Honour bestowed in celebration of International Women’s Day
Toronto, ON (March 4, 2015) — ACTRA is shining the spotlight on Amanda Tapping, ACTRA National’s 2015 Woman of the Year. ACTRA bestows this honour on a member who excels in both her artistic and advocacy achievements.
“Amanda Tapping is a highly regarded actor, director and producer,” said ACTRA National President Ferne Downey. “She is so multi-talented that she has become a source of inspiration to all the women in Canada’s extensive TV, film and digital community. Amanda dove into the digital world early and is now recognized as a phenomenal trailblazer. Her brilliant work as a humanitarian is far reaching and powerful.”
Amanda is well known for her role as Samantha Carter on the science fiction TV series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate: Universe. She is the star and executive producer of Sanctuary, the first Canadian web series to make the jump to TV. Amanda has earned four Leo Awards for Best Actress, has been nominated for two Gemini Awards and four Saturn Awards and won the 2005 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Naomi in the TV series Supernatural and is a recurring character on Package Deal. Her recent film roles include Taken Back, Random Acts of Romance, Hell in a Handbag and Space Milkshake. Amanda received a Best Director Leo Award nomination for Stargate: SG-1 and her recent TV directing credits include Primeval: New World, Arctic Air, Continuum, Strange Empire, Olympus and Dark Matter.
Amanda’s charitable foundation “Sanctuary for Kids” has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for causes both worldwide and locally in Vancouver. She supports numerous charities such as The Coast Foundation, a support agency for people with mental disabilities, The Canadian Cancer Society, UNICEF and V-Day by performing in The Vagina Monologues to help end violence against women and girls worldwide. Amanda has been honored with the “Woman of Vision” Award by Women in Film and Television, received the YWCA Women of Distinction “Connecting the Community” Award and was recently awarded the Jules Verne Award in Paris for her humanitarian work. She works with Women in Film and Television as a mentor for young women in the industry as well as being on the women’s advocacy committee.
ACTRA’s “Woman of the Year” is selected by the ACTRA National Women’s Committee. The Committee mandate includes exploring the concerns of female ACTRA members and supporting women within ACTRA and in the audiovisual industry as a whole. Amanda joins past recipients Shirley Douglas, Tantoo Cardinal, Sandi Ross, Mary Walsh and Jean Freeman.
ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is the national union of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 22,000 members across Canada – the foundation of Canada’s highly acclaimed professional performing community.
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Media Contact: Carol Taverner, ACTRA Public Relations Officer, tel: 416-644-1519, ctaverner@actra.ca