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Blackstone actress picks up Gemini award

Article Origin

Author

By Sam Laskaris Sweetgrass Writer CALGARY

Volume

19

Issue

1

Year

2011

Not too many people can brag they are the best in the country at what they do.

But Cree actress Michelle Thrush is now one of these people.

The Calgary resident won a Gemini Award on Sept. 8 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role category.

Thrush was honoured for her portrayal of Gail Stoney, on the highly acclaimed series Blackstone, which is shown nationally in Canada on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

The Gemini Awards ceremony, which was held in Toronto, annually honours the best in the television broadcast industry.

“This is the biggest award I’ve ever won,” said Thrush, who has kept busy with her acting career since appearing in the 1984 film Isaac Littlefeathers.

Since then Thrush has appeared in numerous television, film and theatre productions.

This marked the first time she had been nominated for a Gemini Award. She was one of six nominees in her category.

“I was completely prepared to lose,” she said. “I was just happy that I had been nominated. We are up against the big ones - (shows) on CTV and CBC and women who are amazing actresses in Canada.”

The inaugural season of Blackstone featured nine episodes, including the pilot. Season two, which wrapped up filming in early September, will have eight episodes.
The series is about fictional Blackstone First Nation. The Aboriginal community is in dire straits, in large part because of the corruption of its chief and councillors.
Blackstone will be shown throughout the United States this season as a distribution deal with a company based in California was announced in early September.
Blackstone’s first season was also shown in New Zealand on Maori Television.

Thrush hopes that her Gemini victory will result in an even bigger audience for Blackstone.

“I hope it means some more exposure and that we’re looked at as a more serious production,” she said.

Now that she has won a Gemini, Thrush said she hasn’t re-established any lofty personal career goals.

“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and promoting our people,” she said.

Upcoming projects for Thrush include acting in a new drama titled Arctic Air, which will be shown on CBC next year. And she also recently signed a contract to co-write a 60-80-minute theatre piece for youth, which was performed in November in Calgary.

 As for her award-winning efforts on Blackstone, Thrush said she had mixed reactions about that.  Filming the first season of the series was difficult.

“Last year was hell for me,” she said. “It was such a dark journey I was on.”

Working 12-14 hours per day, Thrush did her best to remain in her character of Gail, an alcoholic and rather aggressive person.

“The crew stayed away from me,” she added. “They knew how difficult it was to be an intense dark place. It was very gloomy for me.”

Fortunately for Thrush, filming of the second season was easier.

“(Gail) is walking a totally different route this year,” Thrush said. “But I can’t give away too many of the show details.”