Amber Marshall
Amber Marshall says she is living the dream.
“Every single day,” she said. “When I was growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian. When I was 14, I started working in a local vet clinic and I was there for around five years. By the time I finished, I thought, this isn’t quite for me. It’s a little too routine. I wanted to do something working with animals and acting and ... there you go. It just sort of showed up on my door, which was a complete dream come true.”
Fans of the CBC series Heartland have watched Marshall, 29, grow up as Amy Fleming over the past 11 seasons, a run that has eclipsed her own expectations.
“Never in a million years would I have guessed that,” she said. “It’s a very funny industry, the television industry, and it’s not something you can ever count on as being long term. So to be gifted this incredible job that not only suits my lifestyle to a T, it’s been going on over a decade.”
Born and raised in London, Ont., Marshall — who was eight when she started acting in a local theatre company — has for the past nine years lived on a ranch outside of Calgary, where she is surrounded by horses, dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, alpacas and rabbits.
“The third year (of filming) I said, you know, this is crazy,” she said. “I want to be here, I want to be an Albertan, so I found a place out in the country.”
She’s waiting to hear whether Heartland will be picked up for a 12th season. In the meantime, she’s enjoying her down time.
“I usually take the winters to spend a lot of time with my family and my friends,” she said, “and my animals. One thing my character and I differ from; my character is so horse-centred and I’m just animal-centred. Doesn’t matter if they’re feathered, furry, hoofed or clawed.”