SHANIA’S ACTING OUT
Award-winning Canadian country superstar has discovered she enjoys being in movies
Shania Twain never had an itch to act.
Sure, she liked movies and TV, but the multiple Juno- and Grammy-winner knew she had a lane and figured she’d stick to it.
But when John Travolta asked her to join him in last year’s race-car drama Trading Paint, stepping in front of the camera as an actress turned out to be a job she found she loved.
The experience impressed her so much that when directors
Jon and Andrew Erwin asked her to be a part of I Still Believe, a biographical drama about the personal ordeals of Christian singer Jeremy Camp she decided to dive in. Twain portrays Camp’s mother, Terry.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Twain spoke more about I Still Believe, why she has embraced getting older and the albums that have meant the most to her.
Q I Still Believe is going to draw in people who are fans of you and Camp. What do you hope they take away from the film?
A These are two people (Camp and his first wife Melissa, who died of ovarian cancer at 23) who walked straight into the fire, courageously. I think there’s something to learn from that. Putting love first and making it a priority is something everyone can learn from. As painful and difficult as it might be, I think there’s something to learn and take away from that, and from them. Even the parents of these two young people learned from their own kids. Our children have a lot to teach us and I think this is a good example of that.
Q The last few years have been great for fans of your music. You returned with Now and you’ve returned to Vegas with the Let’s Go residency. What’s it been like for you to be back onstage?
A I’m having so much fun. I’m enjoying the audiences. I love the informal environment of the Zappos Theater. It’s just a really fun room. I can see everyone so well and I can tell that they’re having a good time. I’m very proud of the show. It’s been a rewarding, creative experience and to see it all come together makes me so satisfied. But the audiences that are coming to see me now, I feel more connected to them than ever before.
Q You started off in country music in the 1990s and then morphed into pop stardom in the 2000s. Here we are in 2020, and you’re bigger than ever. What was the key to your success?
A Well, I certainly don’t take it for granted, so I’ll start with that. It’s pretty rare and exceptional to have had a career that has been going for such a long period of time. So I feel a lot of gratitude, to be honest. I’m not sure there’s a recipe or an actual answer to it. But my longevity motivates me to be my best all the time. I put a lot of work and effort into my new work. I approached Let’s Go! as if it was my first show ever. I take a lot of care. It’s important to me that people enjoy themselves and enjoy the music. It still means so much to me. There’s probably something in that; not taking it for granted. Perhaps people have sensed that and related to it and it has led to a genuine, mutual appreciation.
Q You came from humble beginnings in Timmins,
Ont., playing in bars late, after they stopped serving alcohol. What do you imagine young Shania would think of where she ended up?
A She couldn’t have imagined this. I can’t imagine this. It just wasn’t fathomable. I knew I was going to strive to make it, but I didn’t know what making it was. I didn’t know what that could be. My child self was thinking, “If I can support myself with music, then I’ve made it.” As I got older, it became, “If I can make a record someday, I’ll have made it.” Later, it was, “If I can take care of my family, then I’ve made it.”
But I always told myself if I made it, I would help out kids like me who needed food, proper clothing and just the basics. So to me, as a child, I viewed making it in more practical ways.
Certainly, where I am now is not something I could have ever imagined.
Q You made headlines recently for saying that “aging is a battle you can’t win.”
You’re someone who has grown up in front of everyone’s eyes. How have you embraced aging ?
A When I said that, it was exactly what I meant. You have to embrace aging because you can’t change it. Why fight it? I’m fine with it because there’s no other choice and I think it’s a waste of energy to try to fight it. There are so many other things I could use my energy toward that bring me pleasure and satisfaction. Getting stressed about aging is a waste of my time. I think it was more difficult when I was younger. I felt more pressure and I know a lot of young people do when they see their first wrinkles or their first grey hair. Now it’s different. You can’t win, so I’ve moved on to things that are a lot more fun than counting grey hairs.
Aging comes down to attitude and how you look at it. I have so many other things to do. I’ve scripts to read, horses to ride, songs to sing, I’ve got a beautiful family. I’ve let go of worrying about aging.
Q What’s the best advice you ever got?
A Be yourself. That has served me well. I’m a mom and I’m always thinking about what advice I can pass on and it’s really just, be yourself. Be natural and don’t overthink it. By being yourself, like-minded people gravitate to you and you’ll be in good company.