MAKING HER OWN ART
Actor wears different hats
Born and raised in B.C.’S Interior, Nicole G. Leier now flits between Hollywood North and South, pursuing acting roles and working as a producer and director. Like everyone in her position, she has been doing everything she can from the confines of her Vancouver abode since the pandemic hit.
The African-canadian-american artist says that she never forgets how lucky she is to have a roof over her head, medical coverage, and access to incredible networking tech. Working from home has turned out to be a shift from standard industry practices, but it’s still a busy business.
“It’s been really busy and I’m, honestly, really surprised how much is still moving forward,” said Leier.
“Recently, I was talking to someone in India about doing a project, and auditions and casting calls are kicking in again too. I don’t believe in sitting around. I believe in being proactive and making your own art and getting specific stories out there.”
That means being able to wear a number of different hats. And
Leier does just that, going from in front of the camera to behind it, as well as the one creating the copy. She co-directed the film Henry’s Glasses, which won a best Canadian short film by the NFB award, as well as best picture at the Oregon Disorient International Film Festival. She also addressed race and racism in relationships in the Leo-nominated film Black Chick, written and directed by Neil Labute.
Leier is developing more projects as the pandemic drags on, often working under the auspices of Black Tree Pictures. The production company she owns with partner and cinematographer Brendan Uegama (CW’S Riverdale and MGM’S Child’s Play) is one of the ways she says you can avoid some of the challenges facing actors of colour to get prime roles in Hollywood North.
“In Vancouver, one of the things you hear is that there isn’t the talent base to draw from here, but that’s not really true,” she said.
“So, rather than wait around for someone to act on that, I just think, ‘Do it yourself.’ This is something you hear from almost anyone working in Vancouver, and it’s true.”
There are also those roles that if you want enough, you fight for it. Having worked with everyone from James Cameron to Seth Rogen and James Franco, Leier says sometimes putting up a fight gets results.
“That’s what I did with A Score To Settle, opposite Nicolas Cage,” she said. “It was originally written for a man, but I was able to change that and push for hiring me, and they did go and rewrite the role to fit. There is change coming with all the recent awareness-raising going on, with a number of local directors and producers really going to bat for actors, and changes coming to storytelling.”
The main thing is that these changes are here to last. Leier looks forward to a day when the word diversity doesn’t come into play at all.
“We’ve been fighting this for a long time, for us and for First Nations, and I hope that this moment of change lasts,” she said. “I hope we get to the point where it isn’t ever about ‘We’re doing this for diversity,’ and the hiring is the best person for the role is the normal. But that normal also needs to be in an environment that reflects the world fairly and includes all of us.”
Not only does Leier think that there is a talent base here to reflect that diversity onscreen, she thinks that casting directors and others are becoming aware of it. A classic comment in Vancouver has often been that there really isn’t a Black community here, so it’s harder to find people to play parts. She wholeheartedly disagrees.
“Say that and let me list those 10 people that I know and you know already who are all ready and willing to do the job, any number of them,” she said. “I’m a producer out of necessity because I’ve had to create my own work. The directing is just an extension of my acting and it’s really coming together.”
Since the acting bug bit her in a Grade 10 production of Oliver Twist, she never looked back in pursuit of a career. Home life was rough, and the profession produced a means to escape and be creatively rewarded.
“I came to Vancouver on my own when I was in my teens after dropping out of high school, and was lucky enough to book my first show, Edgemont, almost immediately after arriving,” she said.
“That gave me medical, it gave me a way to feed and house myself, and it saved me. The Vancouver film industry did it all for me at a life-changing time, even if I had some battles to fight, and still do.”