Editor’s note: This is the latest installment in a recurring series where a Pucks and Rec writer will select the top contemporary actor from each city in a hockey league. This week, we focus on the current markets in the QMJHL Telus East division. All filmography and award information can be found on the Internet Movie Database.
Baie-Comeau: Sylvie Drapeau
After a seven-year gap between credits, Drapeau returned to the small screen with a 2015 guest spot on Mensonges. She followed that appearance on the acclaimed mystery series with a film role in 2016’s Nelly.
While she has yet to replenish her presence on any award ballots, Drapeau returned to the roots of her fame. Another dramatic movie, February 15, 1839, earned her a 2002 Jutra for her part as the lead female. She portrayed Henriette De Lormier, wife of condemned Quebecois revolt leader François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier.
Previously nominated for a Genie Award in 1993, Drapeau was up for another Jutra in 2004. She remains her hometown’s most accomplished actor, hardware-wise. Among all of Baie-Comeau’s gifts to the entertainment industry, her trophy counts trails only that of director Manon Briand overall.
Chicoutimi (Saguenay): Louise Portal
With the pending release of Everything Outside, Portal’s return to leading roles is all over but the formalities. She will co-star with Ahmed Muslimani as a couple bearing stark age and cultural differences.
Portal previously earned a Jutra nomination for playing the lead female in 1999’s Full Blast. She sandwiched that nod with a pair for supporting parts, most recently in 2012 for Le bonheur des autres.
Quebec: Céline Bonnier
As a four-time Genie winner out of 10 nominations and five-time Jutra candidate, Rémy Girard warrants an honorable mention. With that said, he has not accrued any accolades since 2010.
Conversely, Bonnier was the best actress at the 2016 Jutras for her title performance in La passion D’Augustine. It was her second triumph on that guild’s ballot out of eight total nominations over the past 15 years.
Bonnier’s portrayal of Mother Augustine also drew an award at the Newport Beach Film Festival plus a Canadian Screen Actors nomination.
Rimouski: Marcel Simoneau
At age 22, Simoneau began his career south of the border by guest starring in the final season of Strangers with Candy. After rubbing elbows with Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert, he landed small parts on Law & Order and Fringe, to name two highlights.
Simoneau has since delved into directing, but still goes before the camera in his native and adopted countries. In 2016, he flexed his versatility with spots on the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and the Fox crime drama Gotham.
Back home, he is up for a Jury Award for his performance in the short film Lurk, which he also directed and produced. A win would equal six victories in as many career nominations from various guilds.
Shawinigan: Carole Laure
Both Laure and her chief competitor for this slot, Louise Forrestier, have had a protracted hiatus from mainstream acting. Having returned within the last year, Laure wins out per this list’s contemporary criterion.
While Forrestier is still going on a decade with no new credits, Laure got back in the game in 2017. Her six appearances on the 2017 miniseries Sur–Vie constituted her first role in 11 years.
Before that, she won the Grand Golden Rail at the 2004 Cannes festival. It was her first triumph at any award show after three previous nominations.
Victoriaville: The cast of Chick’n Swell
Not much will surface when you query this destination on IMDB. The only contemporary performer claiming the Tigres’ hometown as his native city is Pierre Verville. The 55-year-old TV and movie ringer has not logged a fresh credit since 2014.
Accomplishment-wise, though, Victoriaville was briefly the filmed-on-location setting of a sitcom revolving around three aspiring filmmakers. As the series’ synopsis reads, “Three guys from Victoriaville decide to make short movies. The problem is that they have to do it despite having to deal with a hard to please producer and a nearly non-existent budget.”
The show ran for three seasons, from 2001 to 2003. Following its conclusion, it earned a 2004 Gémeaux Award for best comedy series. The Gémeauxs are essentially Quebec’s Emmys, just as the Geminis are for Anglophone Canada.
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