Michelle Nolden has enjoyed a successful acting career with credits ranging from Canadian TV favourites like Heartland to Hollywood blockbusters like The Time Traveler’s Wife, while leading an array of creative endeavours.
Nolden, before starring on the screen, started as a dancer in Brantford, Ontario, where she was born and raised.
“When a friend in Grade four went to take lessons… I wanted to try too. My mom had a rule…that I could try whatever I liked, but I had to stick with it for a year. That was fine with me because dancing became my passion. I would go on to train at a dance studio in Brantford and look to do it in post-secondary,” recalled Nolden. “I really loved the stage, and it was something that was in my bones. I actually had a few teachers who tried to change my mind and consider another direction, as I had good grades. My parents liked the fact that I enjoyed dancing but were a bit worried at first…I remember my dad asking me what was my master plan if dancing didn’t work out. And I quickly realized that this was my masterplan! But through the years, my parents have been my biggest fans and biggest supporters.”
By 16-years-old, Nolden had a chance to study dance in Toronto.
“I went to George Brown Dance School for the summer. That was my first taste of living on my own and being in the big city. And I remember at that time coming into the city, and the Skydome [now Rogers Centre] wasn’t even built yet, and feeling like, I might as well have been in New York and on Broadway. I was enamored with the city and everything that it had to offer,” she said, “Then I came back and finished my Grade 12…and I fast-tracked. My focus was completely on dance…I would then go to Ryerson University [now Toronto Metropolitan University], where I discovered acting, which I fell in love with. Although I would continue doing dance right up until my late 20s, acting became my focus…Although I didn’t have a lot of formal training as an actor… [and have] always felt I was playing catch-up, I have tried to pay attention to the people that I was working with, and learn from them. I was lucky enough to work with some really amazing people like Gordon Pinsent…I remember just watching him on set and thinking that even if he read a phone book, he would make that interesting!”
However, Nolden would do a few parts until getting her first big break in Men with Brooms in 2001.
“I ended up getting that role because Carrie Anne Moss, who was supposed to be in it, backed out for whatever reason. I had dark hair at the time [and] looked a little bit like Carrie, and I think I ended up having a good audition. Paul Gross took a chance on me [and] being in the movie bumped me into a different category as an actor. That role opened up a lot of doors for me,” she said. “I then did a show called Street Time, which was on ShowTime just around right around the time when television was changing…with edgy shows like The Sopranos coming out on the American networks. That opportunity opened me up to the American market and a chance to do these types of roles.”
As she continued working her way in the industry and getting more auditions, there was a bit of a shock during her time in Hollywood.
“There was a bit of culture shock just being in Los Angeles. I remember showing up at an audition, and there were 20 people that kind of looked like me and had similar acting [chops] I had…it was both intimidating and awesome at the same time. Also, when you get in a room with 20 other actors, you know that to get there you’ve already beat out 200 people [and] that’s a great thing, just in itself,” she noted. “At that point, I also realized how big the Hollywood machine is and how many people have a similar dream. I was doing pilots and going for three or four auditions per day, which was a grind.”
Nolden was also exposed to roles that took her overseas and others that she truly enjoyed doing despite managing some challenges.
“I did a series called ZOS: Zone of Separation. It was about United Nations peacekeepers and it was for HBO Canada. It was one of those scripts that instantly made me want the part. When I auditioned for the role (which I got), I was eight months pregnant. So, I had my oldest, my son….and had to go to Bosnia with this brand-new little baby. He was five months old. And my parents came with me and helped me take care of him,” she recalled. “Other roles I have enjoyed include Saving Hope, Heartland and the Republic of Doyle, which were all great. I feel so lucky to have been part of some great shows. But there have been challenges like in any other business. There’s a mental game involved, with a lot of people that are competing for the same thing….and how you deal with rejection which makes you constantly reassess your career…asking yourself ‘is this worth it?’ or ‘can I do this?’ I think that’s the hardest part.”
In 2016, Nolden won the Canadian screen actor award, for her work on Saving Hope, along with being nominated for various other honours through the years.
“It’s always great to be recognized for your work. I had been nominated a couple times before for different roles. I have also sat on committees where I had adjudicated on my peers’ performances. I think the longer you do it, you kind of take it with a grain of salt….every time that I was nominated, there was other people that didn’t get nominated that should have been, and then there were times that I did stuff that was great and it just didn’t resonate with the committees. But, at the end of the day, it was really wonderful to be recognized. And it’s definitely a feather in my cap,” she reflected.
One of the longest and most enduring roles for Nolden has been with Heartland, which has been running on the CBC for close to 20 seasons.
“Heartland has been a tremendous gift for me. I have been there for the last five years and it’s been a great experience working with such an incredible group of people and a huge part of my life…I got the role after my mom passed, so it was a real gift in that way. It’s been fun going back and forth to Alberta, and being able to ride the horses and experience nature. This sort of dovetailed nicely with my move to Paris where I have embraced the whole country living experience,” she said. “Currently, my character is taking a little bit of a break, but there’s always a chance to come back. Along with Saving Hope, it’s a show that I get recognized the most for….which I think is great.”
However, along with being on many popular series and shows, Nolden has also been part of Hollywood blockbusters like The Time Traveler’s Wife.
“It was a big movie with a big budget. I had the scene that I did in that movie where Eric Bana and I are sitting on the L-Train going around Chicago. They had to close the L-Train early in the morning for us to use as well as other areas. I remember being sick the night before with food poisoning…and there was no way I was calling in sick,” she recalled. “Despite being quite sick, I maintained my composure and the scene went well. The whole cast and crew, including director [Robert Schwentke], were great. I would end up working with the director on the Red and its sequel. I was really grateful for the opportunity to do that and to be part of such a massive production.”
After living in Toronto with her family for many years and doing work across Canada, the United States and Europe, Nolden and her husband, Chris Szarka, an actor and TV producer, decided to move to Paris, Ontario.
“I’ve got a very tight family. We’re very close. And then a couple of things happened in 2017…Saving Hope just ended and my dad passed away. I was working on a new show that I was developing from a creative standpoint, that I thought was going to go forward, which didn’t. I was also a young mom with three kids, but with all that my husband was craving for a new adventure. We thought about maybe traveling the world, which we quickly realized wasn’t viable, so we looked at the option of moving and decided to live in the country, which is a complete 180 from what we did before…living your typical Toronto suburban house,” she said. “We moved to an eight-acre property in Paris…and just fell in love with country living, and we fell in love and in this community. It was just so great to put our kids in schools where I knew the teachers, because I had gone to school with them and had a tight group of my high school friends, and stayed in contact for many years. But, the main reason why we came home was because my mom, who lived here [and] I wanted to be closer to her and the family. While my mom has since passed away…I have continued to remain close with my sisters.”
Along with acting, Nolden has been investing in several other projects, including as the Artistic Director of Lakeshorts International Short Film Festival for many years.
“We did it for ten years. So, the year that COVID hit was really tricky, because we always did it in conjunction with Lakeshore Arts, which is a not-for-profit organization in Toronto. They went through a lot of restructuring…and COVID hit them really hard. We did one year of Grand River Shorts here in Paris, which was a big success, and we are hoping to pick it up again.,” she noted. “We loved it so much…I’ve seen thousands of short films…some of them not so great, but most of them were amazing. And just the process of adjudicating them was a great experience. I love short films…and when you watch a great one…it always leaves you wanting more. And I just love that if you go to a night of shorts, you get to watch so many different genres.”
Nevertheless, Nolden has also written, directed and produced several short works, including Loonie.
“When I was living in Los Angeles, I was doing some work for the homeless through St. Monica Catholic Church there. And this woman used to come to the soup kitchen. She would come in…and always had pearls on, had her makeup done, and she was just very fascinating. And I just always wondered how she got there, and what her story was….so Loonie came out of that experience. It came out of me just being so fascinated by this woman and the dignity that she held. Of course, the film is fictional and I thought up the story, but she was the impetus for it,” she said.
Other projects that Nolden has worked on were a little more personal, involving her family, one of which was the TV show, Free Range Children.
“During the pandemic, we decided to take in four chickens…we thought it was going to be easy to take care of them, but it wasn’t. But my husband and I thought it would be interesting to document our experience and pitch the idea. We brought one of the chickens and sat it on the boardroom table…doing this Zoom. We’re like, ‘what about a show with these guys?’ And they thought it was hysterical. And we got the show,” she said. “We fell in love with these chickens and they became our pets, and that we now have different ones after those first ones. It was a great experience with the family especially when we were in the bubble at that time.”
Since then, as the family has become immersed with country life, Nolden has looked for opportunities for other projects on the farm.
“Gardening is my happy place, but I think it’s partly because there’s something so creative in it, and look at it as a blank canvas. The property, to me, represents simplicity, gratitude and creativity…and we are using those three things as our guiding principles about what is going to be. Right now, we are fully in the throes of raising three teenage boys who are all involved in sports, but we are looking at possibly doing an artists’ retreat a couple of years down the road. Now, I am hosting Lavender Nights here, getting people here to explore and pick flowers. We also had some picnics in the back meadow…. just trying to kind of connect and simplify things and then be able to share that experience with people too,” she noted. “We don’t do a lot of advertising…so we’re kind of a hidden gem now. It’s our home [and] we’re happy people sort of stumble upon us. So, we’re a bit of a work in progress, but that’s kind of exciting too, because we’re seeing where things land and just keeping our eyes open to what the universe has in store for us.”
But, for Nolden, the entertainment industry and her passion for film and television, is never far off.
“Chris and I are always looking to be part of new projects and pitching shows. We had a show filmed in our house called Home Free [which] is on the festival circuit right now and is doing quite well. And we’ve got a few collaborations in the works,” she noted. “For me, when it comes to acting, and just going through the whole process…is both stressful and joyful at the same time….it’s very exciting because all of a sudden, I could get an audition, get the part and we need to be on the East Coast in a week. I love what I do, and being part of new, unexpected adventures.”
