Tamara Almeida changed her career path to pursue her passion and now stars in AppleTV+’s reboot of Ghostwriter. She has also been seen in Degrassi: Next Class, Heroes Reborn and Good Witch. Find out more about her journey as an actor in our interview below!

Hi Tamara, thank you for answering our questions! Tell us about yourself and your journey towards pursuing acting as a career. What or who inspires you?

Hi Defective Geeks, thanks for having me! Like many others, I grew up with a strong desire to be creative. I went the long route and had a completely different career in sales before becoming an actor. I’d been terrified to commit to an industry I knew nothing about, but once I started taking classes, I was hooked. I left my career, and it’s been a lot of training and learning over the last decade. There is a lot of opportunity in this industry to diversify and find where you fit. My business experience led me to want to produce, and my technical background has led me to editing. I love storytelling, and am inspired by watching artists in different industries evolve. I’m inspired by the work ethic of Beyonce, she’s someone who is always letting her work speak for itself, and never stops making an effort to top her last efforts. Then there are Brit Marling and Phoebe Waller-Bridge who are content creators, writers, actors, and producers. They inspire the work I want to do, and Waller-Bridge in particular creates the type of content I am so blown away by that she’s the ultimate goal. Watch Fleabag, Crashing, Killing Eve, and anything else she’s done because she’s a genius! 

Actor and musician, Kenny Wong, bravely shares his own emotional experience through the short film, DYSTONIA, which premiered at the Toronto Shorts International Film Festival. Read more about focal hand dystonia and how it affected his journey as a creative person below.

Tell us about your short film, DYSTONIA, and how is it based on your own personal experience?

Dystonia is about a young violinist who, while attending university, is diagnosed with Focal Hand Dystonia and is forced to deal with the consequences that result from this incurable condition. The story was originally written as a feature film and we took a number of scenes from that script, reworked it, and made a short version of it. In my second year of university, I was practicing six to eight hours a day for my performance exam when I started feeling some tightness in my left hand. I didn’t think much of it until one day, during a violin lesson, my teacher noticed that my ring and pinky fingers were curled under my instrument. I would restart, trying my best to keep the fingers up… but to no avail. I broke down, knowing something was terribly wrong. And sure enough, the doctors diagnosed me with Focal Hand Dystonia, an incurable condition that I still struggle with to this day. 

The highly anticipated show, produced by Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), V WARS premiered on Netflix and actress, Kimberly-Sue Murray, stars in this vampire world as Danika Dubov. Her character exudes sexiness as well as being a complete badass– learn more below in our interview with Kimberly.

Congratulations on the premiere of your new show, V WARS, on Netflix! What is the show about and what role does your character, Danika Dubov, play in the series?In your opinion, what makes V WARS different from all the other vampire shows or movies?

Thank you so much! V Wars, based on Jonathan Maberry’s anthology and comics, is about an ancient pathogen that escapes the melting glaciers and infects anyone with the mutated gene turning them into vampires. A war breaks out as Dr. Luther Swann tries to find a cure to save his best friend, son and the rest of humanity. I play Danika Dubov, a vampire and Michael Fayne’s love interest throughout the show. She’s smart, resourceful, strategic and a great asset to Blood Nation. She and Michael have a great bond and hold each other up. While all of this is happening, Mila, who despises who’s become, is on a mission to seek revenge. In an earlier version of the script, Ava O’Malley stabbed Danika and killed her, I guess she couldn’t stand the influence Danika had over Michael. I’m glad we stuck to the book’s ending for Danika and Mila, it’s an incredibly tense moment between the two sisters. What happens next, I honestly have no idea! 

Jordan Power launched his podcast, SHAME ON YOU, this year where him and his co-host explore the idea of shedding shame and living openly and honestly. Read more below about the show and Jordan’s other projects.

Hi Jordan, welcome to Defective Geeks! Tell us about yourself and where did the idea for your podcast, Shame On You, come from?

I’m a published writer, comedian and LGBTQ+ activist based in Toronto. I’m most known for being the co-host of Shame on You podcast. The podcast is an exercise in self exploration. We wanted to imagine a world in which we eliminated any residual shame we had about being gay. The best way to kill shame is to expose it through vulnerability. As such, we spoke in a no holds barred way on the podcast. It seems to be going pretty well. 

Shirin Ariff’s empowering and heartbreaking memoir tells the story of how she experienced and survive trauma and abuse. When she re-married her second husband and moved to Canada, she was kept as a slave in her own home and endured her husband’s abuse. She hopes to show hope with her writing to other victims, learn more about her journey below.

Hi Shirin, thank you for discussing your memoir, The Second Wife, with us. Please tell us about yourself, where you are from and what your book is about. What inspired you to write it?

Hello! I was born in Kolkata, India and live in Toronto, Canada. I am a proud mother of four beautiful children, an award winning author, an inspirational speaker and women’s empowerment coach. After braving immigration to Canada and surviving cancer, I committed to helping women find their inner strength and become their own guiding force. My book is a memoir with a bit of self-help activities to make it interactive for the readers. There are several reasons for writing this book. I wanted to be heard. I wanted to leave a legacy of no abuse for my children. I wanted to be the voice of all those silently suffering women who are going through what I went through. I wanted the men to know the impact on us women when they hurt us. 

Brandon Ash-Mohammed is an award winning comedian and writer who created THE ETHNIC RAINBOW– Canada’s first and only LGBTQ+ comedians of color show. He will be releasing his first comedy album with Howl & Roar Records, find out more below!

Hi Brandon, thank you so much for answering our questions. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get into comedy, and what kickstarted this creative path for you? Who or what inspired you?

Thank you for having me! I’m Brandon Ash-Mohammed! I am comedian based in Toronto. The CBC recently named me one of their 15 Comics To Watch and my stand-up can be seen on Crave TV as part of the Homegrown Comics special. I also wrote on CBC’s Tall Boyz which just wrapped for the year! 

Anne with an E premiered it’s third season on the CBC this September (the whole season will be available on Netflix in January 2020). Actress, Helen Johns, returns to her role as Mrs. Eliza Barry, a loving but nervous parent of her two daughters in the show. Find out more on what you can expect from the show below!

Hi Helen, tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and when did you know you wanted to become an actor? What inspired you to pursue this path?

I’m a British-born actress, now living in California. I’ve always known I wanted to act. Apparently I started telling people when I was three! I loved reading aloud as a child, and putting on shows for my long-suffering family, so it was inevitable really. My aunt was a stage manager in the West End theatre world, so that was my first real taste of the industry. I would sit with her up in her perch backstage and watch the shows again and again.

Actor Romaine Waite joined the cast of Hallmark’s Movies & Mysteries film series Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder and Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver. Read below on what inspires Romaine and what he hopes to accomplish as an actor.

Hello, Romaine! Can you tell us a little about yourself? What inspired you to pursue a career in acting and what continues to motivate you?

I was born in Montego Bay Jamaica, and raised in Canada. I’m a simple guy, just trying to experience all the good that life has to offer. I enjoy motorcycles, traveling and one day I hope to open a small restaurant. 

It was my experience on an indie film, that really made me feel like acting was a career option. Prior to this my only experience with acting was in high school. What motivates me now, is knowing that I have yet to tell the stories I feel I’m supposed too. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I received so far, but I think I’ve barely scratched the surface.