Superbad’s Martha MacIsaac
Autograph Speaks with this Young Rising Star about How to Debut in the Biggest Movie in America
by Cory O’Malley ~ October 2007

"I went to the movie with a group of my friends the other night and somebody recognized me in the bathroom. That was a little odd” says Martha MacIsaac, the 22-year-old Canadian actress who plays Michael Cera’s onscreen love interest, Becca, in the late-summer smash-hit Superbad. The statement is funny for three reasons: 1) That MacIsaac would just go see her own movie, in Toronto, in the middle of the week with friends is a particularly un-Hollywood thing to do and says something about how down-to-earth this young actress is; 2) that she would think it strange to be recognized at her own movie says a little more about how fresh-from-anonymity she is; and 3) that she would be singled out by another Canadian says a whole lot about how near celebrity this rising star currently stands. You see, in Canada, celebrity is low-key. “People are more private here,” confirms MacIsaac. “They don’t go up to people they don’t know as often.” Two days after speaking to me on the telephone from her home in Toronto, MacIsaac touched down in L.A., her new home. It’s safe to say that things are about to change for this up-and-comer in a big way.

“My friend Emma, who plays Jules in Superbad, has been recognized a lot,” MacIsaac tells me. She possesses a refreshing naiveté about being in such a popular movie. Her approach comes from standing just on the cusp of being successful while still not quite sure how it’s all going to turn out. The dynamic is played up by MacIsaac’s suggestion that she’s not so much about to arrive as an emerging star in Hollywood; instead, she seems to feel like she’s just showing up in town to hang out with friends. “Who knows,” she continues. “Maybe I’ll get down there and I’ll be recognized, and maybe I’ll have my anonymity and no one will know who I am.”

Martha MacIsaac’s road to Hollywood began like a fairy tale. “I decided when I was four,” she tells me of her decision to act for a living. “I went up to my mom and said, ‘I want to be an actress.’ She went along with it, and I’ve never really changed my mind.” It’s a cute story, but what makes it a reality is the single-minded determination of a hungry young talent. At just 14, MacIsaac took a starring roll in the highly-touted Canadian Broadcasting Company television show Emily of New Moon, which, over the course of three seasons, was consistently one of the country’s highest-rated dramas. The only television show in production at the time in Prince Edward Island—both Canada’s smallest province and MacIsaac’s childhood home—Emily of New Moon created considerable visibility for MacIsaac, who remembers the time more as one of transition than of emerging celebrity.

“At the time, I felt like telling people, ‘I’m 11. Why do you want my autograph?’” she says with the just-removed understanding of how awkward life can be for a pre-teen in the public eye. “But I’ve been on the other side, too,” she continues. “You want to be able to say that you met someone famous, and an autograph just says that.” Because she started so young, has been so successful and now stands on the edge of, at very least, cult celebrity, MacIsaac possesses wisdom beyond her years and a particular connection with fans of her work. “It always feels a little surreal,” she says of meeting fans who might want an autograph, “because I’m normal, just like them.”

Not content to work strictly in television, MacIsaac left Prince Edward Island for Toronto while having just entered her late teens. Although the résumé of this young actress boasted a lead in a critically and popularly acclaimed television show, MacIsaac had also just graduated high school when she set out for the big city. “In Prince Edward Island, there’s not really a big arts scene, and definitely not for film and television,” she tells me. “I finished high school and then moved to Toronto, and I’ve been working here steadily ever since. I definitely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do this had I stayed in P.E.I.” She made the most of her opportunity by taking part in several theatrical projects, including her stage debut, in a production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, for which she received a Dora Award nomination (Canada’s equivalent to a Tony).

At this point, you might start to see a pattern developing. In her first television role, she starred in one of the highest-rated television shows in Canada; in her first theatrical role, she was nominated for one of the most prestigious awards in Canadian theater; in what’s really her first film role (not quite her debut, as she appeared in a bit part in 2005’s Ice Princess—remember that one? Didn’t think so), she appeared in one of the biggest hits of the summer. But none of it would be half as good a story without the back-story of MacIsaac’s humble approach. “I walked into the audition, and everyone else there were these big, beautiful, tall, leggy blond girls,” she recalls of her screen test for the part of Becca in Superbad. “I thought to myself, ‘[groans] I don’t look anything like you guys.’”

Fast forward to one week later and she had the job. “I was a little shocked,” she says with a tone of ironic understatement. She describes how the role in Superbad came about with the wide-eyed distance of someone who is in the initial process of watching something really amazing happen to herself. “I put myself on tape [for Superbad], here in Toronto, in May of last year. I had sort of forgotten about it, because I had put a million things on tape and nothing really ever came of them.” She says this not with a tone of defeat, but rather with one seasoned by the difficulties an actor faces when trying to land a role in Hollywood. “At the end of August, I got a call that they were going to fly me down to L.A. to do a screen test. I had completely forgotten about the project, because it had been so long,” she says with a laugh.

“So, I flew down, I got to meet [Superbad producer] Judd Apatow and [executive producer and writer] Seth Rogan and [stars] Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. That was a little overwhelming,” she recalls. “I was a big fan of them all; and I’m a huge Arrested Development fan, a huge Freaks and Geeks fan, which these people had been involved with. It was great to meet them. I thought, ‘Wow, a free trip to L.A. to meet people I really enjoy watching. That’s fantastic.’”

MacIsaac’s excitement over getting to work with people she admires is a reminder of her professional approach, but it also indicates just how much like her fans—how on their level—she still feels. “A week later, I found out I had the part and had to be on the next plane out. So, it was all very overwhelming and sort of a whirlwind. But I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

When Superbad debuted in theaters in August as the number one box office movie in the country, MacIsaac found herself in a totally different position. “For the next year, I think I’m going to try to pursue films,” she tells me, adjusting to the idea that she will be in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. It’s a different place than the one she has come from, one with a different response to celebrity. But just as she’s ready to take the next step with her career, she’s also ready to engage her fans as a willing and appreciative signer. “It’s always such an honor that anyone would take time out of their day to tell you how much they enjoy watching your work,” she says. “It’s pretty incredible.”

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Article and Picture from Autograph Magazine

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