Dream Come True
by Kathy Kaufield

Kindred Spirits - Autumn 1997

It was a dream that brought critically acclaimed actress Sheila McCarthy to Prince Edward Island to star as Aunt Laura in "Emily of New Moon"

Sheila McCarthy is a woman who believes in the power of dreams. And why shouldn't she believe? After all, it was a dream one night last year which lead the Toronto actress to one of the most rewarding and challenging acting jobs of her career.

McCarthy stars as the vulnerable and shy Aunt Laura in the television series Emily of New Moon, based on the book by L M Montgomery. The show, which is filmed on Prince Edward Island, will debut on CBC across Canada in January, 1998.

When the show's producers first asked her to play Aunt Laura, McCarthy turned the role down because she and her family were planning to move to Los Angeles. She wrote the producers a long letter explaining why she couldn't accept the part, and then forgot about it.

Not long after, she went to bed one night and dreamed about playing Laura. I dreamed about other people doing the part, says McCarthy. It was like seeing someone going out with your old boyfriend. Wait a minute, I want him.

When she woke up, McCarthy realized she didn't want anyone else playing Aunt Laura, so she called the producers and said she was on her way to P.E.I. I did a complete turnaround, she says. It was the best decision I ever made for me and my family.

In fact, the show has turned into a family affair for McCarthy. Her nine-year-old daughter Mackenzie landed the role of Jenny Strang, one of the girls at school who doesn't like Emily Starr, the show's heroine. McCarthy's other daughter, Drew, 4, is an extra in the show, and to top it all off, McCarthy's husband, actor Peter Donaldson, will play Laura's love interest Ian Bowles in some later episodes.

Being a regular on a television series gives McCarthy and her family some stability. She and her daughters have rented a house in Kensington, P.E.I. while filming the show, and her husband, who is working in Ontario, joins them on weekends.

This is really sane (their lifestyle) says McCarthy. Usually I'm away in L.A. Granted, McCarthy, a critically acclaimed actress who has starred in some big Hollywood blockbusters like Die Hard II with Bruce Willis, is no stranger to Los Angeles, but she got her start in the business with another of L.M. Montgomery's works.

McCarthy's first acting job was playing Josie Pye in Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival from 1973-76.

"I'm a Lucy Maud Montgomery afficionado," she jokes.

In fact, McCarthy credits Allan Lund, the original artistic director at the Charlottetown Festival for starting her in the business. Lund was McCarthy's dance teacher for 12 years, beginning when she was just five years old. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him, she says.

McCarthy had read Montgomery's Anne books, but hadn't heard of the Emily series before landing the role as Aunt Laura. She immediately went out and bought the first Emily book so that she could get some idea about Laura's character, but since then, she has let her imagination flow.

One thing is for sure, though. McCarthy loves her new role.

I like Laura's vulnerable, butterfly quality, she says, describing Laura as quiet and educated but not worldly.

I love her relationship with Emily. I love her dream-like quality. She's not quite on this planet. It's more fun than playing roles in which you are totally in control.

And when the character of Emily arrives on the show, McCarthy's role gets even better.

Emily comes in and the whole place explodes. A Pandora's box opens for each of us when Emily arrives.

McCarthy says Emily's arrival brings Aunt Laura a new-found sense of self and a love life too.

I love playing Laura.

McCarthy, who guest starred on the television show Road to Avonlea (also based on Montgomery books), said the Emily series has a more authentic quality than other family shows like Avonlea.

It has a Gothic-like appeal. There are lots of ghosts and visions, she says. Unlike other family shows, it has a reality to it... It's quite dramatic... It has a real appeal for families too.

McCarthy is especially proud of the show's authenticity and feels the show really does justice to Montgomery's books.

Lucy Maud Montgomery is a part of our heritage. I'm so proud to be in a show which preserves the authenticity of it (her work), she says, adding she is also pleased the show is being filmed on P.E.I. in its rightful place.

During her long career, McCarthy has worked extensively in theatre, film and television, earning two Genie Awards for Best Actress and several other nominations. She has starred in some well- known television shows like Picket Fences and Street Legal as well as critically acclaimed films such as I've Heard the Mermaids Singing for which she won one of her Genies. Despite her success, McCarthy's name isn't a household word. She says she is not usually recognized in public as a celebrity, but is constantly asked, I've seen you before. What have you been in? To which she usually replies, I was the reporter Sam who followed Bruce Willis around the airport in Die Hard II." That usually does the trick. Most people remember her from that movie. For now, though, McCarthy is more than content to live on Prince Edward Island five months out of the year and play a character she loves.

I miss Canada when I'm working in L.A. To be able to work here and love my work, it doesn't get any better.

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