Exclusive: Interview with Soulpepper's Hannah Miller

Earlier this year, Soulpepper Theatre, one of the Canada’s foremost classical repertory companies, announced their 2011/2012 Academy lineup, a year-long training and performance residency for young actors. Included in the list of eight was Hannah Miller, a George Brown Theatre School grad the Toronto Star once deemed “a terrific discovery” with “a lovely voice and arresting stage presence.”

Born in Ra’anana, Israel, Hannah moved to Toronto six years ago in pursuit of her acting dreams. As a student she was the recipient of the Edna Khubyar Acting Award and the Sonja Koerner Award, and has since acted for several Toronto theatre and screen productions.

It’s tempting to brand her a budding actress, but the truth is that Hannah’s been acting professionally for most of her life. Remarkably well-spoken, she recently sat down with ShalomLife to discuss acting, the Israeli film industry, and what she loves about theatre. We’ll say this much: she’s definitely one to watch.


Tell me a bit about what your work with Soulpepper. What roles are you playing this season?

Right now I’m working on Twelfth Night with Joe Ziegler and Nancy Palk, in which I’m playing a variety of characters: Viola, Olivia, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Feste the fool. We just finished working on Waiting for Godot with Daniel Brooks, in which I played Vladimir. So at the moment we’re doing scene studies, delving into different sorts of texts - seemingly nonsensical, absurd texts - to sort of stretch our acting muscles in different directions.


What was your all-time favourite role to play and why?

I played a character named Macey in a Pea Green Theatre musical called The BBQ King. She was a petulant teenage daughter, which was really fun. Challenging, because as Macey I couldn’t laugh at all the stuff that was happening on stage. But it also gave me an opportunity to deal with my own demons, because I was very much a petulant angry teenager myself, so it was fun to work out my issues that way.


What is your dream role?

There are lots. I’d love to play Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.


Was there a defining moment for you in terms of deciding to become an actress?

Well, I started off acting quite young: I was ten when I did my first professional production back in Israel, which was The Sound of Music. So I was introduced to it at a very young age.

It all started off with participating in my elementary school’s choir. From the school choir, a few of us were selected to form a private choir. We used to get hired for kids’ tapes - you know, whenever you needed children’s choirs or something. And from there, I started getting suggestions about auditions for musicals. And it was me - it was never my family pushing for it. There was nobody leading me into it. I was always the one finding audition notices in the newspaper.


That’s pretty ambitious for a ten-year-old.

It was. And I’m not sure where the steadfast, dogged nature came from. Maybe I was born with it, but it’s always been this way. I don’t think I could specify a moment in which I sat down and said, that’s what I want to do. It’s just always been a part of my life.


What’s the acting scene like in Israel?

It’s hard to say, because I haven’t been there in six years, and I also believe the industry has changed a great deal. Israeli TV and especially film has become much more prominent and prolific in the past few years. A lot of it probably has to do with Natalie Portman and certain directors and actors in Israel that started taking more of an interest in the film industry. They’ve started producing more sophisticated films with more production value than they’ve had before. Back when I was auditioning in Israel, it was mostly things like soap operas being produced, stuff that didn’t interest me as much.


As far as theatre goes, there’s a lot of it in Israel, and there’s a lot of support for it. I guess I never felt challenged enough in Israel. There was an old-fashionedness, at least in the choice of material in Israel, that I don’t find here. And I really am misrepresenting - I love the theatre in Israel, and I do think it’s a very interesting culture. It’s more present-based: people are much more interested in the ‘now.’ And by all means, theatre should be something people relate to, but I don’t think I experienced that while I was there.


You were born and raised in Ra’anana, Israel, but moved to Toronto in pursuit of your acting dreams. What made you choose Toronto, specifically?

I moved to Toronto specifically for training. I was interested in learning theatre in English, especially with the classics I loved, like Shakespeare. And I really wanted to immerse myself in a different culture - as different as possible - and see what challenges that would bring.

I originally chose Australia, but something didn’t click for me there. Australians are very nice and it’s a beautiful country, but I suppose it was too detached from the politics and the speed I was used to. I wanted something in between, something that was relaxed and slower, but not completely detached. So I found myself here. My brother was here for a while at the time, so I came to join him and ended up staying.

In addition to theatre, you’ve done some film and television work as well. Which medium do you prefer?

Theatre, no question. Acting for TV and film is a completely different art form, as far as I’m concerned. The speed at which you have to come to conclusions and make your choices is just so different. When you’re working in TV, you could receive your script twenty minutes before you have to get up there and do it. You never get to rehearse or try it out with your partner, or at least it’s very rare that you would. The focus is completely different. So much happens in editing, so much that is beyond your performance enters into it. In theatre, though, you have the opportunity to spend time with the words that you’re saying, with the people you’re saying them to, with your actions and intentions and movements. It’s a whole-body experience, and it just requires so much more of you. It goes so much deeper. And that’s what I love. I love delving into the psychological aspect of a character, spending time with it, learning it, treating it as if you’re learning to be a new human being, with everything that entails. It’s rigorous, and a lot of time has to go into it, but that’s my favourite part of theatre.

What are some of the actors or movies that inspire you?

There are many. As a girl, I loved that whole generation of British actors - Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench. Even now, I love Edward Norton, John C. Reilly, Laura Linney - there are so many. Soulpepper has a handful of those incomparable talents: Diego Matamoros is just one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. Joe Ziegler, Nancy Palk - they’re just amazing to watch.

What would you be doing if not acting?

I suppose it would have to be something in the theatre world. Directing, maybe. I did puppetry for a time, and I’ve written a couple of plays before. I don’t really see myself outside of this industry. I don’t even remember not being in it.

Can you tell me about your proudest moment as an actress?

This is really lame, but I felt really good about it: I had a five-page speech to learn in a play called Madwoman of Chaillot which I just couldn’t learn. I think my proudest moment was on opening night, when, for the first time, I spoke the speech perfectly word for word. I just never felt so good!

What advice would you give aspiring actors?

To me, it’s all about being observant of life. If you don’t know what’s going on around you or you’re not sensitive to other people, you’re going to make it very difficult for yourself. Stick with it and remain sensitive.

To see Hannah on stage, visit www.soulpepper.ca