Meet Rebecca Jenkins
October 7, 2004
By Kim Linekin - Eye Weekly
WHO IS SHE?
After two decades in showbiz, Jenkins is pretty much the Canadian Kevin Bacon. She earned her stripes singing back-up for Jane Siberry and The Parachute Club in the 1980s, then pretended to sing back-up in Leonard Cohen's 1993 "Closing Time" video just as she was switching to pretending full-time, scoring a Genie for her first starring role in Bye Bye Blues and then working humbly alongside everyone from Kevin Spacey (playing his wife in the 1991 TV movie Darrow) to Tim Robbins (getting mistaken for his sorta-wife Susan Sarandon on the set of 1992's Bob Roberts). Now she pops up regularly in crummy TV movies and good Canadian films, most impressively as muse to Daniel MacIvor in three features he's written: Past Perfect, Marion Bridge and now Wilby Wonderful.
WHAT'S SO WONDERFUL ABOUT HER WILBY CHARACTER?
"She's all heart," says Jenkins over a chat at the Toronto International Film Festival. MacIvor originally wanted Jenkins for the uptight real-estate agent that Sandra Oh ended up playing. "He said, 'Oh, you could do the comedy in it.' But I've done that kind of role before. And I just wanted to play someone really fun and light." So MacIvor came back with the role of Sandra, a slutty single mom who's a little too interested in her teenage daughter's love life. Since Jenkins' own daughter is now eight, she appreciated the film's subtle parenting lesson. "Unfortunately, [Sandra's] sort of made her daughter her friend. That's a very hard thing not to do, I think. You can be friendly but you're not supposed to be their best friend."
WAS IT WONDERFUL WANDERING THROUGH WILBY IN HER UNDERWEAR?
At 45, Jenkins has a body most 20-year-olds would envy. But she admits to having a "distorted view" of herself and found the prospect of playing Sandra's clothing-optional side not fun at all. "At first I was there going, 'No! Don't put me in a bra and underwear and have me walk around.' I've never done that before and I was like, 'eooww!'" Jenkins continues in her sing-songy way, "then once I got into character, it became like, 'Is there a problem?' I was walking around like, 'do-de-do.'"
HOW CAN ACTING IN HER UNDERWEAR BE ANY SCARIER THAN HANGING OFF A BUILDING?
Here's how cool Rebecca Jenkins is: the first film credit on her résumé is as a stuntwoman on 1985's Head Office. She got offered the job as she wandered past the production office on the way to see her agent. "They said, 'Hey, you're the right height. Have you ever thought of doing stunt work?' And I said, 'Sure!' I was a dancer and I like doing physical things. So I hung 40 storeys off this window-washing apparatus and they dropped it as if I was going to fall. And I got $900 for a two-minute gig. Hello?" She basically scolded a crew member for trembling as she went up. "I said, 'Don't do that! What are you doing there shaking? You're in this business!'"
EVERY REVIEW MENTIONS SOMETHING ABOUT HER RADIANCE. DOES SHE HAVE A LIGHT BULB STUCK IN HER OR WHAT?
Jenkins makes a creaking sound and shuffles in her seat. "Oh! I just busted another one," she says. These days, her radiance probably comes from her recent marriage to Joel Bakan, co-writer of The Corporation, for whom she moved with her daughter to Vancouver a year ago. She's also glowing from seeing her Toronto girlfriends during the festival. "I brought them all into my hotel and we stayed up all night drinking wine and just having so much fun together." But she's heard this radiant thing before. "It's what my father has. What they're talking about is just an excitement and wonder about life."
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October 7, 2004
By Kim Linekin - Eye Weekly
WHO IS SHE?
After two decades in showbiz, Jenkins is pretty much the Canadian Kevin Bacon. She earned her stripes singing back-up for Jane Siberry and The Parachute Club in the 1980s, then pretended to sing back-up in Leonard Cohen's 1993 "Closing Time" video just as she was switching to pretending full-time, scoring a Genie for her first starring role in Bye Bye Blues and then working humbly alongside everyone from Kevin Spacey (playing his wife in the 1991 TV movie Darrow) to Tim Robbins (getting mistaken for his sorta-wife Susan Sarandon on the set of 1992's Bob Roberts). Now she pops up regularly in crummy TV movies and good Canadian films, most impressively as muse to Daniel MacIvor in three features he's written: Past Perfect, Marion Bridge and now Wilby Wonderful.
WHAT'S SO WONDERFUL ABOUT HER WILBY CHARACTER?
"She's all heart," says Jenkins over a chat at the Toronto International Film Festival. MacIvor originally wanted Jenkins for the uptight real-estate agent that Sandra Oh ended up playing. "He said, 'Oh, you could do the comedy in it.' But I've done that kind of role before. And I just wanted to play someone really fun and light." So MacIvor came back with the role of Sandra, a slutty single mom who's a little too interested in her teenage daughter's love life. Since Jenkins' own daughter is now eight, she appreciated the film's subtle parenting lesson. "Unfortunately, [Sandra's] sort of made her daughter her friend. That's a very hard thing not to do, I think. You can be friendly but you're not supposed to be their best friend."
WAS IT WONDERFUL WANDERING THROUGH WILBY IN HER UNDERWEAR?
At 45, Jenkins has a body most 20-year-olds would envy. But she admits to having a "distorted view" of herself and found the prospect of playing Sandra's clothing-optional side not fun at all. "At first I was there going, 'No! Don't put me in a bra and underwear and have me walk around.' I've never done that before and I was like, 'eooww!'" Jenkins continues in her sing-songy way, "then once I got into character, it became like, 'Is there a problem?' I was walking around like, 'do-de-do.'"
HOW CAN ACTING IN HER UNDERWEAR BE ANY SCARIER THAN HANGING OFF A BUILDING?
Here's how cool Rebecca Jenkins is: the first film credit on her résumé is as a stuntwoman on 1985's Head Office. She got offered the job as she wandered past the production office on the way to see her agent. "They said, 'Hey, you're the right height. Have you ever thought of doing stunt work?' And I said, 'Sure!' I was a dancer and I like doing physical things. So I hung 40 storeys off this window-washing apparatus and they dropped it as if I was going to fall. And I got $900 for a two-minute gig. Hello?" She basically scolded a crew member for trembling as she went up. "I said, 'Don't do that! What are you doing there shaking? You're in this business!'"
EVERY REVIEW MENTIONS SOMETHING ABOUT HER RADIANCE. DOES SHE HAVE A LIGHT BULB STUCK IN HER OR WHAT?
Jenkins makes a creaking sound and shuffles in her seat. "Oh! I just busted another one," she says. These days, her radiance probably comes from her recent marriage to Joel Bakan, co-writer of The Corporation, for whom she moved with her daughter to Vancouver a year ago. She's also glowing from seeing her Toronto girlfriends during the festival. "I brought them all into my hotel and we stayed up all night drinking wine and just having so much fun together." But she's heard this radiant thing before. "It's what my father has. What they're talking about is just an excitement and wonder about life."
Back to articles