Hollywood houses stars from across the Globe, while most hail from America, there are many
secret Canadians hiding within, so today on Top 10 Beyond The Screen, I have rounded up
some of your favorite actors with the intention of outing their Canadianism, with our list
of the Top 10 Actors You Never Knew Were Canadian.
Let's jump in.
10 Seth Rogen Before he was discovered by Judd Apatow a
young Seth Rogen was an aspiring comedian from Vancouver British Columbia.
Rogen dropped out of high school in order to pursue comedy full time, and at sixteen
he placed second in the 1998 Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest.
Not long after he was discovered by Apatow and appeared in his short-lived cult series
Freaks and Geeks in 1999.
Though the show lasted just one season, it was the starting off point in his career,
with the actor going on to land roles in Donnie Darko, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin and
Knocked Up.
As of right now you can find Rogen appearing as Pumbaa in the live action version of The
Lion King.
9 Ryan Reynolds Now, this may be an obvious choice, but that’s
why he’s our number nine, so stop yelling at me!
Now, when we think Ryan Reynolds we think Deadpool, obviously, but this star made a
name for himself way back in 1998 when he appeared as Michael Berg Bergen in Two Guys,
a Girl and a Pizza Place, which ran from 98 to 2001.
Following the success of the show he managed to go on to land roles in Van Wilder, Blade,
The Amityville Horror and of course, X- Men, which we don’t really like to discuss.
For those who don’t know Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and even appeared
in Fifteen, a Nickelodeon series that starred many other Canadian actors.
The actor eventually moved to the states in his early 20’s during which time he finally
had his big break in the industry.
8 Jim Carrey Jim Carrey made his mark in the entertainment
industry when he starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective before going on to land roles in
The Mask, Batman Forever, and The Cable Guy.
However, prior to his success Carrey was born and raised in Newmarket, Ontario, where he
would perform constantly for anyone who would watch, with the actor even mailing his resume
to The Carol Burnett Show at the age of 10.
In Junior High his teachers allowed him a few minutes at the end of each school day
to perform his stand-up routine for his classmates.
He eventually rose to fame when he became a cast member of the Fox Sketch comedy In
Living Color back in 1990, but it was his previously mentioned films that established
him as a bankable comedy actor.
7 Shawn Ashmore One of many X-Men on our list, Shawn Ashmore
shot to fame when he starred as Bobby Drake, aka IceMan in the X-Men movies back in 2000.
However, outside of the superhero universe he is relatively quiet, only starring in Independent
or low budget movies such as Frozen, before going on to land a series regular role on
The Following which ran from 2013 - 2015.
For those that don’t know, Ashmore was born in Richmond, British Columbia exactly one
minute after his twin brother Aaron Ashmore, a fellow actor who resides in Toronto.
Now, many folks confuse the two brother who has appeared in Smallville, The Shrine and
Veronica Mars, and is equally as talented as his younger twin.
6 Shay Mitchell Most will know Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
in Pretty Little Liars, a show which ran from 2010-2017 and made her a household name amongst
young teens.
Going on to star in the popular Netflix series You as Peach Salinger and The Possession of
Hannah Grace.
However, did you know Shay was born in Toronto, Canada before moving to Vancouver at the age
of 10.
Within a year of their arrival, an international modeling agency held an open casting call
for teen and pre-teen girls who were seeking representation, Shay of course was selected.
However, more interesting still, did you know this star was born Shannon Mitchell, Shay
is just a nickname, I feel duped.
After signing with her first theatrical agency, Shay appeared in the drama series Degrassi:
The Next Generation back in 2001 as well as booked several major commercials before going
on to land her breakout role in Pretty Little Liars.
5 Ryan Gosling Before he shot to fame as Noah in The Notebook,
Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling grew up in Ontario, Canada.
When he was just 13 years old he auditioned in Montreal for the TV series The Mickey Mouse
Club and beat out 17,000 other actors for a spot on the show.
He appeared for two years and lived with his then co-star Justin Timberlake and his family.
Following his success on the Mickey Mouse Club, Ryan went on to land major roles in
Remember the Titans, The Notebook, Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl and Blue Valentine.
He’s taken Hollywood by storm, even receiving two Oscar nominations for La La Land and Half
Nelson.
4 Rachel McAdams Ryan’s co-star in the Notebook, McAdams
was born and raised in London, Ontario, and became involved with acting at the age of
just 13 and would perform Shakespearean productions in summer theatre camp before going on to
graduate with honors with a BFA degree in Theatre from York University.
She began her acting career in 2001 when she landed the role of Hannah Grant in The Famous
Jett Jackson, before going on to star in Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers and
The Family Stone.
The actress has one Oscar nomination to her name for her incredible performance in 2015’s
Spotlight, which followed the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive
scandal of child abuse in the Catholic Church.
3 Sandra Oh Sandra Oh is the name on everybody’s lips
at the moment thanks to the popular hit series Killing Eve where she plays a security operative
who becomes obsessed with an assassin.
Now, most will known Sandra as the quick-witted, sharp-tongued surgeon on the long running
series Grey’s Anatomy, where she played Dr Cristina Yang from 2005 to 2014 before
going to pursue other projects such as Catfight, American Crime and the aforementioned Killing
Eve.
Now, many folks still don’t know that Sandra was born in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean Ontario,
before moving to Montreal to attend the National Theatre School where she studied drama.
This secret Canadian has had an incredibly successful career thus far, with two Golden
Globe wins under her belt, one for Killing Eve and the other for Grey’s Anatomy.
2 Ellen Page Ellen Page shot to fame when she starred as
Juno in the movie of the same name back in 2007, however, prior to that she was already
making a name for herself by appearing in works such as X-Men: The Land Stand, Hard
Candy, and ReGenesis.
She’s a huge name in the entertainment industry, yet few people know that she is in fact Canadian.
That’s right, Page was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attended the Neptune
Theatre School, before kicking off career in the cult hit TV series Trailer Park Boys.
She did return to school for a few years, with the up and coming actress moving to Toronto
and enrolling in the Interact Program at Vaughan Road Academy in Toronto for several years.
Ever since her breakout role in Juno, the actress as shot to fame, landing roles in
The Umbrella Academy, Inception, Whip It, and Flatliners.
1 Keanu Reeves Oh Keanu, he is a god among many, the King
of our hearts.
Did you know, he is yet another secret Canadian.
I didn’t, now I’m shook.
Now, the actor was initially born in Beirut Lebanon before moving at the age of 5 to Toronto
with his family.
In High School Keanu was a big lover of hockey, even earning himself the nickname “The Wall”.
Eventually he turned his sights away from sports and even school, instead dropping out
in order to pursue acting.
After a handful of stage gigs and made-for-tv movies, Keanu landed a supporting role alongside
Rob Lowe in the hockey film Youngblood back in 1986 and following production he packed
his bags and moved to Hollywood where he landed roles in River’s Edge and Dangerous Liaisons.
Reeves as become an icon in Hollywood, and as of now has appeared in over 90 projects,
including fan favorites such as The Matrix, Speed, John Wick, and Point Break.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any secret Canadians that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 2.
If you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up, subscribe, and
turn on notifications so you never miss another Beyond The Screen vid.
And until next time, see ya later.