TORONTO – Veteran Canadian actress Shirley Douglas believes Canada needs to do more to hold on to its acting talent.
Douglas, 78, lamented the lack of work in Canada for actors, even as U.S. productions come north to take advantage of tax credits and other incentives — usually with American stars.
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“If our people aren’t going to be allowed to work then they’re going to disappear,” she said.
Douglas, whose long list of credits includes the long-running Canadian series Wind at My Back, said Canada needs to build its own star system. She said “no other country that’s known” plays down its talent like Canada.
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“This is the uniqueness of Canada,” she said, “and a very bad part of it as far as I’m concerned.”
Douglas, who is the mother of actor Kiefer Sutherland (with her ex-husband, actor Donald Sutherland), is being honoured Saturday in Toronto with the ACTRA Toronto’s 2013 Award of Excellence at the ACTRA Awards.
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