Name Angela Besharah | ||
Occupation Actress, director, producer, photographer Website | ||
Angela Besharah (born August 12) is a Canadian actor, director, photographer and acting coach.
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Early life
Besharah was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is of Lebanese and British descent. Her mother worked in international development and her father is an architect. She started ballet at the age of 4 and continued to dance in ballet and jazz until her early teens. Besharah then took up the double bass and was a member of the Ottawa Youth Orchestra by the age of 12. She auditioned for her first play at the age of 15 and landed the lead role. She continued to act in school productions until graduation. At the age of 16, she was scouted to model in Milan, Italy. There she landed her first big campaign for United Colors of Benetton. Besharah continued to model internationally during summer breaks from school, working in Japan, Germany, Taiwan, the United States and Canada.
Acting
Though originally enrolled at The University of Toronto for environmental science, Besharah changed to the theatre program in her second year. There she played roles such as Ophelia in Hamlet and an old Newfoundland bag lady version of Gower in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Her Toronto theatre debut was as Corey in Theatre Passe Muraille's Little Dragon.
Besharah first appeared on film in a music video directed by Sloan's Chris Murphy for The Local Rabbits and upon graduation was first cast on Mutant X. More recent credits include Good Witch, Reign, as Ann Gargan opposite Emmy nominated Tom Wilkinson, in the mini-series The Kennedys, Nelly McClean for BBC America's Copper and in the supporting roles of Jobina on Lost Girl and Bridget Bishop on Bitten for Syfy and Showcase.
Directing
The first play Besharah directed, Just Another Day on the Hunt, was awarded Best Direction and Best Production at the University of Toronto Drama Festival. She has since directed 11 more, six of which were original works. The Churkendoose was voted by the Toronto Star as a Top 10 Best Bet, and The Way was chosen by the Toronto Star as a Producer's Pick. Mad 5/Still Alive was given a 4 star review by Eye Magazine, as was The Keeper's Secret, their critic commenting, "You can’t help feeling like you’re seeing the future of theatre."
Besharah was co-artistic director of Sterling Studio Theatre from 2012-14, directing Echoes by N. Richard Nash, By A Thread by Diane Flacks, Sailor's Song by John Patrick Shanley and The Bear by Anton Chekhov. She also directed two documentary shorts for the Get Involved! series on TVO.
Her first short film, Now & Then, premiered at the San Diego International Children's Festival, and toured India with the WorldKids International Film Festival. It was screened at numerous festivals including the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Artisan's Film Festival in the Hamptons, and was featured in The New York Times.
Besharah coaches actors privately at Inside Light Studio and runs "On Camera" and "Scene Study" classes out of another studio.
Awards
Besharah directed and co-wrote the short film Rive won Best Foreign Drama Short at the 2017 Atlanta Underground Film Festival.