Acting is a sport. At least it has always been for Ms Carter (Andrea Carter). She learned the discipline, hard work, and team work she finds imperative as an actor from her training as a gymnast. “As a gymnast, you train for the results you want”, she applies this philosophy to her acting. This discipline was celebrated as a gymnast at age eleven when she placed first overall apparatuses in a competition in Southwestern Ontario.
As she excelled as a gymnast, her family challenged her to expand her interests— supported in her love of performance, she was introduced to her first on camera workshop at the age of twelve. She then continued to study acting at Etobicoke School of the Arts in highschool, and then York University’s Acting Conservatory. While in university she continued to practice adult gymnastics at MWF Madness.
In 2015, Ms Carter began exercising her acting talent with coaches at Lonsdale Smith Studios. Her resilience, athleticism, and persistence led her to become an ensemble member of the school’s production company, Gracemoon Arts Company. It is here, with her community, she fostered some of her proudest work. “I’ve been consistently moved by the depth of vulnerability Andrea has brought to her characters. I remember her work with Darren Herbert in Fences to be one of the most heartbreaking interpretations I’ve seen”, says Amrit Kaur, a fellow classmate studying with her at the studio. Andrea is presently shooting her character Rayna Joyce in the companys’ rivetting series Little Wars.
Other days, she’ll work on her original series Human Again which centers around a black female vampire who escaped slavery only to become chained to her addictions of human blood, which is currently being pitched to networks. Andrea can be seen this summer acting in Shakespeare in the Ruff, playing Perdita in The Winters Tale. She is thrilled to share her own story through the gift of this character, the knowledge of feeling strength and yearning for equality in a world where people often question it.
She also works with individuals who have varying levels of intellectual and physical disabilities, specifically as a coach for the Special Olympics Toronto Silhouettes Gymnastics Team and encourages others to volunteer where ever they can.
When she is not acting, or doing handstands, she finds herself watching Netflix with her partner at her home in Orangeville or playing peek a boo with her new four month old niece!
Selected Awards:
My Entertainment Critics Award’Grey’ (Best Ensemble)
Dora AwardNominationJudos Noir (Best Ensemble)
-Bio by Amrit Kaur)
What ‘hood are you in?
I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. I moved within the city from Dufferin and King right beside the The Exhibition place to the suburbs of Etobicoke to Bloor West Village. But the nature and calm of the north was calling my partner and I, so eight months ago we moved out of Toronto, to a small town called Orangeville. Now I’m an artistic commuter!
What do you do?
I am an artist, but specifically I am an actor. As a part time job, in between gigs, I work as a personal support worker for people who have special needs.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently acting in the play The Winters Tale put on by Shakespeare in the Ruff at Withrow park. I am producing and acting in a show called Little Wars, by Gracemoon Arts Company. I am developing a personal series called Human Again, which is about a black female vampire.
Where can we find your work?
You can find my work at Withrow Park, in Shakespeare in the Ruff’s, The Winters Tale is on until September 2nd! You can find me acting on the third season of the Netflix show Designated Survivor. Little Wars will be in post production shortly and will be released to the world in the near future. You can check out the trailer for Human Again on Vimeo!
