When she was a wee lass, Toronto actress Lola Tash would watch Gone With the Wind. A lot. And as it clocks in at almost four hours, it isn’t surprising that she ended up in the same business as her idol, Vivien Leigh.
“It’s the first movie I ever watched that really had a profound impact on me,” Tash says.
“I used to watch it once a day, every day, and it’s so long, too. I would just sit there by myself. I thought she was so amazing and she did this thing where she was like, ‘What?’ and she’d raise one eyebrow. And you can tell during my first three years in acting in every scene, I’m like, ‘What, what do you mean?’ with this one eyebrow moving up and down because of Vivien Leigh.”
But Tash is done with eyebrow acting and childhood acting in general after landing the role of Mitzi on CBC’s cool new comedy Four in the Morning, which premieres on Aug. 26.
The show, created by Ira Parker, takes place in the early morning hours when a group of friends gather at a local eatery (Toronto’s Patrician Grill amongst others) to talk about life.
“The amount of creative licence we’ve been given here is incredible,” says Parker, also a co-producer and show runner for the show. “Sometimes I can’t believe they’re actually letting us make this show!”
The show is produced for the CBC by Serendipity Point Films, a Toronto production company.
“Ira Parker is a superb young writer with a truly original voice. We are delighted to be working with him and the CBC on this bold and offbeat new series,” says Ari Lantos, a co-producer on the show.
It is billed as an unconventional comedy and, according to Tash, involves some magic realism.
“It’s very magical because it is so surreal,” she explains. “A lot of episodes are metaphoric. You don’t know if they’re really happening in their lives or it is something they’re projecting because of stress.”
Mitzi is a sassy Bay Street type whom Tash describes as a bit “psychotic.”
“Everything for her she really believes in wholeheartedly, and she doesn’t hesitate to tell you about it,” she says. “And she’s best friends with a talking pig.”
But, not a real talking pig, surely?
“It’s a real pig,” she says, with serious intent. “See, now you’re going to watch the show.”
Four in the Morning also stars a trio of promising young Toronto actors: Mazin Elsadig (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Daniel Maslany (Corner Gas, The Risen) and Michelle Mylett (Letter Kenny) who, along with the crew, became Tash’s extended family during the five-week shoot.
“We did all-night shoots, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., for five weeks consecutively,” she explains.
“We were all very nocturnal, and with such crazy hours, we became one family. There were no secrets, no animosity, just a close familial atmosphere. Everyone else was taking vitamins and stuff like that. I did nothing, so of course, I got sick.”
According to Lantos, casting the show was an exhaustive process, but he has seen the fruits of his labour.
“It was a long search to be honest. It took months and months, and I’m very glad we all agreed because [Lola] really nailed it,” he says. “She’s terrific, and definitely a young talent to watch, for sure.”
Tash grew up in York Mills before moving to Forest Hill, eventually landing at Vaughan Road Academy in the Interact program for kids pursuing arts or sports outside of school.
Although she resides with her sister near King and Spadina, Tash is often back in the old ’hood, and considers the chocolate chip cookies at local fave Le Gourmand one of her favourite things in the city.
Tash’s first artistic endeavours involved singing. She only became interested in acting at the suggestion of her singing coach.
When she was 12, she met with an agent and landed a show on the Family Channel.
For a while, kiddie acting gigs of a predictable sort followed, including a leading role in the kiddie spy caper show Connor Undercover.
“I just kept doing it,” she says. “At that time, early on, it was all just really easy. It was just kid acting. And then I got older and realized what it really meant and started to think of it more as a craft. You have to put the effort in.”
When she starred as the title character in the edgy Canadian coming-of-age film Molly Maxwell, her career arc moved from teeny gigs to more adult roles.
She has also made numerous appearances on the CBC series Republic of Doyle as Sloane Daniels, the feisty, pickpocketing daughter of lead character Jake Doyle, as well as on the period drama Reign.
Working on Four in the Morning has also gotten the young actress thinking about taking a stab at acting onstage.
“Now, more so for sure — originally I didn’t think I could handle it,” she says.
“But this is almost like a play, in that we had to know eight scripts prior to shooting. In rehearsals, it was just working on performance. So now I want to try it.”
Four in the Morning airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBC, beginning tonight.
