Nicole Oliver – Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I just finished a movie for Hallmark called The Aura Teagarden Mysteries that stars Candace Cameron Bure and Marilu Henner. They are based on the books by Charlaine Harris. I was in a recent episode of “Arrow” and I’m recording right now for the My Little Pony feature film that is coming out in 2017.

Q) What was your experience like on “Arrow?”

A) I love the superhero genre and I was really cool with my kids for a second. It was great! I got to work with Neal McDonough who is the bad guy this year and I’ve always loved his work. It’s not often that you meet the people you admire and find out they are great, cool people. He was and was just a charming individual. He was super talented and quietly menacing. I got to work with Katie Cassidy and she was just lovely. It’s a big show and lots are happening. I was happy to be a part of the universe there.

Q) As you mentioned we’ll be seeing you in the recent Aurora Teagarden Talk about the plot for the movie and about your character.

A) My character is a new realtor working for Marilu’s character, Aida Teagarden. Her name is Eileen and she is from the city, but recently moved to the country and we don’t know why. Shortly after she gets there, dead bodies start popping up. They are fellow realtors that either work in competition with her agency or her. So, the spotlight of guilt is immediately shone on her so you wonder if she is guilty or not. It was fun getting to play that kind of a character because there are more possibilities.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the film?

A) Like most actors, sometimes we get really lucky and we get offered something. Other times, our agents will really push hard that their client would be really great for it. Then, you have to do a “song and dance routine” to get the job.

Q) What was it like getting to work with Marilu Henner?

A) She is a fascinating woman! I have a huge crush on her and she is just so amazing. She is so generous on set and a lovely spirit. We talked a bit about her memory. If you mention any day to her, she knows what day of the week it was and she can tell you what she was doing. She has techniques about how you can actually work on increasing your memory and go into memories. Working with her, from an actor’s perspective, we have to memorize so many lines that the more we do it the easier it gets. But if it comes natural to you that I think she was saying she has to work hard to make her lines feel fresh all the time. Because it is easy for her to memorize that you don’t then want to sound read. So, that was something she found her way around. She is really generous with sharing her experience and helping people tap into it, too.

Q) Were you familiar with the Aurora Teagarden book series before filming?

A) I was familiar with it and my character in the books. I believe she is a lesbian in the book that is dating another realtor named Terry. She is not that in Hallmark-land though. I like Charlaine Harris and I’m a huge True Blood I have a tendency that whenever something that pop across the pop culture screen I tend to research it a little bit out of my own curiosity and also because of what I do for a living. I think it is our responsibility as performers to stay up on what is happening because you never know when you’ll get called in for an audition for this or that. The more you know, the better you are prepared and can invest yourself in these different worlds. It was really cool and very cool to work with Candace Cameron Bure. She’s delightful, stunning and fantastic. She was an Executive Producer on the series so she is a powerhouse. I really enjoy working on a show with female EP’s and we had a great female director and it was written by a woman who created strong female characters. So hooray! I’m not bashing men. It’s just nice to see that there are more opportunities for women in all positions in the industry. It’s something that we’ve been calling for for a long time. So, when you get to work on a project where that is represented it’s really special.

Q) What were some of the most memorable moments from filming?

A) It’s always fun when you are hanging around set because you get to talk and get to know other actors. My favorite time is between the takes when you get to chew the fat. Sometimes you get to catch up with friends. It’s really such a great feeling to have a coffee, talk about life and talk about what you love to do and not what you have to do. It’s such a great feeling.

Q) Do you have a preference between voiceover work and on screen work?

A) It’s kind of like Sophie’s Choice because you can’t make me choose between my children. I love them all equally! What I do love about voice work is that it doesn’t matter what you look like so I could voice a little boy character or a little girl character. I could voice a mom or a grandma. You are who you are so that will affect your casting so with voiceover there is incredible freedom. Plus, it’s fun and it’s funny. While there are opportunities for comedy, a lot of animation these days is all over the map. The writing is outstanding. I love doing voiceover work because of the creative freedom and I find the lack of stereotyping for me and my performances. I have lots of possibilities and I love possibilities. Do I have a preference? My preference is I like to work. Whether that opportunity is on camera or behind the camera, they all require preparation, dedication and sharing myself.

Q) What has been your favorite role you’ve done so far?

A) I have one thing that is coming up that I can’t talk about that is really cool. It’s probably my favorite thing, but I still feel really blessed that season six of My Little Pony recently aired. It’s rare you get to say you’re involved with a show for six seasons. We’re doing a big feature film coming out with in 2017 that has Kristin Chenoweth and Emily Blunt. I love being a part of that world and being a part of that show. In terms of favorite, again, it is like what I like to do better? I really am the sort of performer who when I do something I throw myself into it. Sometimes you are really lucky where you are doing two or three cartoon shows and you are doing a movie and you’re trying to be a mom and you’re trying to find time for yourself. The last thing you are going to do though is complain because no one is going to want to listen to you cry that river. I went to theater school and was going to be a lawyer. In my grade twelve year I did a high school play and that was it. It just changed everything, but my parents said I needed an education. So, I went to theater school at the University of Toronto and I graduated and haven’t looked back. I did some bartending and some other stuff. I hung up my tray and I have been a self-employed actress for over two decades.

Q) What advice would you give someone looking to enter the voiceover field?

A) I get asked this question a lot and really it has to be something that comes from you, your passion. You need to train. It’s great that people say you have a good voice, but with voice acting the word “voice” is the adjective to the noun “actor.” You are an actor. So, all this stuff on camera or stage is all there in animation, but we just get to do funny voices on top of it. It all still has to be grounded in reality and emotional truth otherwise the audience won’t buy it. So, for anyone who wants to do it go for it! Get yourself into a class. Watch lots of cartoons. Listen to radio commercials and to commercials. Watch documentaries. Really get hip to what is going on out there and who is doing what. Pop culture references. Be a student of life and whether you go on to making a living at it, being a student of life is a great thing for anybody to do.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback to your projects?

A) Social media freaks me out so I’m just on Twitter. I have an Instagram and have a personal Facebook, but I love Twitter because it is one hundred and forty characters and I can have interaction with fans, which is fun for me and fun for them. When you are on social media, you need to be responsible for who you are and what you are saying and be consistant and be mindful what it is going out there and that once it is out there it can’t be taken back. I have two boys who are just about to be teenagers and this time of social media makes me petrified. I try and take the advice that I give to them and make sure I take it as well. Don’t go on social media when you are angry! That’s good advice. Take a deep breath and keep what you want in your Draft folder and come back twenty minutes later. If it still makes sense to you, then you can post it. Knee jerk reactions rarely turn out how you envision them.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of your work?

A) Thank you doesn’t even begin to cut it! I am blown away when people say they saw me in something or they really loved my work. I have had some fans say how some of the things I’ve done have inspired them to make themselves better or make some changes and that just boggles my mind and melts my heart. I always tell everybody that it is nice to be called motivational and inspirational, but everyone does their work. So, to be somewhere in the chain of all that is humbling, special and I won’t’ ever take it forgranted.