The Nickel Children

Background:

“I'd love to act and be successful, but not famous.” Tamara Hope

Canadian actress Tamara Hope has built an impressive resume since entering the entertainment industry in the late 1990s. She took home a Young Artist Award for her role in the made-for-TV film “The Sandy Bottom Orchestra” (2000, Showtime) and a Method Fest Award for the film “The Nickel Children” (2005), which was about teenage prostitution. She also earned a Young Artist nomination and a Prism nomination for the television films “What Girls Learn” (2001) and “Augusta, Gone” (2006), respectively. Other film credits include “Stepsister from Planet Weird” (2000, TV), “The Deep End” (2001), “Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion” (2003, TV), “A Different Loyalty” (2004), “Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story” (2004, TV), “Saint Ralph” (2004), “Shall We Dance” (2004), “Selling Innocence” (2005, TV), “September Dawn” (2006) and “Sand Serpents” (2009, TV). She also played Guinevere in the Australian/Canadian TV series “Guinevere Jones” (2002) and Leah McLure in the second season of “Whistler” (2007).

Banjo

Childhood and Family:

Tamara Hope was born on November 2, 1984, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Before acting, she sang in a choir in Toronto. Tamara plays the banjo.

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra

Career:

Tamara Hope made her television movie debut in 1999's “Winslow Homer: An American Original,” a Canadian drama that cast her as a neurotic girl. She costarred in the film with Wayne Best as Winslow Homer and Ryan DeBoer as Gabe. She broke into American television the following year with a bit part in the ABC television movie “The Audrey Hepburn Story,” a biopic about one of Hollywood's most celebrated actresses, Audrey Hepburn (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt). She went on to play an alien named Ariel Cola in the Disney Channel Original Movie “Stepsister from Planet Weird” (2000), opposite Courtnee Draper, Lance Guest, Khrystyne Haje and Tom Wright, Elizabeth in “The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I - Red Rose of the House of Tudor” (2000), a fictionalized story of the childhood of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and Carol Wyman in Showtime's “The Sandy Bottom Orchestra” (2000), a musical based on novels by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind. For her performance in the latter movie, she was handed a Young Artist for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama) - Supporting Young Actress. It was also in 2000 that Hope received the reoccurring role of Callie in the Showtime drama series “Soul Food,” where she remained with the series until 2002. She also appeared in a 2000 episode of the acclaimed Canadian series “Twice in a Lifetime” and a 2002 episode of Canada's short lived show “Tracker.”

In 2001, Hope made her big screen debut as the daughter of Tilda Swinton in “The Deep End,” a thriller directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel who loosely adapted their screenplay from the novel “The Blank Wall” by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and won the Best Cinematography Award. It was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic category. Still that year, Hope garnered notice with her portrayal of Elizabeth in director Lee Rose's made-for-television family drama “What Girls Learn,” with Elizabeth Perkins and Scott Bakula. The role brought the actress a 2002 Young Artist nomination in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special - Supporting Young Actress.

Back to series TV, Hope received the title role in the Canadian/Australian fantasy television series “Guinevere Jones,” which premiered in Canada on the cable network YTV on May 4, 2002 and in Australia ten days later. Created by Elizabeth Stewart, the show, which revolved around the adventures of the Guinevere, a descendant of King Arthur, ran for 26 episodes.

The following year saw Hope in the Canadian/British film “The Republic of Love” and play Lilly Kilworth in “The Piano Man's Daughter,” a Canadian television movie that starred Christian Campbell. She also starred with Vincent Walsh, Clare Stone, Zachary Bennett, Shauna MacDonald and Ted Dykstra in the Canadian two part TV miniseries “Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion.”

Hope next offered a memorable turn as Lucy Cauffield in the dramatic film “A Different Loyalty” (2004), a Canada/UK/US co-production that starred Sharon Stone, Rupert Everett and Julian Wadham. It was followed by roles in the made-for-TV film “Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story” (CTV, 2004), director/writer Michael McGowan's coming-of-age drama “Saint Ralph” (2004), which starred Adam Butcher and Campbell Scott, and the Peter Chelsom directed “Shall We Dance” (2004), in which she was cast as the daughter of Richard Gere. She also portrayed Laura Walker in an episode of the Taye Diggs-led drama series “Kevin Hill.”

Hope next starred in “The Nickel Children,” a 2005 childhood drama directed by Glenn Klinker and written by Eric Litra. It premiered at the Method Fest Independent Film Festival on April 5, 2005, where the young actress picked up a Breakout Acting Award for her portrayal of Cat. Costars of the film included Jeremy Sisto, Tom Sizemore, Matt O'Toole and Marsha Thomason. She was then cast alongside Mimi Rogers in the TV film “Selling Innocence” (2005) supported Aidan Quinn, Kelly Hu, Dean Cain and Charles S. Dutton in the CBS movie “Mayday”(2005) and appeared in the Canadian western “September Dawn” (2006, aired in the U.S. in 2007), which was directed and co-written by Christopher Cain. After working in the thriller “10.5: Apocalypse” (2006, TV), opposite Kim Delaney, Dean Cain, Carly Pope and Frank Langella, Hope costarred with Sharon Lawrence and Mika Boorem in the Lifetime Television film “Augusta, Gone” (2006), where she was nominated for a Prism award for Best Performance in a TV Movie. She rejoined Lifetime TV the next year to portray Kirsten in the drama “Lies and Crimes” (2007), which was helmed by Mario Azzopardi and penned by Morrie Ruvinsky. The 5' 4” actress also played Julie Henshaw in two episodes of the Canadian popular sci-fi series “ReGenesis” in April 2007. Later that same year, she joined the cast of the CTV drama series “Whistler,” where she played Leah McLure. Hope went on to make a guest appearance in a 2008 episode of “Murdoch Mysteries” called “Power,” playing Edna Garrison, and received a supporting role in the movie “Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do with It)“ (2008) for filmmaker Lance Doty.

In July 2009, Hope played Captain Henle in the made-for-TV film “Sand Serpents,” which was directed by Jeff Renfroe and written by Raul Inglis.

Awards:

• Method Fest: Breakout Acting Award, Feature Film, “The Nickel Children,” 2005

• Young Artist: Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama) - Supporting Young Actress, “The Sandy Bottom Orchestra,” 2001