Who Are the Biggest Actors Coming Out of Canada?
When it comes to Hollywood, Canada is in a little bit of a weird place. The half-English half-French country has a thriving film industry, a solid acting tradition, and a list of famous names a mile long. On the other hand, for much of the world, spotting the difference between an American actor and a Canadian actor is nearly impossible and most of the latter get thrown in with the former.
Aside from a few of the biggest and most patriotic Canadians, most people aren’t aware of just how many names come from ‘America’s Hat’. Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest and sometimes most surprising Canadians from big and small screens.
Ryan Reynolds
We’ll start out with the most obvious entry as there’s almost no way to miss the fact that Ryan Reynolds is Canadian. He is vocally patriotic about his country in his own unique way and his most famous role as Deadpool sees him playing a Canadian character, although some would argue that Deadpool himself is just Reynolds playing himself in a red suit.
As both an actor and a businessman, Reynolds is one of Hollywood’s most successful people. He successfully raised companies like Mint Mobile and sold them for an eye-watering profit, which you can read about more in his biography in 2023. Although his well-documented exploits at British soccer club Wrexham are more of a passion than an investment, he’ll still be set to make a tidy profit if everything goes to plan.
He is a prime example of how to endure in Hollywood, with his earliest breakthrough role, Two Guys and a Girl, happening all the way back in 1998. As it happens, he also had a Canadian co-star with him in that show, which brings us on to our next entry…
Nathan Fillion
Slightly less known than his former co-star, Nathan Fillion has nevertheless had a career with possibly even more diversity in it. His most famous roles range from detective stories to science-fiction to extensive voice work in video games, although Canadians are no strangers to a wide range of interests as shown by their casino habits for one. All of their top picks on places like review site CasinoBonusCA are casinos that have games covering all those topics and a lot more besides that. If that site is anything to go by, Canadians seem to love having as many options as possible, whether that’s genres or, in this case, bonuses too.
Fillion’s vast array of different roles has served him well over the years, and while his net worth numbers come in understandably below Ryan Reynolds, he’s still looking at 8-digit numbers. More than anything, he’s beloved in his native land, with locals even temporarily naming the Edmonton town hall after him for a couple of days!
Mike Myers
What do a grumpy Scottish ogre and an incompetent British spy from the 1960s have in common? Well, both were played by a Canadian as just part of a massive list of characters. Mike Myers is a prime candidate for having his Canadian nationality overlooked thanks to the roles he’s most famous for having nothing to do with Canada. Even his earliest roles on sketch show SNL gave him every nationality except his own.
Out of the actors on this list, it’s fair to say that Myers has had the roughest ride. He was a superstar in the 90s and 2000s between Austin Powers and the Shrek films but several solo projects bombed after this and dropped him off the map. With that said, he has proven resilient enough to keep going with roles in films like Bohemian Rhapsody and the star-studded ensemble film Amsterdam, and he maintains a net worth up in the hundreds of millions. He has hinted at another Austin Powers film on the horizon, although whether that’s for better or worse is yet to be seen.
There are many other big names that could be on this list; Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, Ryan Gosling and so many more. There simply wasn’t space to include everyone, but hopefully, this will open your eyes to the sheer quality of acting talent that Canada has put out and continues to even now.
