Comedic actress Andrea MartinJENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail
Comedy queen Andrea Martin threw the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television a last-minute curveball on Wednesday when she announced that she had to bow out of her co-hosting duties at Thursday's 32nd annual Genie Awards due to a scheduling conflict in Los Angeles.
The Genie's broadcaster CBC confirmed Wednesday that the SCTV/My Big Fat Greek Wedding star will not be able to share the stage with talk-show personality George Stroumboulopoulos, who will carry on with video footage of Martin edited into the program.
Martin star told the public broadcaster that a "prior commitment got rescheduled and required her immediate participation."
She apologized to the CBC about the sudden change in plans – possibly linked to a CBS comedy pilot being shot in L.A. – adding, "I'm so disappointed that I can't co-host the Genies with my friend George."
"I was in Toronto, in my fabulous Lucian Matis gown, rehearsing… and I got a call about a prior work commitment that has been rescheduled and that I am obligated to show up for. You'll still see me in the show, and I will be there in spirit to support all the extraordinary artists in the Canadian film industry who we will be honouring and celebrating tomorrow night," she told the CBC.
Café de Flore, A Dangerous Method and Monsieur Lazhar lead the nominees.
The 32nd annual Genie Awards will be broadcast Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CBC-TV.
Gayle MacDonald