Polly Shannon is already preparing for the slew of Canadians who will be scrutinizing her portrayal of the former Margaret Sinclair in the much-anticipated TV mini-series Trudeau.
For the past few weeks, gossip columnists, entertainment writers, casting agents and politicos have been wondering who would be chosen for the coveted role in the CBC drama about the late Canadian prime minister.
Yesterday Nova Scotia's Big Motion Pictures ended the suspense by announcing it had picked Ms. Shannon, a 27-year-old Quebecker, describing her in a press release as a "shimmering young actress."
She will play opposite Colm Feore, who was cast as the prime minister earlier this month. And although she's never worked with the 42-year-old actor before, Ms. Shannon said "the connection is there" and the passion will show itself on camera.
She adds that the publicity and speculation surrounding the role never fazed her -- she did not read articles about the film until after she had been notified she had the part, which was on Monday.
The film will start with scenes of Trudeaumania in the late 1960s, and conclude in the early 1980s with patriation of the Constitution.
Interviewed yesterday from Halifax, the actress said her biggest concern now is making sure she accurately represents the vivacity of Ms. Trudeau in her youth: "This is a person everyone knows. It comes with a lot of responsibility."
Ms. Shannon grew up in Aylmer, Que., and remembers well the separatist-versus-federalist furor that swept through that province in the 1970s and 1980s.
She also remembers that in the midst of it all was Margaret Trudeau.
"Her story is a moving story. Just the fact that she was so young, and growing up in the spotlight," Ms. Shannon said during a break in fittings for Trudeau.
In 1971, Margaret Sinclair married then-Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau at the age of 22, becoming the world's youngest wife of a head of government. Mr. Trudeau was 30 years her senior. "She was definitely in way over her head," Ms. Shannon said.
The rules and protocol she had to follow as the wife of a prime minister clashed with her "hippie chick" sensibility.
Parties with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, nights at New York's Studio 54, supposed romantic entanglements with the likes of Jack Nicholson, eccentric behaviour while on state visits -- they all generated headlines. After six years and three children, she left the marriage.
It's a life that Ms. Shannon feels at home with, since her own goal is to always have, well . . . fun. "If it's not fun, I won't do it," said the actress who has long been known as the "Noxzema girl," because of a commercial she did for facial cleanser.
To research her character's psyche and personality both for her audition and now for the role, Ms. Shannon has been watching documentaries about the Trudeaus and reading Ms. Trudeau's two books, Beyond Reason and Consequences.
However, she has not consulted Ms. Trudeau and has no plans to.
Norma Bailey, the director who worked with Ms. Shannon when she co-starred in the TV film The Sheldon Kennedy Story,said the actress already has all the inner qualities needed to portray Ms. Trudeau well. She possesses "a warmth and compassion that comes across on the screen. She just has a positive energy that comes off her. And those are the qualities that I've always associated with Margaret Trudeau as well."
Canadian director and actor Paul Gross, who also cast Ms. Shannon in his latest film, a curling comedy-drama called Men with Brooms,said yesterday that she was an "excellent fit" for Ms. Trudeau.
She already has two Gemini award nominations to her credit, both in the category of "best lead actress in a drama or mini-series."
Her film work includes parts in Denys Arcand's Love and Human Remains and Robert Altman's Mrs. Parker and Her Vicious Circle.