Photo credit: Odessy Barbu
No stranger to the spotlight, Miranda Frigon is certainly one who knows how to find her light. You’ve seen her in hit series like HEARTLAND, Hallmark’s THE AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES, CHARMED, SUPERNATURAL, DEXTER, and most recently, Syfy’s DAY OF THE DEAD, amongst numerous others. Despite her work as an actress (and accomplished singer), Miranda is using her celebrity and platform to destigmatize a subject that is so sensitive to many women out there… fertility. Her mission: to empower other women by normalizing the struggles some can be faced with by sharing her own journey.
We spoke with the two-time Canadian Leo award nominated actress about how she’s remained hopeful amidst adversity, advice for conquering self-doubt, and of course, her go-to beauty favorites for a day of pampering…
Thank you so much for chatting with us! Can you describe yourself to NEW YOU readers using previous characters you’ve played, and how you connect to each?
Although I’ve played a wide range of characters who are different from myself in many ways, I definitely find a bit of myself in each role. I can be as fierce and scrappy as mayor Paula Bowman in Day Of The Dead, but I also share her protectiveness over her loved ones and her mama bear heart. Paula is also just a total badass zombie killer, with humor, wit and edge. She’s the closest I’ve gotten to play to a super hero so she’s up there as one of my faves! I’ve been known to be as competitive as the edgy horse jockey Janice Wayne in Heartland and also share her somewhat strict eating habits 🙂 Then there’s my Aurora Teagarden character Lynn Liggett with whom I share some good dry wit and a love for control. I just love the psychology behind edgier characters and the filters through which they view the world, they’re much more exciting to play! Some of my other past faves include playing Fat Carol on ABC’s UGLY BETTY and Penny in a silly little movie I did called “A Cookie Cutter Christmas” These characters were sneaky, manipulative, annoying and most of all hilarious. Despite being cast most often in serious roles as cops, lawyers, mayors and CEO’s, what I most love to do is make people laugh. That’s truly who I am at heart, and I’d love nothing more than to have my own sit com or single camera series playing some kind of a quirky antagonistic character. 🙂
The entertainment industry is often ruthless, and you commonly hear actors say that you get a thousand NO’s just to hear one YES. How do you combat self-doubt?
Those feelings of self-doubt will always appear because we’re human, but to what degree we let them control our lives, is key. The first step is to acknowledge them and then try to rewrite whatever belief system I built around it. When I was younger and newer to the industry, I would replay my auditions over and over and over in my head and pick apart line by line, exactly what I could have done differently. It would take up so much space in me and really affect my energy and work. The problem was that I was trying to be what I thought they wanted to see and not listening to my instincts. Casting directors had also said some not so positive things to me when I was first starting out and so those beliefs I had formed, stayed with me and made me second guess myself. Once I started caring less about what I thought they were looking for and brought more of myself to my auditions (quirks and all) that’s when things started to feel different. I found my “thing” I was good at and began to feel proud of my work. I’ve been doing this for so long now that I know we mostly get the NO’s. It’s definitely not easy when there’s something that you really want, but I now try to look at it like everyone is sharing in the abundance of work; we all get our turn and there’s enough for all of us. I no longer get in my head about missing a line or wishing I had done it differently. I just have to keep my confidence in the work I do and know that a YES will come when the time and the role is right. And hopefully that YES is a comedic role on a show that films in LA!
The body positivity movement often focuses on society accepting people for their appearances, but you strive to take this movement to a deeper level. What does the movement mean to you, and how are you using your platform to further this movement?
We, as a society should be raising up and supporting women of all sizes, shapes and colors, women struggling with disabilities, and also women who are struggling with infertility. We all need to, and want to feel confident in our own skin. The only way to achieve that is to uplift each other and talk about our struggles in the open because WE ALL HAVE THEM. I am choosing to share my struggles with infertility. It has been a difficult and lonely road and the more I talk about it in the open, the more stories I hear of other women who are also struggling. There’s a lot of shame and embarrassment around it and women have stopped trusting and loving their bodies because of it. I want to be part of a movement that helps women see a different perspective on their struggles. I’ve learned so much from mine and it’s made me a stronger person and a better mother to my beautiful daughter that finally came into my life. I truly believe that our struggles are here to help us and if we look at them in this way, it leads us to acceptance, growth, change and creates a happier more loving self.
If you had one day completely to yourself with no responsibilities, what would your complete self-care day look like?
I’d wake up naturally after 8hrs, not to a toddlers feet in my face or a tiny human asking me to come play and make them food. 🙂 I’d meditate for an hour then sit and drink my warm lemon water while listening to relaxing spa music. I’d enjoy a healthy breakfast, head to the gym for a good hard work out then come home to a long hot shower. I’d have a deep tissue massage therapist come to my house for a 2hr massage and have them spend extra time on my feet and scalp. Love the scalp massage! I’d eat a clean lunch, drink herbal tea and listen to podcasts or my self-help audio books for a few hours then do another 20 min meditation. I’d also want to sneak in a yummy gluten free, refined sugar free treat for myself somewhere in the day. My fave is pecan pie from a natural food store called Erewhon or my EVOLVE dark chocolate hazelnut bar from Whole Foods. For the evening, I’d cook myself a yummy fish dinner, kick my feet up and binge watch a great show that is NOT a cartoon 🙂
You have gorgeous skin! Can you walk us through your skin care and makeup routine? What are some of your favorite products?
I really love “Origins” facial lotions, specifically A Perfect World moisturizer, Eye Doctor eye cream, Plantscription Youth renewing power night cream and Drink up intensive overnight mask. My face wash is an organic product called Himalaya Botanique – with aloe Vera, bael fruit and winter melon. It’s an all-natural product and my skin loves it! I wash my face with it twice a day and it removes eye make-up too and doesn’t sting the eyes. It’s also only about $8 which is amazing for a natural product.
After I’ve applied my lotion, I let it soak in then apply NARS pore perfect stick to just my under eyes before applying my favorite Laura Mercier under eye concealer. It does wonders for any darkness under the eyes. For foundation, light coverage of Armani luminous silk foundation then a light dust of Make Up Forever’s ultra HD powder.
I love my THRIVE Cosmetics lash extending mascara and my MILK cream blushes. For a final glow I spritz my Pretty Athletic Workout Glow which is a hyaluronic Vitamin Tonic and it gives the skin a nice dewy post workout look!
We hear you have some exciting projects coming in the new year, what can you tell us about them?
So far in the new year, our newest “Aurora Teagarden” movie “Haunted By Murder” will be airing in February 2022 on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. My new series “Day Of The Dead” which just completed airing is available for download on Hulu. In addition to that I have a new design show that I created alongside my good friend and celeb Marilu Henner and we are in the process of pitching that so we’re hopeful that will get picked up!
