Actress Nathalie Boltt and Riverdale’s Penelope Blossom don’t have all that much in common, despite the fact that the former portrayed the latter for all seven seasons of the wildly popular teen drama, but one thing they DO have in common is that both make a habit of defying expectations. This is particularly evident in Nathalie’s lengthy filmography, which includes memorable roles in an array of seemingly disparate genres and projects, including District 9, the BBC’s Inspector George Gently, The Astronauts, and 24 Hours to Live. Nathalie is also an experienced screenwriter, producer, and director who received a Leo nomination in 2022 for screenwriting in a short drama for A.T.A.C.K., a comedy about Actors Typecast As Crooks and Killers (hence A.T.A.C.K.), and she recently received funding from Telefilm for Holy Days, her feature film (a New Zealand - Canada co-pro) that will go to camera later this year.

Besides being a phenomenal actress and storyteller, Nathalie is also an activist who cares very deeply about numerous issues related to the health of our planet, whether she’s speaking out on the devastating impacts of palm oil farming and harvesting, bringing attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women, or advocating for Wetsuweten land defenders. On October 8, Nathalie will host the 9th Annual Sustainable Production Forum, a conference for change-makers in the film and television industry who want to ensure that the entertainment industry does no harm to our planet. In this fascinating interview with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Nathalie talks about growing up under apartheid in South Africa, her reaction to Riverdale’s many transformations, the benefits of sitting in discomfort, what matters to her as a filmmaker, and combatting waste in the film industry. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA