Gord Craig / Leader-Post
Saskatchewan’s Julia Voth is the whole package.
Model, video game character, actress, singer, poet — she even has designs on moving to the other side of the camera.
“There’s a lot of really talented people here in L.A.,” Voth said from her residence in Los Angeles. “You either have to be really, really great at just one thing or you have to be just good at everything. You have to be a jack of all trades down here.”
Voth, who was born in Saskatoon, starred in front of the camera at an early age.
“Modelling for me, it came more natural. I always loved being in front of a camera,” Voth said. “My dad (Ken Voth) always had the video camera going when we were kids and taking pictures. Just being in front of the camera and performing was a natural thing for me.”
Always interested in modelling and acting, and while going to school in Hepburn, 30 minutes north of Saskatoon, Voth attended an acting/modelling convention in Vancouver in November of 1999. That’s where she was discovered by an agent from Tokyo, who offered her a two-month contract to model in Tokyo. Off she went to Tokyo in January of 2000 with her mom Kelli, and a modelling career was born.
Most of the next decade was spent in Tokyo and New York, modelling for the likes of Calvin Klein and Guess. While in Tokyo she was also selected to be the face of Resident Evil’s iconic character Jill Valentine.
Having achieved great success on the runway, Voth moved to Los Angeles six years ago to pursue her passion for acting.
“It was a pretty easy transition for me,” Voth said. “It took me about a year before I got an agent and starting going out.
“It was my fifth theatrical audition. I booked a little cult film called Bitch Slap.”
The film showed at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival and the Idyllwild Festival of Cinema, where she won best actress.
“That was really my first acting gig as the lead in a movie,” Voth said. “So I just kept doing it. I loved it.
“I did take modelling classes when I was younger, but for me that was more of a natural skill — acting definitely I’ve been studying and honing my craft in L.A. I enjoy it, so I think that’s why it seems so easy.”
Voth says she’s actually travelled more for acting than modelling because she basically stayed in Tokyo and New York for modelling.
She also played a young Carrie Ann Moss in Love Hurts and had TV roles on CW Network’s Supernatural and ABC’s Huge and Castle.
Next up for Voth is a new sitcom on Citytv called Package Deal, in which she plays one of the lead roles.
“I honestly didn’t think I was going to get it,” Voth said of landing the role of Kim. “I didn’t have any sitcom experience.
“I was the funniest person — I was just more of myself in that audition. I’ve done a lot of action. I’ve done a lot of sort of like zombies films and movies, shorts and action stuff which I love but I hadn’t done much comedy,” continued Voth. “When I got it (the part) and I got on set and we were in front of the live audience and I heard everyone laughing, it was just electrifying and made me feel so alive and so good.
“I just realized that I loved comedy just as much if not more than the action stuff.”
The part seemed to be just right for Voth.
“When I started playing Kim it felt so natural.”
Voth gushes about the show and its characters.
“There’s a central story that’s a love story with Kim and Danny (Randal Edwards) and they really love each other and they want to make it work, but there’s these two crazy brothers that are always wrecking everything and getting in the middle of the romantic situations and not allowing them to live their lives,” Voth said.
“I’m a strong critic of my own work and the projects that I’m in because I take a lot of pride in what I do. I have to say I’m so proud of the show, It’s really good. I’m really excited about it.”
Package Deal does seem to have a good time slot on Mondays following How I Met Your Mother, but it is up against U.S. network shows The Voice and Dancing with the Stars.
“It’s important to support Canadian talent,” claims Voth, who says the show was totally Canadian. “We need to support our talent because we export so much. I’m a perfect example — there’s no work for me in Canada so I had to move to LA. I found work here which ironically brought me back to Canada.”
Voth call the sitcom an American-style show.
“To have a show like this that is traditionally an American-style show — to be done flawlessly in Canada is a really awesome feat,” Voth said. “I hope that Canadians that see it love it. I hope we get a second season and show the world how awesome Canadian television can be.”
She would like the show to last beyond its first 13 episodes, the first of which aired Monday night.
“I love the show — I want a Season 2, I want a Season 10. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Basically the first prime-time Canadian sitcom took off and was in America and stood up against Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. It would be incredible. I am so behind this show.”
Down the line we may see something produced by Voth.
“That’s my goal,” Voth admits. “I would love to have a production company and one day produce my own things and put myself in them. Because the audition process is just horrible — I hate auditioning; it’s weird and I don’t like doing it.
“I’ll be the boss. and then I can pick the roles that I want to do and produce those films and put myself in them and be a producer.”