It is so amazing when a person looks beyond the looking glass and decides to make changes in their life for the better.  Actress Lisa Berry is a perfect example of someone who made the decision to change things in her life and has done a great job doing it.  With her love of acting Lisa Berry has kicked off her acting career at full throttle and has been working on TV and in Movies none stop.   With several new projects in the works, SayWhatNews sat down and spoke with Lisa about her busy career, joining the last season of 'Continnum', upcoming Hallmark movie, 'Northpole 2' and future plans:

SayWhatNews:  Hello Lisa.  Thanks so much for sitting down and speaking with SayWhatNews.  First tell us in three words who is Lisa Berry?

Lisa:  Loving, talented, and thinker.

SayWhatNews:  Lisa you were born and raised in Richmond Hill, which is just outside Toronto, Canada.  What inspired you to become an Actress?

Lisa: I’ve  always  loved  entertaining,  that’s  always  come naturally  to  me  and  never  needed  to  be  inspired  to  do  it, but  it  was  my  friends  and  family’s  belief  in  me  that  really made  me  pursue  it  as  a  career.    I’m  blessed  to  have such an  encouraging  support  team  around  me.

SayWhatNews:  Some Actors are discovered by chance or cross-over from a different field in the Entertainment industry.  Do you have any professional training as an Actress?

Lisa:  I  studied  in  Toronto  at  The  Randolph  Academy  for the  Performing  Arts  and  loved  every  minute  of  it.  A great program!

SayWhatNews:  Lisa you were nominated for a Best Actress Award for the Black Canadian Awards in Toronto.  How amazing was that to have your work honored?

Lisa:  Really amazing!  I  feel truly blessed, and while I didn’t get  into this business for accolades, it is always  a lovely honor to be recognized and supported for my work.  

SayWhatNews:  I see you also received a Best Ensemble Dora Mavor Award Nomination which is Canada’s Tony Awards for your work in Young Peoples Theatre production of To Kill A Mockingbird.  Please tell us about that moment when you learned this amazing news?

Lisa:  It  was  very  cool  to  look  down  at  my  phone  and  see  an  email  with  the  subject  line  that  read  “Dora  Mavor  Moore  Nomination”.    The  stream  of  emails  from  the  entire  cast  that  followed  suit  was  so  great!    We  all  loved  doing  that  show  so  much  and  hated  to  see  it  close,  so  it  was  great  to  get  that  chance  to  celebrate  it  again.    

 

SayWhatNews:  Lisa your TV credits include SyFy’s Lost Girl, TNT’s Silent Witness, CBC’s Cracked, CBC’s Mr. D and many more.  Which genre do you find more challenging, Sci-Fi, Comedy or Drama and why?

Lisa: First  let  me say,  I love  playing everything,  even though comedy comes  so naturally to me and I would  never  say that one is harder  than the other,  but I do  love  working  in  Sci-Fi because  I feel like I get to play a wide  range characters.  With comedy, that’s what you’re there to do, you  

make  people  laugh and with drama you make  people  feel, but with Sci-Fi you could be doing  both, just in space... (lol)

(Continuum Full Trailer for Season 4)

SayWhatNews:  Lisa, you have joined the cast of Continuum for their 4th and final season.  Tell us about your character?

Lisa:  She’s awesome, super cool and has an wicked  costume,  hell  I want to be her for Halloween!  

SayWhatNews:  Continuum’s 4th season will premiere on September 11th on SyFy in the USA and will premiere the week before on September 4th in Canada on Showcase.  Can you tell fans what they can expect to see for the final season?

Lisa:  Well,  I’m a fan of the show  too  and  when  I  got the first  script  my mouth  dropped.  I don’t want  to give anything  away,  but the fans  are  in  for one hell of a ride, there  are  new characters  and  lots  and  lots  of action!

 

SayWhatNews:  Alright, I guess us fans will have to wait for the September premiere and watch.  Now, earlier this year, you joined the cast of Bravo’s hit cop drama 19-2 for its second season.  How did you hear about the role?

Lisa:  I  loved  this show too,  so  when  I got the audition  I was  really  excited.   My sister  (who  is  not  an  actress  but definite  a  TV  lover) helped  me  prepare  the role while  my mother  helped  me get my  Jamaican  accent  just right.   Then I went in to  read  for it,  got  a call back  and tested with a  few different male actors to  see who I had chemistry with  and the rest is history.    

(Hallmark's Northpole 2 Teaser Trailer)

SayWhatNews:  Lisa, this coming Christmas you are starring opposite of Lorie Loughlin in Hallmark TV Movie, Northpole 2.  I just love Hallmark movies especially their holiday movies.  What was your most memorable moment on set?

Lisa:  Best  moment  on  set  was  chatting  with  Lorie  in between  takes  about  life  and  the  business  of  acting.    She was so great when fans would approach her for  a  photo  or  an autograph.   Lorie was absolutely lovely to work with.    

SayWhatNews:  Besides acting on the stage and the small screen, you have also starred on the big screen like, SAW V, Antiviral and The Colony (Laurence Fishburne & Bill Paxton).  What was is like working with screen legends like Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton?

Lisa:  AMAZING!!!  Laurence was an actor  I’ve dreamed  of working  with  since  I  saw  his  performance  in  ‘What’s  Love Got  To  Do  With  It’.  So, when  our  day  to work  together arrived,  I  was  going  to  be  calm  and  cool and  leave  him alone,  but  then  we  hit  it  off  and  had a great  time,  he  was so  down  to  earth  and  really  funny!  I didn’t have as  much time on set with Bill  Paxton, but the time we did share was also fun.

SayWhatNews:  Lisa you recently had a movie released starring alongside Alison Brie in ‘No Stranger Love’.  Which do you prefer doing Movies or working on TV series?

Lisa:  love it all. Screen, TV, stage, YouTube...  (lol). 

SayWhatNews:  Wow, Lisa Berry you are a busy woman.  When you have spare time what do you like to do to relax?

Lisa:  It  took  me  a  long  time  to  figure  out  what  I  wanted to  do  outside  of  acting,  because  even  when  you’re  doing what  you  love  you  need  a  break  from  it  from  time  to time.    I  eventually  found  a passion  in  the  editing  room making  motion  comics  from  my  favorite  comic  books  and voicing them  with  my  friends.    And  when  I  really  need  to recharge  my  batteries,  I  do  a  lot  of  yoga  and  meditation.  

SayWhatNews:  What’s next in the future for Lisa Berry?

Lisa:  Wow,  so  much  happening,  I’m  going  behind  the cameras now,  I’m  doing  more  motivational  public  speaking  and  adding my  voice  to  the  online  acting  conversation  with  a new  blog I’ve  been  writing.

My new  website  will  launch  in  September  and  I’m really excited  to  share  it with  everyone.  I’ve learned  so much over the  years  and  my  life  experiences  from  losing 80lbs and keeping  off,  to  changing  careers,  quit  drinking, smoking, finding  love  and  so  much  more.  I truly  believe that all of those  experiences  have  given  me the  tools to be in a great position to help  others, and that’s  exactly what I plan to do.