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Emmanuelle Vaugier.

Photo courtesy The Promotion People

Vancouver born actress achieves international fame

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 12:31 PDT, Fri October 13, 2023

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Our City Tonight (OCT) sat down to talk with Emmanuelle Vaugier (EV) who was born and raised in Vancouver and is an award-winning movie and television actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her role as Charlie Sheen’s ex-fiancée on CBS comedy Two and a Half Men and her role as detective Jessica Angel on CSI NY.

OCT: Let’s start by talking about your new film Big Sky River: The Bridal Path, filmed here in Vancouver and can be seen on ‘W’ Network around the country. Tell us about your role in this film.

EV: It’s a follow up to the first film we did last year and it’s about the blending of two families. I’ve now settled into the fictional town of Parable, Montana, and my stepdaughter and my fiancé’s two sons are part of blending two families. At this point, we’re planning to get married and the film is about all the challenges of planning a wedding, finding a new home as well as getting the families to sync together and all the things that come with that the stress and the joy.

OCT: You’ve been around the industry a long time, Vancouver has certainly grown up in terms of productions internationally and in Canada. Hallmark is a giant entity in the city in terms of production. Talk about your involvement over the years with Hallmark.

EV: This will be my fourth project with Hallmark. The first two being with Carrie Fisher, I did a Christmas movie, and I did one with Luke Perry called Love in Paradise. What I love about Hallmark is the wholesome family-friendly programming. It’s nice to be part of something that I can tell everyone about. And the movies always have a positive message and I think we need more of that these days.

OCT: One of the things that is admirable about you, having interviewed you several times, is that you do a great variety of work. You’ve certainly spent a lot of time as a regular on many shows over the last two decades like Supernatural.

How have you managed to do this, is it a matter of just taking chances or getting people to let you take chances? Hollywood, film, and TV usually want to put you in a box as a particular character. When I look at your body of work over the years and having seen your work, you really do a great variety of film projects.

EV: I think I’ve been very fortunate that I have been able to do that. I have jumped into different genres, but I think it’s a mixture of luck and opportunity. A lot of times it’s what presents itself and often you don’t think something is going to be what it is, and it turns into something that is really great even though I would never have considered it. Sitcoms were never something I thought I’d be involved in, in my career. In fact, it’s not something we’re exposed to. Vancouver really is all about science fiction and serious drama stuff. When you’re exposed to sitcoms, you realize how much fun it is to do.

OCT: You were on Two and a Half Men for some time, were you initially brought in for a one or two episode character for the episode arc and then did it happen that they really liked what you were doing and so you stayed on?

EV: Yes, it was originally for 2 to 3 episode or that’s what they were saying and no, they did not want to commit because if it really was bad, they didn’t want to keep that character on. And then it turned into many more episodes, and I kept coming back every year to do something. It was a really great experience.

OCT: What things would you like to do and have yet to do on TV and film? What have you not checked off your list as an actress?

EV: I want to do an old-fashioned western. I think that would be a lot of fun and I haven’t done that yet. It’s obvious in the movies I have done, that I love working with horses. I would really love to do that in a larger capacity. More riding, more horses.

OCT: It is known that you are an avid animal lover, tell us more about the Fluff Ball.

EV: The Fluff Ball is my foundation and what we do is raise money and awareness for any given charity that we choose over the years. There is a select group of charities, and we raise money and awareness for them and try to help them in any way that we can. Recently, we chose a new charity called Horses N Heroes that is located in Florida. What they do is take in retired show horses and match them with young girls who live below the poverty line and have challenging home lives. They provide a horsemanship program for the girls to take part in. This ultimately helps them with their home life. The families might need help with things like gas, a car, food, and the basics. All the girls that have gone through the program and completed it have graduated from high school and then gone on to accomplish other things.

To view the video interview in full richmondsentinel.ca/videos

Emmanuelle’s new movie is called Big Sky River: The Bridal Path.