Canada’s sweetheart and star of Sophie, Natalie Brown, enjoys life on- and off-screen.
by paul Aguirre
In a suburb just outside of Montreal, Natalie Brown is in between shooting scenes for the second-last episode of the second season of CBC’s breakaway hit comedy, Sophie. There’s a wardrobe change to be done, lunch to eat, make-up to touch up — a flurry of action that makes you wonder how Canada’s newest TV darling keeps it all together. “When I first landed the pilot,” she confesses, “a co-star told me to kiss my body goodbye, kiss my life goodbye and kiss my relationships goodbye. I think I’ve been pretty conscious not to let that happen.”
Clearly, she hasn’t let that happen. The Timmins, Ontario, native splits her time between a busy shooting schedule in Montreal and weekends in Toronto. “I do enjoy going home on the weekends, but I do like to stay put sometimes and enjoy my space wherever I am,” she comments.
The former dancer and model also credits a high energy level for helping her deal with a crazy schedule. “It must be my years of dance, but I love being active. I’ve done yoga forever and I just started kickboxing, which is super fun.” Not to mention, she also spent time in the Italian countryside last summer with friends at a yoga retreat. “It was gorgeous,” reminisces Natalie. “We ate, drank, walked — it was a little hard to concentrate on the yoga aspect after wine, but it was all very inspiring.”
However, working 12 to 16 hour days does have its downsides when it comes to everyday fitness. “Sometimes I have to wake up at 4am, so it’s all about pushing myself and promising myself to get 10 minutes of cardio in one day and then 30 the next, but always keeping active,” she explains. No matter what, Natalie does make sure to take a frequent dip in a salt-water pool or to cool off with a sea-salt bath each night, insisting that the osmosis of the crystals really cleanses her.
A well-balanced diet is also important to keep up with the long days on set, so it means a lot for the rising Canadian star to eat well. “I love grapes, ricotta cheese and a nice piece of dark chocolate every now and then,” she laughs. “But we have wonderful ladies here who cook with love and that, to me, equals no calories.” She’s also a firm believer in the alkaline diet, which stresses the importance of fresh fruits and veggies paired with nuts and legumes. Natalie also pencils in a visit to her homeopath as often as possible and supplements her diet with a mammalian form of omega-3, which is similar to fish oil, but more closely resembles the natural form found in breast milk.
So what’s next for this homegrown beauty? Natalie’s recently been named English spokesperson for the Doctors of the World organization and will be active in travelling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to set up HIV clinics for affected children in the region.
With a healthy acting career already in full bloom, this gal will be busy for long to come. Her advice for keeping it together? “Take time for yourself [and] stop trying to be superwoman. Take the time to breathe and close your eyes. Indulge. I’m 35, but I feel 28 and that’s a wonderful thing.”
