After years of commercials and Lifetime movies of the week, Natalie Brown and her arched eyebrows are in an enviable position. Brown plays the title character in Sophie, CBC’s comedy series which returns for a second season this September.
There’s something about Brown that just says saucy. Maybe it’s the way her feelings ripple across her face readily and frequently. Or her deep laugh. “I come from a line of very expressive Italian woman who love to speak with their eyes,” the Timmins, Ont. native says.
Brown, who turned 35 in May, is forthright and refreshing as she discusses her career path and playing Sophie, runs a talent agency and her world came crashing down when viewers first met her in season one. Her boyfriend left her when she was eight months pregnant and her business almost went belly up. Then there’s the question of who is the real father of Sophie’s baby.
Sitting in the Glenn Gould Studio in CBC’s mammoth downtown Toronto headquarters, Brown is resplendent in a tangerine silk jacket and gold and tangerine skirt. She’s also energetic and bubbly during our interview. She’s got a frenetic and funny, Teri Hatcher-vibe minus the Desperate Housewife star’s legendary meltdowns.
Season two brings a whole new set of crises. In flashback sequences in season one, viewers saw Sophie making out with a mystery man. That man is Andre, played by Lyriq Bent (Four Brothers, Saw II), who had a one-night stand with Sophie. While visiting from New York he’s shocked to learn he’s the father of her infant son. And now Sophie desperately wants him to stay. Will she go with him? Brown isn’t saying but laughs, “The drama never ceases as Sophie runs her life.”
Brown has worked with Bent before in acting workshops so on-screen sex wasn’t unbearable. “Making out is strange. You get to a place where you detach yourself and, after a while, lips touching is the same as elbows and fingers touching.”
She adds with a laugh, “I don’t want to say it’s a mild form of prostitution, but it’s the only other career where you’re forced into intimacy!”
Brown started as a dancer and choreographer in high school productions and began modeling during summer breaks. Soon after landing her first international campaign at age 15, she entered commercials, including a high-profile national stint as “the Heinz Ketchup girl.”
After studying fine arts at York University, Brown continued to model, appearing in, and on the covers of, numerous Canadian and American magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Fashion, and Chatelaine. Her distinct look and voice soon propelled her into TV and film roles, including parts in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Welcome to Mooseport and the mini-series, 10.5 Apocalypse. She’s still recognized for as the Bailey’s girl from a commercial for the alcoholic beverage.
What’s next on her roster? “I would love a role that forces me to get into ridiculous kung fu shape! I would love to play a superhero.”
In the meantime, she says, “I’m quite happy to give Sophie all I’ve got.”
