Cast

Hélène Joy is the busiest actress working in Canadian television. She has starred in several series, including Murdoch Mysteries, Durham County, and M.V.P., and voices an international animated series. Most recently, Joy starred in the CTV pilot Stay With Me, the feature film At the Bottom of the Hill, directed by Vanya Rose, and the play Speaking in Tongues for The Company Theatre in association with Canadian Stage.

Joy is an incredibly versatile and talented actress who is seemingly everywhere on television. She starred in the award-winning series Durham County on Global. Joy portrayed ‘Audrey Sweeney,’ for which she was nominated for a 2010 Gemini and won a 2008 Gemini in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. Additionally, Durham County received 13 Gemini nominations that year.  Joy was also nominated for the 2011 Monte-Carlo TV Festival Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress.  Audiences also recognize Joy as the female lead ‘Dr. Julia Ogden,’ in the CBC (formerly Citytv) series Murdoch Mysteries which has also received several Gemini nominations. And finally, Joy continues to lend her talents to voice work, most recently working on her fourth animated series, Pearlie.

Joy starred in An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving opposite screen legend Jacqueline Bisset for Hallmark, which was earmarked as their big holiday movie for 2008. And at Christmas 2007, audiences saw Joy in the fantastical musical film version of the Nutcracker ballet, The Secret of the Nutcracker starring opposite Brian Cox for the CBC.  Most recently, she appeared in guest starring roles on the popular Global/ABC series Rookie Blue, CBC’s Republic of Doyle, Epitome Picture’s The L.A. Complex, as well as The Heartland Christmas Special on CBC.

Most audiences remember Joy from her two seasons on the hilarious CBC comedy series An American in Canada starring opposite Rick Roberts. The series won the 2002 Gemini Award for Best Comedy or Series while still a pilot and the next year, Joy was nominated for her first Gemini, Best Ensemble Performance Comedy Series/Program. After the series wrapped, she found work in guest starring roles in several television series, which led to recurring roles on ReGenesis and This Is Wonderland. And with all of this great work, Joy continues to be recognized by her peers and won a Leo Award in 2005 for Desolation Sound (Best Lead Performance by a Female for Feature Length Drama) and was nominated for two Geminis in 2006 (Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role Dramatic Series for ReGenesis & Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for Murdoch Mysteries).  Select additional television credits include: The Chris Isaak Show, The Twilight Zone, Puppets Who Kill, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Outer Limits, Stingers and First Wave.

A native of Perth, Australia, Joy trained at the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Her early career began on the stage touring Australia-wide in various roles with the famous Sydney-based Bell Shakespeare Theatre Company. She then went on to play such classic roles as Juliet, Ophelia and a very young Lady Macbeth, for the Melbourne Theatre Company. Additionally, Joy also found TV and film work in her native land with roles in The Man from Snowy River and Water Rats.

Joy now calls Toronto home but in her time off, her passion for traveling has taken her all over the world, and is known for throwing a bag on her back and going off for months to Asia or South America.