A Toronto native and currently a Los Angeles resident, Ellen Dubin was an absolute pleasure to speak with. While sitting on the balcony of her new apartment in the sunny state of California, explaining to me her gorgeous view from up top, she began to enlighten me with her journey to becoming the talented actress she is today.
Starting her career in front of an audience, Ellen was a ballet dancer until she endured a dreadful knee injury, causing her to leave the stage. Growing up a shy child, dance brought out the confidence in her, and she has been able to bring forth that buoyancy in her acting roles in both film and stage productions.
“I never wanted to be an actress, but was told by many that this is what I was going to become,” says Ellen. She began her voyage into acting by attending classes at CAST studios in Toronto under the direction of her beloved teacher, Carol Rosenfeld. Her first scene partner was Keanu Reeves. Neither of the two knew what was in store for their professions in film, especially since, as Dubin recounts, Reeves lost control of a corkscrew in one of their scenes – the apparatus flying through the air landing on their instructor’s head, prompting the authority figure to comment, “You will never amount to anything.”
Dubin has played countless characters during her long cruise in acting, though like most actors, she has her favourites. With experience both on stage and in front of the camera, she has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. In theatre, Ellen played the part of Gloria, an American flight attendant in the production of Boeing, Boeing, which she thoroughly enjoyed even with the extremely physical demands of her role. When she switched gears to television, her character Giggerota the Wicked on the international cult hit Lexx is what put Ellen on the map. She began to gain more fans and recognition from this sudden stardom which is any actor’s real bread and butter.
I’ve always been quite curious about how actors land their roles, what they have to go through to get the job, and how it all happens. For Ellen, landing her Lexx role happened while filming the movie Firefighters in Vancouver. She quickly left shooting on her lunch hour one day to head over to the audition for Lexx. Since she was filming a very smoky and murky film, she wasn’t looking the part of a starlet, but you gotta do what you gotta do. She got to the audition, ran through the lines and ended with “I have to get back to work now,” and promptly left to return to shooting. Unexpectedly, she received that exciting call every auditionee hopes for. Ellen believes she landed the role due to her relaxation and lack of desperation. “You never know where your jobs are going to come from, so never burn your bridges,” explains Ellen.
About her favourite parts to play, Dubin says, “I enjoy very realistic roles with a wide variety. I like creating a character from the beginning,” and that is exactly what she did with her part as Jeri Slate on the well known series, The Collector. Characters with a sense of humor, complexity, and an emotional range are what Ellen is drawn to because she wants to impact the audience.
With theatre and film production being quite similar and different in various ways, I wanted to get Ellen’s insight into which she preferred. “On stage, you get the audience’s immediate reaction, whereas on film there is no time to develop that relationship with your viewers,” says Ellen. She says while on film you have the chance to do a run-through and retake scenes if necessary, while when on stage you have to dive in and let the performance run as it may. A disadvantage to many television movies is the expectation of material being cut, which occurred for Ellen in her latest work in The Lois Wilson Story, in which she worked alongside Winona Ryder. “You are at the mercy of the film,” says Ellen.
One of Dubin’s films that gained notable success with a minimal budget was the classic indie motion picture Napoleon Dynamite. Ellen played the role of Ilene, the mother of a possible prom date for Napoleon. On whether or not she knew the film would be as successful as it was, Ellen says, “I had no idea! There were no big stars, a budget of $250,000, but a story that spoke to an audience of the 21st century and that’s what it’s all about.” With there being talks of an animated series to continue the Napoleon Dynamite tale, Ellen expresses she is interested in continuing on for the ride.
There are legions of actors continuously playing similar roles film after film because it is apparent that they have no diversity in their acting skills. Ellen is certainly not one of those actors. “I read material over and over and try to never change lines,” says Ellen. “If I am taking part in a period piece I go online and research everything I can possibly can of that period, then I throw away all the homework and dive into the role.” She refers to her preparation as the “foundation for a house.” If you don’t have a solid base, how can you build upon it? Of preparing for her roles on stage, Ellen explains, “Get rid of that thinking cap and expect the unexpected. When you’re on stage, there are no second takes.”
Now don’t think Ellen’s life is all about acting, she undeniably has a hefty list of pastimes which I can easily relate to. As she began to explain her love for films and exploring new restaurants, what caught my immediate attention was her love for breakfast diners. As a breakfast connoisseur myself, we both share a long-term goal of traveling to as many diners as possible with the hopes of coming across the best breakfast dish out there.
Unlike several other actors and actresses, Ellen doesn’t pride herself on attending events night after night in the glamorous Hollywood scene; she instead describes herself as a “home body.” Ellen goes on to admit that spending time with her family would unquestionably be her number one pastime, as she stresses her love for her parents.
Ellen is currently working on a web-based series, Resolve, which she found off Facebook. Resolve is an offbeat thriller and Dubin plays a young psychologist who begins sleeping with a serial killer.
What else is next for Ellen? “I’m going to keep on doing my own thing,” she explains. Dubin has been a proud supporter of the Make a Wish Foundation because she continuously wants to help and give back to her community. Finding a passion project is also next on her agenda. She hopes to produce a story based upon relationships between men and women with an offbeat twist. But, unlike other stars who want to get behind the lens, Ellen asserts, “I have no patience to write or direct. But let me assure you, actors wouldn’t go anywhere without the material created by all the talented writers out there.”
As my delightful conversation with Ellen came to an end, she left me with a kind invitation, “I hope one day we can go for breakfast.” Bacon and eggs with a side of French toast, perhaps?
