Canada's Leading Lady Amanda Brugel Opens Up About Her Noteworthy Role, the Fashion Scene, and Her Dream Role
Amanda Brugel Interview: Canada’s leading lady opens up about The Handmaid’s Tale, supporting the Canadian fashion scene, and what movie she really wants to be in next.
Words by Melina Morry
The first time I met Amanda Brugel, I didn’t recognize her. Not because I didn’t know who she was, but because she looked so vastly different than how I’d recently seen her. It was, after all, at Toronto Life’s annual TIFF party where celebs come to chitchat over charcuterie and champagne while sporting looks from Canada’s best designers. The dress code is, well, glamorous to say the least.
As an avid watcher of The Handmaid’s Tale, I was used to seeing Brugel dressed down as Rita, a kitchen maid, in unembellished clothing, wearing little makeup. The woman standing before me was a shining star—a polar opposite to the one she portrays on-screen.
It’s Valentine’s Day when we finally get around to connecting over the phone. In the background, I can hear the beeps of the microwave as she heats up food for her kids. As for it being the most romantic day of the year, nothing seems out of the norm for Brugel and her family.
“My husband and I have been together for 15 years, so we don’t really do Valentine’s Day on the actual day,” she laughs. “I just ran to the store to get my kids cupcakes and there was a line of 20 men just standing there with flowers and this miserable look on all of their faces.”
If there’s one thing about Brugel that is immediately apparent, it’s her down-to-earth charm and the way she makes you feel as if you’re old friends just calling for a catch up. In the span of a couple of minutes, we’ve already talked about love, fashion, and her drive for the industry—which is exactly what helped her secure a spot on one of the most critically acclaimed shows of recent years: The Handmaid’s Tale.
Brugel, with her fierce beauty and secure sense of self, has always been confident in her place in the acting world; usually as the eccentric sidekick or one of the more curious characters that other actors aren’t exactly chomping at the bit for. So, when the opportunity to play Rita arose, she jumped at it.
“I usually play the weird characters—and no one really wants them anyways!” she says with a laugh. “But with this one, there was such a deep-rooted competitiveness.”
However, there’s more to Brugel’s fascination with Rita than just being a sassy and sarcastic supporting role.
More than two decades ago when Brugel was applying to York University, she was hit with a fork in the road: take the writing route or challenge herself as an actor? She ended up writing an essay about The Handmaid’s Tale for her entrance exam into the screen-writing program. Of course, she was accepted but ultimately turned it down to pursue acting.
“It’s so crazy that the book has been with me for 25 years!” she gushes. “It was such a treat even to just embody [Rita], even for a minute in the audition.”
Brugel is proudly the only Canadian series regular on the show—amongst a truly eclectic cast of Brits, Aussies and Americans. This is the first time that Brugel has worked on a show with such a variety of actors from all over the world, on content that she holds especially close to her heart.
“As the cast gets closer and closer together, it feels really cool to be able to introduce them to my Canadianness,” she says. After all, the show is based on Canadian literature and filmed in Canada.
Brugel recently spent awards season in Hollywood with her Handmaid’s co-stars, but returned home to Toronto just in time to catch a few shows at the newly revamped Toronto Fashion Week. “I love a fashion week, god, I just love a fashion week!”
Perhaps one of the most shocking things I find out about Brugel is that in the middle of her career, she just up and quit. She took a 4-year hiatus from the business in which she had time to develop other areas of her life, including inserting herself more into the local fashion scene.
As a major supporter of Canadian fashion, Brugel feels strongly about working hand-in-hand with designers to ensure survival in a small but cutthroat industry.
And although there are many designers she admires, there’s one who has stuck by her side for many, many years: Lucian Matis. She wore his clothes to the premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale as well as to one of the most important days of her life—which he, too, also wore.
“Lucian made my wedding dress,” she gushes. “He was still living in this tiny apartment where we did the alterations and he came to the door wearing my dress!” This memory still makes her erupt into a fit of infectious laughter—even though it happened back in 2007.
Another brand she’s currently obsessing over is Montreal-based UNTTLD. When I ask her what draws her to their designs, she gives an answer that many women across the globe can easily relate to right now.
“I love their idea behind creating silhouettes for a powerful woman as well as a sexy woman—they can be the same thing, they can be synonymous.”
If you asked anyone to describe Brugel, chances are, that’s the answer you’d get, too. She’s someone who is powerful, determined, strong-willed and yet also sexy in an elegant and refined yet dramatic way. She’s a woman who is confident in what she wants and nothing is going to stop her from getting it.
From playing a comedy-driven Pastor on Kim’s Convenience to a stern kitchen Martha in The Handmaid’s Tale, Brugel has proven herself to be a truly versatile actress. However, she still has her sights set on more. She jokes about taking a role as someone who sells methamphetamines and I’m sure she can hear the surprise in my voice. Is that really want you want to do next?
“I just love to see who else lives inside of my body. There’s a lot of people in there!” she says. “But I really, really, really want to be in Wonder Woman 2.”
This interview with Amanda Brugel was written by Melina Morry and appeared in the spring/summer 2018 issue of Chloe Magazine. Read more articles by Melina Morry here.