{{Short description|Canadian actress}} '''Jackie Torrens''' is a Canadian actress, writer and filmmaker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.<ref>"Jackie Torrens". ''Halifax Chronicle-Herald'', December 26, 2015.</ref> She was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
==Acting== She began her career as an actress, most notably being cast as the frumpy but shrewd office manager Wanda Mattice in the television series ''Made in Canada'' in 1998.<ref>Alex Strachan, "Mercer's Made in Canada is satire for a slow night". ''Vancouver Sun'', October 16, 2000.</ref> Along with the rest of the show's core ensemble, she is a three-time Gemini Award winner for Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series, winning at the 16th Gemini Awards in 2001,<ref>John McKay, "Da Vinci's Inquest and Nuremberg big winners after three-night Gemini fest". Canadian Press, October 29, 2001.</ref> the 17th Gemini Awards in 2002,<ref>Marla Cranston, "Gemini dream: Local TV productions win bushel of awards". ''Halifax Daily News'', November 5, 2002.</ref> and the 19th Gemini Awards in 2004.<ref>J. Kelly Nestruck, "Hard drama, hosers at Geminis". ''Montreal Gazette'', December 14, 2004.</ref> They were also nominated, but did not win, at the 18th Gemini Awards in 2003,<ref>"The Academy announces the 18th Annual Gemini Award nominees". ''Canada NewsWire'', September 9, 2003.</ref> and Torrens was individually a Canadian Comedy Award nominee for Best Performance by a Female, Television at the 3rd Canadian Comedy Awards in 2002.<ref>Marla Cranston, "Made in Canada dominates Canadian Comedy Awards". ''Halifax Daily News'', March 19, 2002.</ref>
In 2013, she was cast as social worker Drucie Mackay in the television series ''Sex & Violence'', for which she was nominated for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role at the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards in 2015.<ref>[https://playbackonline.ca/2015/01/13/canadian-screen-awards-15-performance-categories/ "Canadian Screen Awards ’15: Performance categories"]. ''Playback'', January 13, 2015.</ref>
She has also won an award from the Nova Scotia chapter of the ACTRA Awards for her performance in the film ''Across the Line'', and was nominated for both ''Sex & Violence'' and the film ''Heartbeat''.
==Writing== Her stage plays have included ''Live! Nude! Animal!'',<ref>"Live! Nude! Animal! at Waterfront festival". ''Halifax Daily News'', April 23, 1999.</ref> ''Five Fables'',<ref>Skana Gee, "Jackie's first: Poet, actor, Jackie Torrens writes a full-length mainstage production -- and she's not in it". ''Halifax Daily News'', February 5, 2002.</ref> ''Strange Antiques'',<ref>Marilyn Smulders, "How purple is my prose? Halifax playwright Jackie Torrens overcame creative block to produce a witty monologue about life as a Harlequin novelist". ''Halifax Daily News'', March 9, 1996.</ref> ''That Is My Heart''<ref>Shawn Ohler, "Tales From The Glockenspiel; That Is My Heart". ''Edmonton Journal'', August 20, 1996.</ref> and ''Georama''.<ref>Jerry West, "It's funny if it's not you: Shot down in front of a live audience". ''Halifax Daily News'', May 8, 2003.</ref>
She has received several Robert Merritt Award nominations both as a playwright and as a stage actress.
==Filmmaking== In 2014, she released the documentary film ''Edge of East''.<ref>Stephen Cooke, "Torrens looks at life on the edge". ''Halifax Chronicle-Herald'', June 21, 2014.</ref> With Jessica Brown, she is a partner in Peep Media, and has also released the documentary films ''My Week on Welfare'',<ref>Elissa Bernard, "Walk a mile in these shoes; Documentary looks at people in need and finds the system 'punitive and patronizing'". ''Halifax Chronicle-Herald'', August 28, 2015.</ref> ''Small Town Show Biz: 2 Dreams from a Harbourtown'', ''Radical Age'' and ''Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille''.<ref name=pov>Courtney Small, [https://povmagazine.com/bernie-langille-wants-to-know-what-happened-to-bernie-langille-review-a-stranger-than-fiction-mystery/ "Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille Review: A stranger than fiction mystery"]. ''Point of View'', April 30, 2022.</ref>
''Bernie Langille'' won the award for Best Atlantic Documentary at the 2022 FIN Atlantic Film Festival.<ref>Stephen Cooke, [https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/lifestyles/queens-of-the-qing-dynasty-bernie-langille-among-atlantic-international-film-festival-award-winners-100775869/ "Queens of the Qing Dynasty, Bernie Langille among Atlantic International Film Festival award winners"]. ''SaltWire Network'', September 22, 2022.</ref>
==Filmography==
===Film=== * ''Marion Bridge'' (2002) * ''The Wild Dogs'' (2002) * ''Heartbeat'' (2014) * ''Across the Line'' (2015)
===Television=== *''Made in Canada'' (1998–2003) *''Sex & Violence'' (2013–2017)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0868470}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrens, Jackie}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian actresses Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Canadian women writers Category:21st-century Canadian actresses Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century Canadian women writers Category:Canadian television actresses Category:Canadian film actresses Category:Canadian television writers Category:Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Category:Canadian documentary film directors Category:Actresses from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Actresses from Prince Edward Island Category:Film directors from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Film directors from Prince Edward Island Category:Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Screenwriters from Prince Edward Island Category:Canadian women television writers Category:Canadian women screenwriters Category:Writers from Charlottetown Category:Canadian Screen Award winning actors Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Screenwriters from Nova Scotia Category:Film producers from Prince Edward Island