N.L. ACTOR LANDS LEAD ROLE IN N.L.-BASED NETFLIX SERIES

"Never in a million years" — that's the kind of expectation Willow Kean had of landing a leading role in a major television series.

"In no world was I like, this time next year, you're going to be in a film with a dude from Oppenheimer," she said.

But this summer, after working as an actor and writer for nearly three decades, that expectation became reality when Kean made a sudden leap from provincial theatre and film to the international screen.

The production, currently identified only as Untitled Netflix Newfoundland Series , sees her working alongside Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer), Mackenzie Davis (Station Eleven), and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things).

"This is the biggest thing I've ever done," she said. "You just don't think it's going to happen when you're a middle-aged woman."

This latest career milestone may have come out of left field, but Kean is resisting the impulse to say the opportunity just landed in her lap. At 49 years old, the Wabush native got her acting experience in school and community theatre in Labrador West. Later, after studying fine arts at Memorial's Grenfell campus in Corner Brook, she began acting professionally in the province's stage and film industries.

And that's not her only creative outlet. Her novel, Eyes in Front When Running, was published in 2023. On her Substack publication, The Little Red Chicken, she shares recipes seasoned with stories of family and community plus a dash of political commentary.

"My dream was always just to be in some facet of the arts," she said, "whether that was writing or film or theatre."

Kean has also written for the stage.

Her play Supper Club has been performed on multiple stages throughout the province, most recently this summer as part of the Gros Morne Theatre Festival. She was driving home from that performance when she learned she had landed the Netflix gig.

"I drove back from Cow Head and walked in the door, and I was like, Mommy has some news," she said.

Lifetime of work

"I've always been that kid, the dress-up kid, the show-off kid," said Kean.

Her first memory of herself as an actor is writing a stage version of Cinderella with her classmates in elementary school, where she "requested to be the stepmother because I wanted to be the bad guy."

She recalls her childhood in Wabush as a formative time for her creative life.

"We were in the middle of the woods, but it was a small, modern mining town," where she remembers being taken to ballet and symphony performances at the Arts and Culture Centre.

"Liona Boyd came to town when I was eight and my mother took me, and I had to sit through three hours of classical guitar," she said.

Her aunt and uncle, Bev and Gerald Doyle, worked with the Carol Players, a community theatre group based in Labrador City, and Kean " was dragged to every production from the age of five or six onwards."

She currently lives in St. John's with her partner, filmmaker Justin Simms, and their child. She believes her family has already been lucky enough to forge careers around their artistic interests while also managing childcare.

"If you choose to live and work in Newfoundland as an actor or any kind of artist, you've got to hustle," she said.

Although she worked for years without seeing what she calls "big time" success, she has always struck a balance between hustling to make a living in the arts and aiming for more high-profile roles. 

"There's no 20 under 20 list for me. It's more like 40 over 40."

Although Kean believes in working hard and aiming high, she also believes in managing her expectations.

"The worst thing you can do is get emotionally attached to any audition. You do the audition, do the best you can, have fun, have a laugh, send it off, and forget about it."

A Newfoundland character on an international screen

Although she is can't share many details of the Netflix project, Kean says she is proud to be cast in this particular role.

"I remember reading the character description and being like 'wow, whoever gets this part is going to be so lucky.' This part is brilliant," she said.

She is also pleased to be in a film where the island is front and centre rather than serving as a scenic backdrop. She observes that the producers are as mindful of the Newfoundland audience as they are of the global one.

"There is a lot of care and a lot of respect given to the dialect and to the culture, to the language, to the food, to everything. They're paying attention to detail."

2025-09-06T08:35:03Z