Natalie Brown is nominated for a best actress Gemini for her role as Sophie Parker in the first season of CBC’s successful comedy Sophie, produced by Jocelyn Deschênes, president of Montreal-based Sphère Média Plus.

‘I’m still pinching myself,’ says Brown from the Montreal set of Sophie, which is currently shooting its second season. ‘The nomination was a huge surprise, but somewhat validating, because I was never sure [acting] was what I was supposed to be doing.’

Born in Timmins, ON, Brown’s career started in modeling and TV ads. She was the Heinz Ketchup girl in her teens and later became well-known in a successful Bailey’s ad campaign.

After appearing in a slew of commercials, Brown decided to push her career towards film and television.

‘I remember shooting my 50th commercial and I didn’t feel I was doing anything better or different than the first, and I knew I had to step it up,’ she says.

In 2003, Brown started making TV appearances in shows such as Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Zoe Busiek: Wild Card (2004), Naked Josh (2005) and ReGenesis (2006). She had a leading role in the 2006 MOW Black Widower for Lifetime, and later that year co-starred with Frank Langella and Dean Cain in the NBC miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse.

It was after shooting the sci-fi flick Something Beneath that Brown landed the lead role in Sophie, which is based on the popular Quebec series Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, also produced by Sphère Média Plus.

Despite the success of season one and her best actress nom, Brown says she sees season two as an opportunity to make major improvements.

‘As an actor, I’m feeling much more comfortable in Sophie’s shoes,’ she says. ‘In the first year you’re struggling to figure out your character and the rhythm of the show, and you just begin to figure it out towards the end. Now I have a second chance to do it better.’