Humble and holistic aren’t words that readily jump to mind when profiling senior executives, but ACTRA’s new national president, Ferne Downey, wears them well.

‘I… humbly embrace my new role and look forward to taking a bold, holistic, long-term view in terms of furthering the collective dreams we hold close to our hearts,’ says the recently elected president. ‘And I am proud to be the second woman to lead this union in our 66-year history.’

You may not find a slew of film and TV credits to her name on IMDbPro, but that’s largely because many of her performances have been either on stage or in lucrative commercial work.

The eastern Canadian describes herself as ‘a performer in my bones’ who considers Halifax ‘a wildly important incubator’ for her love of the arts.

‘As young artists, we flourished in the ferment of so much energy in live theater and music,’ she says, that ‘cross-pollination has informed all of my artistic life.’

She got her start in ’79 as a voice actor in various dramas for the CBC in Halifax before jumping to the other end of the country where she worked in regional theater in Vancouver and at the Banff Playwrights Colony.

Ironically, her ACTRA membership (dated ’84) is from Manitoba, where she appeared in the Canadian stage production Clearances.

‘After that, Paul [Ledoux] and I drove our VW camper van to Toronto and immediately began working in television and film,’ she explains, noting that much of her passion in acting was sparked by decades of collaboration with her partner and playwright Ledoux.

‘I’ve guested on most TV shows (especially when we had a bunch),’ she says, ‘and regularly work on Canadian and American TV commercials.’

For the past 18 years, Downey has been on the Toronto and national councils of ACTRA, including roles as resident of ACTRA Toronto, and more recently as its national treasurer.