A CTRA Toronto has named stunt coordinator and performer Angelica Lisk-Hann as its Award of Excellence recipient for 2023.

The award is presented annually to an ACTRA member “whose outstanding career achievements as a performer are matched by a significant volunteer contribution to the industry,” according to a news release.

Lisk-Hann (pictured) is the first stunt performer and coordinator to receive the award, said ACTRA.

Last year’s recipient was Art Hindle, preceded by Jani Lauzon, Jean Yoon, Jayne Eastwood, and Jennifer Podemski. The late Gordon Pinsent was the first recipient of the award back in 2003.

Lisk-Hann has more than 250 film and television credits to her name. Her recent work as a stunt coordinator includes Clement Virgo’s Canadian Screen Award-winning film Brother, the Fox series Accused, and CBC’s Little Dog. She has worked as a stunt performer on series such as Netflix’s Umbrella Academy and October Faction, and the upcoming feature Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

She also mentors up-and-coming stunt performers through her company The Collective Action Group, and helped spearhead the campaign for the Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television to include a Canadian Screen Award for stunt coordination. She won the award for her work on Global’s Mary Kills People when it was established in 2020.

Lisk-Hann is the past chair of ACTRA Toronto and ACTRA National’s stunt committees, and the ACTRA National Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

“Angelica Lisk-Hann is truly one-of-a-kind,” said ACTRA Toronto president David Gale in a statement. “Angelica continues to inspire us all through her advocacy and mentoring work to promote and protect a new generation of stunt coordinators. Within our union, we are also grateful for her support at the bargaining table, and in her committee work and political activism. Angelica is one of the fiercest and most tenacious negotiators I have ever met.”

Lisk-Hann will be presented with the honour at the ACTRA Awards in Toronto, which will take place on April 26.

Photo by Nick Lachance