By Brenda Malley
Rebekah Johnson (Bekah) would never be accused of living a sedentary lifestyle. Her curiosity and determination to be her very best self personally and professionally have made her the person she is today, even though she faces ongoing challenges to her health which began nine years ago, and her injuries continue to concern her.
Raised in Saint John, where she and her siblings benefitted from artistic parents and a mother who was entrenched in community theater, Bekah developed a passion for singing, dancing, and acting and gained a significant appreciation for live theater.
In recent years her family relocated to Moncton, where she plans to purchase a home with her parents. She is committed to caring for them as they grow older.
Motivated by a desire to help others and encouraged by her parents to pursue a stable career, Bekah attended UNBSJ for their four-year Nursing program, graduating in 2013. At that time, she considered it a solid path to becoming a future doctor. However, it was at that time that she experienced a serious snowboard accident in her final year that left her virtually incapacitated with a broken pelvis.
Though she secured work at the Saint John Regional Hospital after graduation from university (in a variety of challenging capacities like burns and plastic surgery), her injuries caused her major challenges, and it would take 2 years (2015) for her to undergo surgery. The results were the best she could have expected, though she has learned to accept chronic pain that is exacerbated when she is tired or stressed.
During this period of convalescence, she continued to nurse but became increasingly disillusioned with the nursing profession given its physical demands and salary issues. As a result, in 2017, she left her nursing job and pursued her passion for acting. She spent two years at the Toronto Film School studying theater, acting, and voice-over acting (among other topics). She finished the program in 2019 with honours and was one of the few students unanimously Green Lit by department heads for a short film.
Since then, Bekah has been utilizing her nursing background to provide the financial stability she requires to pursue her passion for acting; as such, she nurses part-time for Innomar Clinics, an arrangement that is flexible and conducive to her hectic lifestyle. She plans to continue in this vein until she can support herself full-time as an actor.
Interestingly, Bekah’s nursing background has also allowed her to apply her skills as an actor and/or providing consultation and guidance on film sets with a medical focus. For example, she has both acted and relied on her nursing skills to consult on such shows as Untold Stories of the ER, Nurses, and Spinning Out.
Included on Bekah's resume are various commercials, television, and film projects. To date, she estimates that she has acted and/or worked on 7 or 8 short and feature films along with several TV episodes. In New Brunswick, she has acted in commercials for Hemmings House in Saint John and short films produced by NB Film Co-op member Stephen McKinnon of Moncton (The Window and The Closet). She has another short film project planned with NB Film Co-op member filmmaker, Donovan Richard, who is also based in Moncton.
In Ontario, Bekah worked as a stunt woman in Le Corbeau and Cursed Films 2, a television docuseries on Shutter about films that went wrong during production. In an episode, she plays Betty Danko, the stunt woman on the original Wizard of Oz who was accidentally set on fire during production.
She also performed in the play, Waiting for Leftie, at Pia Bouman Theater in Toronto for three nights in recent years. It is about a taxi strike during the depression, which required Bekah to perfect a New York accent. She played two parts, a female secretary and a male character, that required her to learn to walk and talk differently than what she was used to.
Bekah notes that the pandemic has had its challenges, but she has managed to navigate the industry without the help of an agent, though she may consider acquiring one in the future. She has chosen not to be a member of ACTRA for the time being as many of the roles she has been hired for have been non-union.
Her other interests include photography and yoga which inadvertently intersect with her love for travel. Following her 2015 surgery, Bekah was approached by a friend to accompany her to Rishikesh, India where they pursued yoga teacher training for three months (500 hours) at Shiva Yoga Peeth. It is situated in the vicinity of the Himalayas near the Ganges River. While she primarily did it for her own healing and continues to practice yoga regularly, as a certified instructor she has also given private lessons on occasion.
Bekah’s curious and adventurous nature has led her to parts of Europe, Greece, and Italy being her favourites. She has also been through much of the United States and Canada when she helped manage April Eileen's (Saint John) musical tour in January 2016.
Other places Bekah has visited include Mexico, where she volunteered at an orphanage for a month, and Puerto Rico doing construction work for an orphanage through Youth with a Mission. Through Medical Mission International, she also spent time in Togo, Africa, where she lived in a tent with no amenities and few medical supplies, providing aid to the locals. She says it was here where she practiced her photography skills, especially with the children, and realized how blessed we are in Canada.
Bekah is hopeful that she will be able to pursue her love for acting (and writing) by relocating to NB full-time soon and looks forward to volunteering and sharing her experiences and knowledge with members. As a renewed member, she also plans to sign up for workshops through the NB Film Co-op.
