ARLENE DUNCAN is a singer and actor who works in television,film, theatre, radio…and the web. Selected film & television credits include: In Contempt, Designated Survivor, Suits, Degrassi: Next Generation, A Fighting Man, Silent Revelation 3D, Emmy award nominated FLINT & the award-winning web series’ But I’m Chris Jericho & Teenagers
Her theatre credits include:Sophisticated Ladies,the Dora Award-winning productions of Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Who’s Tommy,and her Dora & Toronto Theatre Critics Award–winning role of Caroline Thibodeaux in the Dora Award winning musical Caroline or Change. She is the recipient of the 2012 African Canadian Achievement Award in the Arts category & 2014 Dora Award nominee for Mama Euralie in Once on this Island (The Musical Stage Company) and was selected as one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women for 2016. Arlene also appears as the voice of Officer Rabbit on the popular children’s cartoon,Franklin the Turtleand as Mama Zungu in Bobo & Kipi but is probably best known for her 6 seasons as Fatima Dinssa in the CBC comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie.Arlene is currently appearing as Velma Diggs in the ground breaking CBC drama Diggstown.
With Diggstown just having ended it’s first season and Arlene being kind enough to chat with me,I thought it was about time for us to connect to catch up on her new role on Diggstown and the show’s impact,chat about her reflections on Little Mosque on the Prairie,share her insights on her career and much more!
To listen to an audio of the interview,click play on the recording below!You may also read through the transcription further below!
Be sure to share your thoughts on the interview in the comments section below!
Abbas Karimjee: Okay so it’s great to have you back here! It has been so many years so it’s great to connect–I know we haven’t connected since Little Mosque so it’s been a while.
Arlene Duncan:I know!
AK: Yeah and so I have had a chance to watch Diggstown and I love it.It’s such a great show!
AD: Oh great!
AK: Yes, it’s such a great show and it so great that it features visible minorities but also feature…
AD: I know -it’s so diverse, a mixture of everything and it’s a real community!
AK: Exactly!
AD: And where our family, lives the Diggs family itself- North Preston- it is one of the largest original settlements of Nova Scotia and one of the largest black settlements in Canada.
AK: That’s great! So,you have a personal connection to the region and how did that impact how you were able to portray the character and connect with the storyline?
AD: Now when you are asking about a personal connection….I do have family that lives in Truro so they are not in North Preston, but the interesting thing about that is that there was a point in my career where I was like I have played as far west as British Columbia and I have been as far as east as Quebec so I kept saying I want to get to Nova Scotia!Also, every year my cousins would go to Nova Scotia to visit their family and I would hear all these fabulous stories about how beautiful it was and all the fun things that they were doing while I was here in Ontario! So, I said at some point I want to get to work at Nova Scotia because of the African Canadian and Jamaican connections.
So, I sort of put it out into the universe and I did Mr. D which was the first thing I did out there!
AK: Yes!
AD: Afterwards,I had some friends who I met from coming back and forth between….because the Canadian industry is a small industry in general (laughs)….so I knew Juanita Peters who does a lot of films down there and is just involved in the culture of Nova Scotia. And Walter Borden who is a legendary actor etc. -…. I ran into them when I was doing Mr. D. And Juanita wanted to do a play that she had written and I was down there for about two months doing that original play.
A couple of years go by and I end up doing Diggstown in Nova Scotia. So, when you put things out….
AK: Exactly-it sort of manifests itself –that is wonderful!
AD: They manifest, yes!I was just delighted to do the show out there.
AK: Well, we love your character! So,you are also an artist of course and a mother.Your character shared these similarities with you so how has that helped you relate to your character?
AD: Well another layer that I love about this character is that as a singer,I have done musical theatre, recorded jingles, done musical albums, been a recording artist and etc.….so, my musical career has been one thing and my acting thing has been another… but to be able to do a character who is isn’t in a musical movie per say …this is a part of her character, its apart of her life and it’s something you rarely ever get!
AK: A dream come true!It is so rare and it’s a perfect combo for you.
AD: Yeah so,I am just so thrilled about that.The family element is also great because it brings a level of reality.And in Little Mosque we got to see how even though we are all from different cultures,everybody is essentially the same.We all have same problems whether we are Italian, east Indian, black or whatever.Everybody has family dynamics!
AK: Exactly- we are all human first!
AD: Yeah and it’s not a thing that Marcy has these things happening in her family, it just is.And I think people can relate to it because we all have these situations! It is not that it is black family that it that it is happening to; it is a family that it is happening that to!
AK: Exactly and we can all understand each other more by realizing how similar we are.
AD: Right!And it also you know oh yea this is my family “.They look so fabulous on the outside and every family does- but everybody has their layers and their dynamics.
AK: Yea that’s for sure! (laughs)
AD: And I think it is interesting to see that from a black perspective!
AK: Oh, for sure and that’s been really compelling about this story too. And the great thing is that you have also worked on several other laws shows such as In Contempt and Suits. Has that impacted how you have been able to perform on Diggstown and just connect with the characters?
AD: I don’t think it has had a relation to how I perform in Diggstown. However, every experience contributes to the whole 10,000 hours thing(laughs). The more experience you have, the more experience you can bring to your work.And the more experiences you have in life the more experiences you can bring to your work as an artist!
AK: Exactly -it all adds up!
AD: Yes.
AK: That is great and the great thing about Diggstown is that it focuses on a lot of different…
AD: Contemporary issues.
AK: Exactly.Contemporary issues, especially as they relate to racial minorities, people with disabilities and …
AD: Lower income people too ….
AK: Exactly and people from low socio-economic backgrounds. So how do you think the show is building bridges and raising awareness about some of the challenges these individuals face in our legal system?
AD: Well, I just think the very fact that they are being highlighted is great. A lot of the times you have high profile cases and it’s good to see how the average man and the life experiences of the average man…. I am not even going to say the average man …
AK: Sort of like the underdog.
AD: For example, in the second last episode we did, you would never imagine in someone’s home you got these cute little teenage girls who would be having a brothel(laughs)
AK: Exactly (laughs )
AD: Not even a brothel but a prostitution ring! You don’t expect that kind of thing! And when you look at them, they look like regular teenage girls.
AK: Exactly-they look like people you would know!
AD: Right! I think it’s just brilliant how the writers just come up with these ideas. Our writer/creator was a lawyer at some point so…
AK: Yes, that makes big difference because there is so much you can draw on for sure.
AD: Yes,a lot of detail!
AK: For sure! So, let’s focus a little on Little Mosque on the Prairie- it has been 7 years now since the finale aired!
AD: Oh my God!
AK: I know -can you believe it?
AD: But it is still on reruns!
AK: Yes,I have noticed that too- it is great that it continues on in reruns.However, do you think the conversation which the show started needs to continue?
AD: Now,which particular conversation are you talking about? (laughs) There were a lot of conversations going on around that show!
AK: I would say just the conversation about building bridges between the Islamic community and the mainstream community as well as portraying them(Muslims) in a normal light besides the typical terror headlines on the news!
AD: I think that it is kind of an international issue and not just a Canadian one. I think that portraying visible minorities -which I hate the word minorities anyways- but people of colour as just regular folks is important. Specifically, I think building bridges across cultures and exposing people to different cultures as opposed to what we see in the media and how things can be sensationalized is very important. Basically, there are radicals in every culture, but that is not the norm.
AK: Exactly- It generally gives a human face to it all by showing the average person from each group.
AD: I think that’s very important because it’s a crazy world out there right now and I’m not going to blame all of the media, but things get blown out of proportion and people are taking a lot of sides as a result.
And everything is not black, white or extreme as the majority of people just want to go about their day and live their lives peacefully. And I think as opposed to going inside our homes, closing our doors, blocking ourselves out and segregating ourselves into groups, we should be trying to understand other cultures and how other people think. There really is such a level of xenophobia in the world right now and culture phobia so shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie and Diggstown are exposing us to the heartbeat of what is going on in other cultures.
AK: Exactly-it’s really allowing us to get to know one another!
AD: Yes, thank you for putting into simpler words (laughs)
I think Little Mosque started a conversation in that direction while it was on the air -and it is still on the air- but when it first came out!It was such a radical show in that it was a comedy that made people laugh but learn something at the same time.It truly opened up their eyes and hearts at the same time.
AK: Exactly and it really built a good bridge.What other impact do you think it has had on Canadian culture?
AD: Well, I think I kind of said it in that it did open up people eyes! I think the more people are exposed to other cultures as opposed to closing the borders and walling ourselves off and etc. (Laughs) …You know where I am going with that…
AK: Yes (laughs)
AD: I think the conversation changes the more that we are open to each other and learning from each other as opposed to living in fear!
AK: Exactly-the more we are familiar we are with each other the more it helps! That is great. So, looking back on the show, do you have any favorite memories you can share either on screen or off screen?
AD: Some of my favorite? Well, of course my bathing suit was a favorite(laughs)
AK: That’s a classic one (Laughs)
AD: One of my favs! (-laughs)
AK: I know-that was actually one of my favorite too- you’d never think you would see that-(laughs)
AD: I mean there were so many favorite moments and so many highlights -it was a great cast. Another one that I enjoyed was when Fatima did not believe in her worth and she thought just running a café wasn’t important work when one of her friend’s,who she had gone to school with, was working with the United Nations and really making a name for herself in the world while she was just running a café in an unknown place in Saskatchewan.She closed up the café and sat out in the park to think what she was going to do with her life and perhaps thinking about running away.Eventually, everybody from the café started asking her questions until she had all the customers from the café sitting around and she goes “oh”!That was one of my favorite episodes and it was great!
AK: I know – the great thing about the show is it that it shows the sense of the community they had which was really powerful.
AD: Right … So many things like that happened and everybody had their highlighting moments but those were the ones that really touched me.
AK: Yes, they really do stand out. And let’s talk about the Canadian entertainment industry briefly. So, Netflix recently announced they are opening up a production hub in Toronto .
AD: Yes, that’s interesting- I don’t know much about it…but.
AK: So, they are going to be creating over 850 jobs each year for Canadian talent –so that’s a great thing because it really creates Canadian productions for Netflix and opens up so many doors for our talent…
AD: So, when you are saying 850 jobs are you saying 850 productions , between casts, or 850 jobs?Because I know the entertainment industry is such a money making industry in general and there are so many layers from the hotels to the food to the wardrobe to transportation and etc., etc.
AK: Yes, it is very diverse with the layers such as production and transport but mainly for talent…
AD: Oh, that’s great to hear-the more opportunities, the better !
AK: Exactly and then at the same they have been criticized for not collecting or remitting in federal or provincial taxes, but what do you think generally…. ?
AD: Netflix?What are you talking about? Is that Netflix still?
AK: Yes, Netflix.
AD: Oh, you are talking about the online Netflix!
AK: Yes Netflix-they are opening up productions hubs but are they are also being criticized for not contributing to the Canada Media Fund and other…
AD: Well, I can’t really talk on that…
AK:Oh ok!
AD: But I do know for them to be opening up another production facility here in Ontario- I think that’s great. The more productions, the better!
And tax breaks are one thing but in the long run there will—like I as an artist live in Ontario -I have to remit my taxes- transportation, the wardrobe designers, hotels and e.tc .Everything involved in –that’s just the tip of the iceberg-but everything involved that supports the entertainment industry also contributes to the taxes in Ontario
AK: Yes, that’s true – exactly- and they are opening so many doors that I think it’s such a worthwhile initiative .
AD: Yes!
AK: So, let’s talk about your career in general. You have over 80 acting credits so what advice would you give to people from minority groups and others in general who want to pursue a career in acting?
AD: Wow- that is a tough one and I get asked that a lot! I believe that you can’t give up. Do not give up! If this is something that you really want to do, continue to pursue it. I really believe in the 10,000 hours thing- to learn as much as you can in your field as an actor even if it means going to one of the schools like Sheridan, Randolph, George Brown, Ryerson or even being taught by private teachers and coaches.
The more you learn, the more of a skillset you have to compete because it is a very competitive industry. My advice would be to always keep your skills as sharp as possible and to be always open to learn.
And never think that you know everything because you can always learn! And the industry is changing all the time and I find that older artists are afraid to try and embrace new technologies …. I remember these young kids came up to me and approached me a couple of years ago…. when it was just starting out… to do a thing called a web series and I’m like “What’s a web series”? (laughs)Is it something like a little thing on YouTube? That’ll be fun!”.
We won all kinds of awards for this show called Teenagers and I have done a couple of web series since then!Web series have become another outlet and another medium- we have to be open to embracing these new mediums!
AK: That is great –I know it’s so exciting and challenging all at the same time.
AD: Yeah because there are people who say” I only do theatre”–Well that’s very nice! Or they say” I only do film or I only do commercials”! You can’t only do one thing in Canada unless you have another side gig- so you have to be open to try new things and to do as much in as many different mediums as you can.
AK: Exactly because it is a small industry so you need to diversify as much as you can.
And if you want to branch out to go to another industry in another country they are always surprised and say “Oh you are well versed and you can do this, you can do film and you can do theatre! I’m like well yeah, we kind of have to do that in Canada which is why we are so proficient in all these different things!
AK: Exactly –it’s like top notch!
AD: Yes!
AK: So, what else can we look forward to seeing you in in the for the future?
AD: Well let’s cross our fingers and see what happen for Diggstown for any future seasons.I have been guest starring on different shows, though they don’t let you talk about things until they air these days! It’s kind of related to NDA’s and whatever!However,I am managing to keep busy!I did a workshop at the beginning of the year for an upcoming opera.I have been doing all kind of concerts and singing at events!
AK: That’s exciting! So,do you have any message for fans who have been following your career?
AD: Do I have any message?Wow.Thank you!Thank you for supporting.Thanks for watching what I do and I hope that you continue. I am very grateful for that kind of support
AK: Of course,and we definitely will.We are so excited to see what you will be doing next.It was great chatting with you today!
AD: Thank you! Good talking to you!
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