Ever since I met Emma Love at Spanish Banks in 2020, our love of stories and donuts has made us fast friends.
Emma is predominantly a storyteller. She tells stories through her work as an actor, voiceover artist, audiobook narrator, jazz singer, and teacher at VFS, and it overflows into the rest of her life, through take-out dinners at her place in the West End.
Always ready with a ridiculous character voice or a cheeky smirk, Emma is one of those people who brings light and life to any room. Don’t be fooled by her goofy demeanour though, she knows her stuff.
She grew up in Nanaimo, and before settling in Vancouver, spent a few years in Toronto and nearly a decade in New York. There she trained with Patsy Rodenburg, at Michael Howard Studios and at The New School University. I know Brooklyn still feels like home to her, and those years definitely lend an East Coast feel to her acting.
Emma is one of the most aware and thoughtful people I know; she identifies as a “long-distance thinker”, a self-coined term which means she will mull over a given idea slowly and carefully until the best possible solution comes through. It makes her a fantastic problem solver and an even better storyteller.
A stickler for syntax, and semantics, she’s always searching for exactly the right word or analogy for a given occasion. Whether it’s on her own time or in her cozy self-constructed recording booth, speaking thousands of words a week into a microphone, she’s always got the perfect thing to say.
When she isn’t working, Emma spends her time rowing at the Vancouver Rowing Club or baking for loved ones. She’s an avid concert and theatregoer– even travelling to see the right show with the right cast. As a voracious reader she has walls teaming with bookshelves and her savant-level knowledge of film and TV is unlike any other I’ve come across in one person.
Catch some of Emma’s quirky charm as Principal Rosalie Mullins in School of Rock this summer at TUTS.
-Written by a close friend
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Which hood are you in?
I’m in the West End. When I was relocating to Vancouver from New York, I was looking at neighbourhoods all over Van, and when it actually clicked that I could live a less than 10-minute walk from the beach, in a vibrant, community-feeling neighbourhood where I could walk to get all the essentials, it was a no brainer. And bonus, I can walk to VFS for classes and to VRC for rowing in the evenings. I think if there’s anything living in NYC teaches you, it’s that a ½ hour walk is nothing.
What do you do?
I’m an actor. I make most of my living doing voice-over—commercials, promo, animation and video games, and audiobook narration. Here in Vancouver and remotely in the US. And when the right opportunities come up I get to work on stage (like this summer), and on camera. I also teach actor’s voice at the Vancouver Film School. I was a singer first, so music definitely informs how I approach my speech work, but I found when I was training as an actor that I’m really a voice primary person. Whenever I had (or still have) a problem I’m struggling to solve with a scene or show, or VO gig, if I go back to voice work (anyone else seeing that scene from Center Stage when she tells her to ‘go back to the bar’?) the solution always unravels itself for me. I knew I’d eventually want to teach, so I spent 2 years training and certifying with Patsy Rodenburg and brilliantly it not only opened up the process of passing on the knowledge, but it really opened up my own process.
What are you currently working on?
I’m playing Principal Rosalie Mullins in School of Rock for Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park! I’m absolutely enamoured with her. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to live with a character for this long, so I’m really savouring the time I’ve got with her and my incredible castmates. And obviously listening to a LOT of Fleetwood Mac. I’ve also got some great audiobooks on my schedule through the rest of the summer and am really looking forward to narrating them.
Where can we find your work?
Come to Malkin Bowl for School of Rock! I think we’re building a really special show, and it’s going to be an absolute ball. Dewey Finn is doing his absolute best to vex Rosalie at every possible turn. I’m also sort of always around as a voice. My friends are forever texting to say “Is that you I just heard on that Spotify ad?”, and of course, I’m searchable everywhere you get your audiobooks. (If you dig you can find my romance pseudonym for some really fun stuff!) Instagram: @thisemmalove.
