From a very young age, Nicole Huff had a fierce passion for the arts.
“I grew up dancing, singing, acting, playing piano, figure skating and doing karate — my parents enrolled me in so many different activities,” says the Toronto actor. But it was acting and music that drew her in the most.
“I was always watching movies or listening to music to get inspiration, and I just enjoyed creating and telling stories that made people smile,” she says. “And as I got older, I found that it wasn’t just about making people smile, it was also about feeling things. I watched films and listened to music that I could relate to or to help me get through a difficult time.”
Huff has been performing since she was six years old. She got her start acting in commercials — she has over 35 under her belt — but shifted gears to TV in 2008.
“As I started putting my focus into acting, I started seeing results. I started taking acting lessons and really trying to hone my craft, and it specifically grew in high school,” she says. “I graduated from Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts. I majored in drama and I just absolutely fell in love with it.”
Although Huff describes herself as “always outgoing,” it was at Cardinal Carter that her confidence grew and she began to expand her range as an actress.
“I got more comfortable in myself and being able to portray different characters and tell different stories,” she says. “And that’s around the time where I auditioned for Degrassi. Degrassi really helped me get into different rooms with different casting directors. I noticed that after I landed [that] part, I started getting more opportunities to read for different characters.”
For Huff, Degrassi was a breakout role. But in her view, she’s had several — each one allowing her to test the waters of something new — and she hopes to have many more to come.
In 2020, she landed the role of Paige Aquino on the hit series Tiny Pretty Things, an experience which she says helped her to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. The show exploded on Netflix, and Huff became someone who was getting recognized by fans internationally. In 2021, she played Alina Taylor on CBC’s Pretty Hard Cases with Meredith MacNeill— her first big comedy role.
Now, Huff has earned her breakout role in film as Olivia Kaplan in Luckiest Girl Alive, which stars and is produced by Mila Kunis. The film premiered on Netflix on Friday. Huff says it feels like a major accomplishment for her to work alongside Kunis.
“It’s such a big deal to me because I grew up watching her and grew up loving her work,” she says. “I remember watching Gia growing up and seeing Mila Kunis play young Angelina Jolie and admiring that movie. And now I get to work with her. It’s funny how things come full circle that way.”
Now that Huff has wrapped filming for Luckiest Girl Alive, she’s taking some time to focus on her musical aspirations. And she also hopes to land her next breakout role soon.
“I’m hoping to portray a lead character, whether that be in a film or a television show,” she says. “Or get to work with someone else that I look up to. Someone like Mila Kunis, you know?”