During her first two years at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, Zoë Belkin split her time between classes and being on set for the television series The Latest Buzz. In a delicate balancing act, she’d often be away from school for five weeks at a time but worked with a tutor between takes and sent her work back to Forest Hill for grading.
“I always liked going back to school, but I missed filming, too — I like having the best of both worlds,” says the rising star, who has also had stints on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Rookie Blue and, most recently, wrapped filming on the star-studded Carrie remake out next March.
She credits her high school drama teacher for helping her juggle both worlds: “She was always there if I had trouble with something.”
Even though acting has always been her passion, school was equally important to her, and Belkin even made time to participate in school plays, taking on lead roles.
Right after graduation she flew to Winnipeg to shoot the movie Perfect Sister also starring Abigail Breslin and Mira Sorvino. There she experienced her first taste of living away from home: “I was living in this hotel room in Winnipeg and I was 18 years old. It was so much fun.”
Now living in Kingston where she attends Queen’s University, she continues to audition and take on as many roles as she can, frequently travelling back to Toronto for auditions.
She spent this past summer with Julianne Moore and Chloe Moretz on the set of Carrie in Toronto. She was shooting from June right through until after the school year started again and says she is thankful for her friends who share their notes from class.
“It can be difficult sometimes, but if I read a script or a breakdown that I really am interested in, it doesn’t really matter.” When she gets jobs like this one, it’s worth every second spent making up missed classes.
Her hard work is obviously paying off, but it’s her determination that will send this starlet to the top of the A-list.
“The thing that keeps me positive is that there is always something else. Like, sometimes I’ll want a role really badly, and I’ll try really hard in the audition, but I won’t get it. But the next week there’s another job that I want really badly.”
