Dani Kind is a Canadian actress who has been working in Canadian film and television for many years. She recently can be seen starring as Anne on the popular Canadian TV comedy, Workin’ Moms. I met with Dani on the set of our cover shoot here in Toronto to talk Workin’ Moms, acting, and the Canadian film industry, and she proved to be cool, funny, confident, and genuinely passionate about her work.
Workin’ Moms´ began airing on CBC in 2017 and recently finished airing its third season, “We just shot this summer the fourth season,” Dani says, “it’s going to be good, it’s going to be a great one.” Earlier this year, Netflix picked up Workin’ Moms, and the show experienced a surge in both national and international popularity. “I didn’t notice things right away,” Dani says thoughtfully, of the impact once Netflix started airing the show, “I think it mostly impacts Catherine Reitman, and Philip Sternberg, it’s their show. I think they worked really hard to get that deal made and get the show into the right hands and they did a great job because Netflix is—even the way they’re promoting the show on Netflix is incredible. They’re using different clips, they’ve added in stuff that isn’t aired in Canada, it just feels fresh and like it’s got a second life which is really cool. I got to travel this year to Budapest and South Africa and London and I had a bunch of people stop me in all those countries and say that they watch our show. It’s amazing.” Dani sounds awed that women from all over the world can relate to and connect with the show, despite cultural differences, “it’s really a testament to Catherine Reitman and what she’s written.”
Dani speaks with great fondness and admiration for Catherine Reitman, who stars alongside Dani in Workin’ Moms as well as being executive producer, writer, and showrunner. The show features multiple female writers, directors, and cast members. “I’ve never gotten the chance before Workin’ Moms to be immersed in such a female-driven work environment before. I did have a visceral emotional reaction the first day we walked on set and there were women everywhere,” Dani explains, “I think it’s similar to this MeToo movement, where a lot of younger women are teaching us, ‘hey you know that sh*t you put up with? You don’t have to do that anymore’ and us older women are like ‘oh yeah that was f*cked up.’ We’ve just done it for so long. It’s the same thing with the industry, it’s just been male-dominated for so long. I didn’t know that I needed it, missed it, wanted it, I didn’t know until I got on set and saw all those women.” While Dani says she often doesn’t feel the difference between the direction of a male vs a female director, having mostly female writers and creators on the show makes a noticeable difference; “When I read new scripts now that are female-led films or TV, I can tell if it’s written by a man more now having experienced writing being written by women.”
Dani’s character on the show, Anne, has been through many trials and tribulations over the course of the show so far, and Dani thinks Anne has calmed and softened as much as she can. As for where she wants to see Anne go, Dani expertly avoids any spoilers for the as-yet unaired fourth season; “I know as an actor I just want to do every crazy thing,” she laughs, “I do think with most shows, as you continue to go, the writers start writing with a little bit of you in mind. Like they knew that I loved being physical and they gave me that opportunity and I just am really excited, if we go forward, to see where we are going. I’m game for anything.”
Along with Workin’ Moms, Dani has also recently been in supernatural TV series Wynonna Earp and comedy horror film The Banana Splits Movie. “Generally I don’t treat any genre different,” Dani says, “I have two great coaches that I study with that help me through breaking down scripts and trajectories of where I want to go in a season or in a film or something like that, so I think the process is pretty similar.” While Dani has clearly done a variety of genres so far, she’s interested in trying every end of the spectrum; “I would love to do an indie film, you know one that is just all heart,” she says excitedly, “And then I would love to do like a big Marvel movie, I would like to do extremes, but again I would just like to do all of the things. I think most actors are like, give me all the roles and all the characters.” She feels blessed to have worked with a lot of amazing people, although she can’t pinpoint anyone she has not worked with who she would refer to as a dream co-star or director. “I’ve worked with a lot of kind people, and I think I’ve been very lucky to. Regardless of their status or level of fame, everyone that I’ve worked with has been so grounded and it’s always felt so collaborative and like an even playing field. I tend not to idolize other actors in the industry or directors, because I do think that it’s not glamorous what we do. We go and we work 16 hours days and we’re in poor conditions at times—and sometimes gorgeous conditions!–but it’s not glamourous until you get onto a red carpet to promote the thing. The actual making of the product is very humbling and grounding.” This doesn’t mean that Dani hasn’t felt like she has learned from and been inspired by people that she has worked with. Dani cites working with Brooke Shields on a TV show as somewhat of a turning moment for her; “She was just open and lovely and supportive. She’s very pro-women, and supports women around her, and she was really giving her information about her own life and struggles that she had as a young actress growing up. It’s not that she offered advice, but in her sharing and the way that she led the set that she was on–because she was the number one–that gave me a lot of information.”
All of Dani’s filming experience has been a part of the Canadian film industry, and she feels very passionate about Canadian projects getting the acknowledgement that they deserve. “I wish our country had more of a star system and by that I mean supported their artists more,” she states firmly, “I feel like right now there’s a lot of pushback on Canadian content being seen globally and I think that’s a really tricky thing. I can sympathize with both parties and both sides of things but we have a lot of amazing artists here and I think the world should see that just like the UK gets to show off their artists, or the states, or whatever. I think Canada could have and deserves to have more of an ego about that.” When asked why she thinks this is the case, she throws her hands up, “I don’t know what it is! I don’t know what the politics are behind it, I think it’s like politics and money…I don’t know what it is. I wish I knew and I wish I could have a little more of a say in it.” She goes further into it when discussing how she is auditioning for other projects; “That’s another thing about Canada, it’s like you book a TV show and then you finish that contract and you go back and you audition, that’s what happens here. I’m sitting in the same waiting room as other actors I’ve known for years still. It’s the same just like plugging along.”
When asked if there are any projects she is hoping to be a part of, Dani takes a moment to shout-out one of the people in the industry who gets her star-struck: British actress and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge. “I would love to work with her. And the fact that she’s in Toronto shooting is just like come on! She’s so close!” Other than auditioning, Dani is currently working on some projects outside of acting; “I’m doing a bit of writing and hoping to get into directing some short films and stuff like that this year. I’m working on writing a film with a friend of mine who I just got to act in his film this past summer, so we’re creating a film together,” she says, and then smiles slyly, “then I have a little tiny other thing that I’m working on myself that I’m not going to say.” When we finish the interview, we continue chatting about the industry until she has to get dressed for the shoot, before which she gives me a firm handshake and a thank you, ever friendly and grateful.
You can watch Dani on Workin’ Moms on Netflix now.
