Amanda Brugel

Pointe Claire resides in a quiet area of Montreal Island called West Island. The West Island has a lot of diverse communities. People who have never been aware of it frequently mistake it for a separate island facing west. Amanda Brugel's birthplace has been frequently mentioned, but her brief visit to the West Island wasn't. Brugel lived in Courtice located just outside of Oshawa. At the beginning of her life, she wanted to be a performer but an unexpected increase in her height made it difficult. In an article published in The Toronto Star she admitted In heels I'm 6 feet 1 inch. When I grew out of my male dancers, I decided to quit. A lot of former dancers go on to act. For Brugel, it was the encouragement by her drama instructor in high school who pushed her to take the step she wanted. Her teacher advised her to audition to play the character of Anne in the school's annual production. She auditioned and was cast as Anne of Green Gables. She was given the Fine Arts Talent Scholarship to take part in York University's Theater Program and graduated from the program in 2000, earning a Bachelor's of Fine Arts. Her career spans twenty years, and she's performed in more than 60 shows, both on big screens and smaller ones. Her most notable role was the one of Rita (pictured below) in the television show The Handmaid's Tale. Brugel was the sole Canadian in the season 1 cast of the show and seen only occasionally, was the only Canadian.