There are those actors who scream "Canadian" when they appear on screen, or that everyone just knows comes from Canada because they often talk of, or are asked about, their home country. Some that immediately come to mind include Jim Carrey, Drake, Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, and Ryan Reynolds.
But those few are just the tip of the iceberg. Canada has bred plenty of A-list talent, including Hollywood movie stars, television stars, famous musicians, and celebrities of all kinds. When it comes to acting, there are a few actors who fans sometimes forget weren't born in the U.S., but actually hail from the Great White North. Here are just ten of them.
Keanu Reeves
Reeves is known as one of the "nice guys" in Hollywood, so it should come as no surprise that he is actually Canadian, a fact that many people tend to forget given his rapidly rising status as an action film star.
Technically, he was born in Beirut. But the 55-year-old long-time actor grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he got his start acting in theater productions and TV movies. His breakout role was, of course, in third film in the franchise. It premieres in August 2020, almost 30 years after the first sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991).
Mike Myers
"Yeah, baby!" The man who became an Shrek, got his start in a small suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Though Myers decided to semi-retire from acting in 2012, he came back to make a small cameo in the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody, a callout to the fact that the car scene in Wayne's World where the guys bop their heads furiously to the Queen song contributed to its resurrected popularity in the '90s.
Kiefer Sutherland
Most people these days know Sutherland for his most famous role as Jack Bauer in the popular Fox series teen flicks in the '80s, like Stand by Me, Young Guns, and The Lost Boys, plus top movies in the '90s, like Flatliners and A Few Good Men. Most recently, he starred in the series Designated Survivor.
Sutherland, son of actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, was technically born in London, England. But he held both British and Canadian citizenship as both his parents were Canadians working in London at the time. He moved to Toronto, Ontario with his mother when he was nine years old following his parents' divorce. Interestingly, Sutherland has very strong ties to the country: his grandfather was Tommy Douglas, the former premier of Saskatchewan, who is named as a driving factor in bringing universal health care to Canada.
Seth Rogen
Rogen got his start as a stand-up comedian not in clubs in Los Angeles or New York but in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. While he moved to Los Angeles in the late '90s in order to star in the short-lived cult classic Judd Apatow series Freak and Geeks, Rogen ended up staying and working as both an actor and writer, eventually moving on to films and helming his own TV shows such as Amazon's The Boys.
The 38-year-old -- who has now become known for a series of comedy films he wrote, produced, directed, and/or starred in -- holds dual citizenship. However, he has often stated in interviews that he associates himself more with being Canadian than American because he grew up in the Great White North.
Cobie Smulders
On the sitcom Robin was Canadian, something Barney would often make fun of. There was even an entire episode dedicated to Robin's Canadian roots, along with Barney discovering, to his dismay, that he was one-quarter Canadian.
In reality, Smulders is indeed Canadian, born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. While her most recognizable role to date is that of Robin, she has since found her way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), playing agent Maria Hill.
Michael Cera
Known for roles in films like The Lego Batman Movie, Cera has had a pretty versatile career over the last decade and-a-half.
He took improvisational classes at The Second City in Toronto, Ontario, which was not far from where he lived in a suburb of the main city called Brampton. In a story that couldn't be any more Canadian, Cera's first acting role was an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons commercial.
Nathan Fillion
Fillion has become such a huge TV star thanks to leading roles in series like the cult classic gearing up for a third season. But he, like many other film and TV stars, grew up in Canada, in Edmonton, Alberta.
In addition to acting in TV and films since the '90s, Fillion has also provided his vocal talents for video games in the Halo franchise. He became a U.S. citizen shortly after his career took off in 1997 when he was in his mid 20's.
Michael J. Fox
Americans might want to claim this versatile and Back to the Future trilogy and sitcoms like Family Ties and Spin City. But Fox is Canadian, through and through, having been born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta.
Now 59, he has even been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest honor for merit in the country, and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Fox continues to hold dual citizenship for both Canada and the U.S.
Joshua Jackson
As a child actor, Jackson rose to fame in movies like Little Fires Everywhere.
Interestingly, while Jackson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he grew up in California until he was eight years old before moving back to B.C. with his mother and sister.
Evangeline Lilly
On television, Lilly had a leading role on the long-running ABC series Avengers: Endgame.
But people often forget that the 41-year-old is actually Canadian, born and raised in a city called Fort Saskatchewan in the province of Alberta.
