StyeBistro - Interview Brooke Nevin

With all our favourite TV coming back last week (Hello, The Good Wife, Homeland and Revenge) fall shows are high on our agendas.

Among our homegrown hits, CBC’s Cracked starts up for its second season tonight at 9 p.m. Below, Brooke Nevin who co-stars as Clara Malone, the psych-crime-fighting sidekick, chats to our Senior Editor Alex Laws about how she got into acting and her top beauty picks.

Alex Laws: You’re originally from Toronto, but where’s home for you now?
Brooke Nevin: I moved down to L.A. 10 years ago. That’s my home base, but lately I’ve been all over. This year I was in Austin doing a pilot for Jerry Bruckheimer in the fall and then Chicago in the winter. Spring and summer brought me to Toronto. I hadn’t been in a while during that time of year so being back was really nice.

AL: And what got you into acting?
BN: When I was 13 I really wanted to do a beauty pageant because my mom and I had always watched Ms. U.S.A. I hadn’t realized how competitive it was—I just borrowed a dress of my mom’s for the eveningwear outfit, but I still got second place. It was a little girl’s dream checked off the list. Then I went into modelling school and learned how to do my three-point turns and pluck my eyebrows. It was really traumatic! But one part of modelling school was about being on screen and I thought, “Forget these outfits and high heels, I want to be on camera!” Shortly after that that, at 13 years old, I went to my mom and said, “It’s now or never: if I don’t get an agent, that’s it!”

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AL: And now you co-star on Cracked. What do you love most about being on the show?
BN: My character. The writing and the character descriptions are what drew me in to the project from the beginning. I spoke to the show writer Bruce Smith before coming to Toronto to test for it and he inspired a lot of confidence in me about where they want to take this season. They were bringing in a backstory for each of the characters, which I think is always interesting for the audience of a procedural crime drama. Every week there is going to be a guest star and a mystery to be solved, but a backstory helps the audience connect with the character from beginning to end—there’s that story arc.

AL: What are you most looking forward to this season about playing Clara Malone?
BN: Clara is no wilting flower. The first scene she appears in and how she deals with the situation is a very telling example of her philosophy about life. We see by Clara’s actions that she isn’t going to take anything lying down—she’s a fighter. She’s a fighter with Aiden, too, because they come from two different backgrounds: him from the police and her from psychiatry. They are obviously going to be at odds with how they want to deal with a witness or a perpetrator, so they have to deal with that friction. We found a way to do that so it’s fun for the audience to watch them disagree.

AL: What about when the work’s over? Backstage, have you picked up any beauty tips you use in real life?
BN: As amazing and wonderful makeup is, the most important thing for me is to take it off—properly. I’m fastidious about it and when I get home I remove my mascara to give my eyelashes a chance to breathe. I also use a Clarisonic whenever I’ve been on set and especially before I work out, with an all-natural, Toronto-based product line called Vervain. I put the Natural Foaming Cleanser on my Clarisonic and my skin has been thanking me for it.

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AL: At work you’re constantly expressing different characters through fashion, so what do you wear when it’s your choice?
BN: I find actually that my character’s style will bleed into my personal choices. For instance, I played a hard-edge, rock ’n’ roll character just getting over an addiction in Austin, Texas, and I found myself wearing brown leather boots and ripped jeans and T-shirts. I’m sort of amorphic when it comes to my personal style. On the red carpet I tend to dress more classic and I think it’s important to wear colour whenever you can. My style is always changing and my closet is so eclectic, because I want to be ready to pull out any outfit when an audition comes along. It’s like, “Okay, the Midwestern housewife—I’ve got that. Or the sorority girl with the A-personality—check.”

AL: Is there one item you feel defines you?
BN: I do have this really colourful wool pashmina that’s super cozy. I always bring it with me when I travel and so I think it kind of defines the adventurous spirit I have.

AL: And finally, are you dressing up as anything for Halloween?
BN: It is without a doubt that I will be dressing up. I haven’t quite thought about themes yet, but my boyfriend and I are very committed to the Halloween. Sometimes we do meta costumes, which are a costume on top of a costume. One year I was a vaudevillian gecko, so I was dressed as a gecko but I had a top hat and a sparkle vest and a cane. It was probably one of my favorite costumes ever. So, we are yet to brainstorm but we do have a new puppy that we now get to incorporate so we’re a trio of costume wearers now.

Here’s what Brooke keeps in her makeup bag:

Lush Lips
"I love these natural lip glosses made with beautiful colors from fruit pigments. The gloss is packed with antioxidants and vitamin E, which helps to moisturize dry, chapped lips." 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Gloss Shimmery Cocoa Berry, $19, louchelilyl.com

Fresh Fragrance
"I came across this product at a yoga studio in Chicago. This is the perfect scent for the season of wearing sweaters and sipping hot tea. It also comes in a convenient roll-on applicator, so you can throw it in your purse without worrying about spillage." Royal Apothic Oil-Based Perfume in Extract of Chai Tea, $18 royalapothic.com

Happy Hair
"Just because it’s hiding under a toque, doesn’t mean your locks can’t still be luscious. This product makes my hair feel so soft, even after constant styling." Shu Uemura Nourishing Protective Oil, $69, shuuemura.ca

Smooth Shadow
"I love how smoothly this pressed shadow goes on. It’s so easy to create different looks for day and night from a light shimmer dusting to a deep, smoky eye." Cailyn Cosmetics 100% Raw Mineral Eyeshadow in Milk Chocolate, $15, cailyncosmetics.com

Best Blush
These beautifully hued blushes really are long-wearing and add just the right pop of colour to your cheeks. I love Blissful." Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush, $26, sephora.ca

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