Top 10 Celebs You Didn't Know Are Canadian
#10: Shay Mitchell
Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Shay Mitchell
How many Canadians can say they’ve been nominated for six Teen Choice Awards? We know of at least one and her name is Shay Mitchell. Yup, this pretty little liar is a pretty, not so little Canadian. Born in Mississauga, Ontario this beauty was traveling the world as a model in her teens and got her big acting break when she was cast as Emily Fields in “Pretty Little Liars.” Besides acting and modeling, this talented Canuck co-wrote a young adult novel titled, “Bliss” in 2015.
#9: Aaron & Shawn Ashmore
Given that they're twins, if you knew that one of them was Canadian you could have surmised that the other one was as well. However, there are probably many fans who aren’t aware that either of these talented bros was born in the Great White North. The identical twins were born in British Columbia but raised in Ontario, and have both found a good amount of individual success in Hollywood. However, while they’ve both been acting since the late 80s/early 90s, this is one of the few times they’ve actually worked together. The twins played - yup, twins - in a season three episode of “Fringe” back in 2010.
#8: Nathan Fillion
While Fillion has had American citizenship since 1997, he’s had Canadian citizenship his entire life. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Fillion did both his high school and university studies in the oil-rich province. Nathan might be most widely known these days for his starring roles in “Castle,” which ended in 2016, and “The Rookie,” which premiered just a couple years later. However, to many of us, including Leonard Hofstadter and Raj Koothrappali, he will always be Captain Malcolm Reynolds. And as far as the experience goes, Fillion himself has called the “Firefly” gig “the best acting job” he ever had.
#7: Seth Rogen
We don’t know if it’s irony, coincidence or something else entirely, but it’s true, one of the most famous pot smokers in the world comes from the home of some of the best pot in the world. Actor, producer, director Seth Rogen lives in Los Angeles now, but the “Knocked Up” star was born and raised in the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Rogen started as a stand-up comic at a young age, and when he was 13 he co-wrote the rough script for “Superbad” with Evan Goldberg, with whom he began a friendship after they met while attending bar mitzvah classes together.
#6: Rachel McAdams
While the rest of the world became aware of McAdams in 2004 when she starred in “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook,” her fellow Canadians already knew who she was. Before making it big in Hollywood, the London, Ontario product had made a name for herself in Canadian movies and television, including her Gemini Award-winning performance in “Slings and Arrows.” McAdams has since gone on to a very impressive career on the silver screen, earning multiple awards and a spot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her role in 2016’s “Doctor Strange.”
#5: Elliot Page
With breakout roles in “Hard Candy” and “Juno,” Page went from a known Canadian actor to a star across both sides of the 49th parallel. And for the younger generation, the actor is probably best known for playing Number Seven in “The Umbrella Academy” on Netflix. Elliot was born in the beautiful city of Halifax, Nova Scotia and is the only Eastern Canadian on the list. Elliot is also the only trans gender member of the list, becoming Time Magazine’s first openly trans man cover feature in 2021.
#4: Matthew Perry
Top 10 Moments That Made Us Love Matthew Perry
From Martin Short to Jim Carrey and beyond, the Great White North has always been home to some very funny folks. So, it makes sense that when “Friends” producers were casting the “funny one,” then it was across the border that they found an actor that could pull off all of those great Chandler Bing lines. Perry was raised in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, but holds dual citizenship and was actually born in Williamstown, Massachusetts to a Canadian mother and American father. However, his initial time in the United States didn’t last long as he and his mother moved to Canada after his parents divorced around the time of his first birthday.
#3: Sandra Oh
Top 10 Moments That Made Us Love Sandra Oh
Not only is Canada filled with funny people, but the country has also been the birthplace of some of the most important doctors in history, including one of the men who co-discovered insulin, Sir Frederick Grant Banting. So, it only makes sense that when “Grey’s Anatomy” was casting one of the best surgical interns on the show, all they had to do was look across the border to find Sandra Oh and cast her as Cristina Yang. Oh was born in 1971 in Nepean, Ontario, which at the time was an independent city, but has since been amalgamated into part of the new city of Ottawa. She’s since gone on to receive rave reviews for her lead role in “Killing Eve.”
#2: Ryan Gosling
Top 10 Funniest Ryan Gosling Interview Moments
Not only did Gosling and Rachel McAdams date, they also starred in one of the great romance movies of the 21st Century, and they were both born in the same Canadian city just two years apart. The”Drive” star was born in London, Ontario in 1980, but his father was a traveling paper mill salesman, so the family moved around a lot. Gosling is now a huge movie star, but had some mental and physical issues with academics as a child. After being homeschooled and dropping out of high school while simultaneously acting on TV, he focused on more “serious acting”, ultimately moving to the States.
#1: Keanu Reeves
Top 10 Moments That Made Us Love Keanu Reeves
Not only is he “the One,” but he’s also Canadian. Keanu was raised in Toronto, but was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964 - which makes all of us who saw “Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure” in the theater feel nice and old now. From “Speed” to “The Matrix,” Reeves has put together a rather impressive career that spans over 35 years and he shows no signs of stopping. Especially if they keep making “John Wick” movies every few years! Although his name may mean “cool breeze over the mountains” in Hawaiian, Reeves is still a hot Hollywood commodity today.
