# Michelle Thrush

Michelle Thrush (born February 6, 1967) is a Canadian actress and First Nations activist for Aboriginal Canadians and the other Indigenous peoples of the Americas. She is best known for her leading role as Gail Stoney in Blackstone, for which she won the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in 2011, and her recurring roles as Sylvie LeBret in North of 60 and Deanna Martin in Arctic Air.
Thrush starred in the Palme d'Or and César award-nominated film Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian.

## Early life

Thrush, who is Cree, was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by parents who were chronic alcoholics. She recalls being called "Squaw" at Bowness High School and bullied because of her parents' illness. In grade nine she changed schools and attended Calgary's Plains Indian Cultural Survival School, where she felt accepted for the first time. Commenting on her experience at that school, she stated: "There were other Native students there, and I learned so many wonderful things about myself, about my culture, about my language, about drumming and singing. They filled in a lot of the voids that my soul was just begging for."
Her childhood hardships affected her profoundly. Though she acted in her first film at 17, it did not occur to her it could be a career. She planned to become a social worker and help children. She met Gordon Tootoosis, a First Nations actor, who told her: "If [acting] is what your heart wants, you need to follow it and be true." At this point her parents were sober. With no other ties to Calgary, at age 20 she moved to Vancouver and found an agent.

## Career

Thrush has had a prolific career since its beginning in the 1980s. She began her acting career in film while attending high school. She got her first theatre job when she moved to Vancouver at age 20. She had a small part in the play The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. She portrayed numerous recurring and guest roles in the television series Madison, Northern Exposure, North of 60, Highlander, Forever Knight, Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy, Moccasin Flats and Mixed Blessings.
She has starred in many notable films throughout her career, particularly in films that deal with issues about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ranging from Canadian Aboriginals to Native Americans/American Indians (U.S.). These include Isaac Littlefeathers, Unnatural & Accidental, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Skins, Dead Man, Dreamkeeper and Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian.
In 2011, Thrush wrote the one-woman play Find Your Own Inner Elder. She has performed the show, most often under the title Inner Elder, across Canada. It premiered at One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo in Calgary in 2018 and has since been performed with Nightwood Theatre and Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto (2019). Inner Elder is a structured monologue which recounts Thrush's personal life and experiences.
Her daughter, Imajyn Cardinal, is also an actress.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Madison | Charlene | Recurring Role: 4 episodes |
| 1993–1997 | North of 60 | Sylvie LeBret | Recurring role: 10 episodes |
| 1994 | Northern Exposure | Pilot | Episode: "Shofar, So Good" |
| 1994 | Highlander | Sara Lightfoot/Little Deer | Recurring: 2 episodes, two separate roles |
| 1995 | Children of the Dust | Rainbow woman | TV miniseries |
| 1995 | Forever Knight | Marian Blackwing | Episode: "Blackwing" |
| 1997 | Unwed Father | Holly | Made-for-TV movie |
| 1997 | Viper | Grey Hawk | Episode: "Wilderness Run" |
| 1998 | Ebenezer | Ghost of Christmas Past | Made-for-TV movie |
| 1998 | The Crow: Stairway to Heaven | Jane Cogo | Episode: "Before I Wake" |
| 1999 | Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy | Esther's Sister | Episode: "Sex Lies and Narrow Escapes" |
| 2000 | North of 60:Trial by Fire | Sylvia LeBret | Made-for-TV movie |
| 2003 | Dreamkeeper | Morning House | Made-for-TV movie |
| 2003–2005 | Moccasin Flats | Laura | Recurring role: 14 episodes |
| 2007 | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | Four Robes | HBO Made-for-TV movie |
| 2008–2010 | Mixed Blessings | Kate | Recurring role: 15 episodes |
| 2011–2015 | Blackstone | Gail Stonee | Main cast |
| 2012 | The Horses of McBride | Rhonda | Made-for-TV movie |
| 2012–2014 | Arctic Air | Deanna Martin | Recurring role: 8 episodes |
| 2014 | Fargo | Sue Roundtree | 1 episode |
| 2017-2019 | Tin Star | Jaclyn Letendre | Recurring role |
| 2018 | This Blows | Driver | |
| 2019 | Molly of Denali | Shyatsoo/Aunt Merna (voice) | |
| 2020 | Tribal | Jackie Woodburn | |
| 2023 | Little Bird | | TV series |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Isaac Littlefeathers | Sally Littlefeathers | First media role |
| 1986 | The Wake | N/A | |
| 1991 | The Dark Wind | Shirley Topaha | |
| 1991 | The Legend of Kootenai Brown | Olivia D'Lonais | |
| 1995 | Dead Man | Nobody's Girlfriend | First major film role |
| 2002 | Skins | Stella | |
| 2005 | Fugitives Run | N/A | |
| 2006 | Unnatural & Accidental | Pink Girl | |
| 2007 | Pathfinder | Indian Mother | |
| 2013 | Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian | Gayle Picard | |
| 2019 | Red Snow | Big Fran | |
| 2022 | Prey | Aruka | |
| 2022 | Bones of Crows | January Spears | |
| 2024 | The Birds Who Fear Death | Marilyn |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Inner Elder | Herself | One-woman play |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2011 | Gemini Award | Best Actress in a Drama series | Blackstone | Won |
| 2011 | Leo Awards | Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series | Blackstone | Nominated |
| 2013 | Leo Awards | Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series | Arctic Air | Won |
| 2014 | Canadian Screen Award | Shaw Media Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Blackstone | Nominated |