Who is Miriam McDonald?
Canadian actress Miriam Katherine McDonald was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, on 26 July 1987, meaning that her zodiac sign’s Leo. She’s had roles in 26 movies and TV series, and is perhaps still best known for her portrayal of Emma Nelson, one of the lead characters in the popular romantic series “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, which Yan Moore and Kit Hood created, and which also starred Melinda Shankar, Aislinn Paul and Stefan Brogren. It follows a group of teenagers who are attending the Degrassi Community School, the series aired from 2001 to 2015 (Miriam left the cast in 2010) and won 43 of its 146 award nominations.
Education and early life
Miriam and her sister were raised in Oakville by their parents, about whom not a lot has been shared because Miriam respects their privacy; it’s widely believed that her mother was a real estate agent, and her father a lawyer.
She became interested in acting at the age of nine, and was 12 when she made her debut TV series appearance, playing a supporting character in the 1999 comedy “System Crash”; her debut film role came five years later, when cast to portray Dawn Gensler in the 2004 drama “She’s Too Young”.
Miriam went on to act throughout her entire education, and upon matriculating from a local high school in 2005 remained focused on acting rather than on pursuing a college degree.
Roles in TV series
The year 2002 heard Miriam voice several characters in the animated comedy “The Ripping Friends”, and from 2001 through 2003, she voiced a supporting character in the animated family drama “Pecola”, which follows the life of the square penguin Pecola.
In 2004, Miriam played Lucy Wentworth in the episode “Boarders” of the crime drama “Blue Murder”, and the year 2007 saw her portray Heidi in the episode “As Bad as It Gets” of the family comedy “Naturally, Sadie”. From 2005 through 2008, she played Emma Nelson in the short romantic drama “Degrassi: Minis”, which is a series about the lives of teenagers from “Degrassi: The Next Generation”.
Miriam could then have been seen appearing in an episode or two of the crime action “XIII: The Series”, the fantasy action “Lost Girl”, and the science fiction thriller “Orphan Black”.
Her most recent TV series role has been her playing of Emma Nelson in the 2016 episode “#ThrowbackThursday” of the romantic drama “Degrassi: Next Class”.
Roles in movies
In 2005, Miriam was cast to play Samantha in the short thriller “Karma”, and gained recognition in 2007, with her portrayal of Willa in the drama “Hearts of War”, written and directed by Damian Lee, and which starred Jonathan Scarfe, Nina Dobrev and Zachary Bennett; it follows a German soldier and a Rabbi’s daughter who’ve fallen in love, and have been separated by World War II. Also in 2007, Miriam played Heather in the mystery horror “Devil’s Diary”, which was nominated for two awards.
The year 2008 saw her appear in the drama “Degrassi Spring Break Movie”, the thriller “Poison Ivy: The Secret Society”, and the action adventure comedy “Sea Beast”; she then reprised her role as Emma Nelson in the 2009 musical comedy “Degrassi Goes Hollywood”, and the 2010 drama “Degrassi Takes Manhattan”.
Miriam was cast to play Hayley in the popular 2014 action fantasy horror “Wolves”, written and directed by David Hayter, and which starred Lucas Till, Stephen McHattie and John Pyper-Ferguson; it follows a boy who’s trying to learn more about his ancestors, and has found a city in which lycans live. Miriam could have then been seen appearing in the 2018 music video “Drake: I’m Upset” and the 2018 romantic drama “A Veteran’s Christmas”.
Her two most recent film roles have been in the 2020 horror comedy “Letters to Satan Claus”, and the 2021 short comedy “The Love Prank”.
Other credits
Miriam was featured in the 2007 TV special “Degrassi: Doing What Matters”, and the 2010 TV special “The 25th Gemini Awards”.
Some of the talk-shows in which she’s made a guest appearance include “Degrassi Unscripted”, “Canada A. M.” and “Love Cures Cancer: Take a Chance on Love”.
Awards and nominations
Miriam and her colleagues won a 2002 Young Artist Award for Best Ensemble in a TV Series – Comedy or Drama, for their performance in “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, and were nominated for the same award in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Miriam was also nominated for a 2005 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Miniseries – Supporting Young Actress, for “She’s Too Young”.
Love life and boyfriends
Miriam rarely speaks about her love life in public, but there are still several boys whom she’s dated, that her fans know about.
In 2001 and 2002, she dated Canadian actor Marc Minardi, whom she met on the set of “Degrassi: The Next Generation”; Marc has 10 acting credits to his name, but hasn’t been active in the film industry since 2016.
In 2006 and 2007, Miriam dated Ryan Cooley, a Canadian actor whom she also met while shooting for “Degrassi: The Next Generation”. The two seemed so happy together that their fans believed that they’d eventually marry, but they split after just over a year.
From 2010 through 2012, Miriam dated Canadian actor, screenwriter and producer Shane Kippel, whom she also first met while shooting for “Degrassi: The Next Generation”; Shane’s also known for his playing of Davis in the 2010 crime movie “Dog Pound”, which won one of its two award nominations.
Miriam seems to be unattached as of December 2022, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
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Hobbies and interesting facts
Miriam’s passionate about dancing, and has been actively dancing ballet, jazz and hip hop since her teenage years.
She taught yoga at the Ryerson University for around a year in 2011 and 2012, and is today a yoga and dancing instructor, as well as a real estate agent.
Miriam enjoys being physically active, and besides working out at the gym on a daily basis, also likes to play tennis, swim and practice boxing.
She’s a dog lover, and her pet dog Sully’s been featured in some of her Instagram pictures; Miriam’s followed by close to 200,000 people on the social media network, and has posted nearly 400 pictures and videos.
One of her closest friends is Canadian actress, screenwriter and director Megan Park, who’s perhaps best known for her playing of Dalia in the 2013 romantic comedy movie “What If”.
Miriam’s favorite actresses are Kate Hudson and Angelina Jolie, while some of her favorite movies include “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon”, “A Little Bit of Heaven”, and “The Skeleton Key”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Miriam’s age is 35. Her eyes are brown and she has long blonde hair, she weighs around 135lbs (61kgs) and is 5ft 6ins (1.69m) tall.
Miriam’s net worth’s been estimated at over $3 million, as of December 2022.
