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Image 1 of 2
Natural Woman
By Janice Biehn
Vancouver's Gabrielle Miller is starring in two TV series after 13 years of movies-of-the-week and bit parts, but she says her greatest accomplishments has been quitting smoking.
You may not immediately recognize the long, dark hair or the classic features, but pay attention; Gabrielle Miller is one to watch. Starring this fall in the second season of the critically acclaimed "Corner Gas", and the new "Robson Arms" this winter, both on CTV, Miller is riding a career high. A relative newcomer to comedy, Miller plays big city girl Lacey Burrows in "Corner Gas", stand-up comedian Brent Butt's affectionate send-up of rural saskatchewan life. "I'm loving comedy", she says from Regina, where the show tapes its studio scenes. Who wouldn't love this gig? With a hilarious ensemble cast, including Canadian acting gods Eric Petersen and Janet Wright, Miller says she feels blessed.
"Brent is so absolutely clear on his vision, the direction, what he wants [the show] to look and feel like. That makes me as an actor feel so safe," she says. Butt's vision included insisting the show be produced in Saskatchewan, so Miller is living in Regina four months of the year. The gas station and coffee shop location in Rouleau, (Pronounced Rolo) are so convincing that the crew regularly has to turn away drivers looking for a fill up.
"I'd never been to Saskatchewan before this," says the native Vancouverite. "But Brent really wanted to keep the show authentic so he pushed for it to filmed here. He knows the rhythm here and the land is such a big part of the story. It's so incredibly beautiful here . And you can't fake that. There's something about living in the community and getting the rhythm of the people and feeling a part of it that I find really helpful."
The prairie production means the show isn't filmed in front of a live studio audience like most sitcoms, so there's no annoying laugh track. It doesn't need on either, thanks to sharp writing and home grown humour.
However, the show's production format makes for a busy shooting schedule that relies on everyone staying healthy, which Miller does by sticking to nutritious diet, staying away from cigarettes and staying active and connected to nature.
Born in 1973 to parents who were initiates of the famous Indian teacher Kirpal Singh, Miller has been a life-long vegetarian. Now living in farming community that is largely based on meat has its challenges, she says. But with the help of a good local vegetarian restaurant, some health food stores and a devoted crew, Miller has been able to eat how she wants.
The shooting day includes lots of healthy scheduled eating times to prevent everyone from eating on the run. Though Miller admits she has to stay away from the tempting "craft table," a mainstay of film production that is traditionally filled with the most indulgent junk food imaginable. "For the most part I do stay away," she says, confessing only to a recent binge on red jelly feet candy. "I really love sweets and so thats something that I have to be aware of, and then, like many people , I like carbs. But there's good carbs and bad carbs. I like going out for dinner and having a big plate of pasta and a nice glass of wine. And that's cool. I can't be too boxed in. I have to try and find a balance because otherwise I'll just think of having it."
Miller also tries to eat only organically grown food. "The vegetarian part is for my own personal, spiritual reasons. I like to cause the least harm possible. I eat organic because it's way healthier for the environment and my body. I don't want to put chemicals and toxin into my system."
Despite her health-conscious upbringing, Miller was unable to resist the addiction of nicotine for many years, and only managed to quit smoking earlier this year.
"People thought because I was a vegetarian there would be no way I'd smoke, but addiction is addiction, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense. I was heartbroken about it. I really wanted to quit for so long, so to come this far is wonderful for me. Honestly I feel like it's the biggest accomplishment of my life so far."
The death of her grandmother five years ago from lung cancer and emphysema was a major motivator, though it took her approaching 30th birthday to finally push her into quitting. Having attempted to quit twice using the nicotine patch, once with Zyban an once with nicotine gum, this time Miller went cold turkey, "taking it craving by craving, day by day, with the support of loved ones, plenty of exercise and clean water." Miller says the key to going cold turkey was the mental preparation to "simply quit wrestling with the notion of maybe having a cigarette." She also credits her success with having a quitting partner. "That really helped me. It would have been impossible for me to live with someone who was smoking."
Even so, coping with the the nicotine withdrawal was a struggle. "You have three weeks of absolute insanity, " she recalls, "where if you feel like crying, you just go ahead. [The desire to smoke] doesn't disappear but it gets way easier and the benefits way outweigh the [nicotine] fix. But with exercise, water and all eh extra breath and vitality, it gets easier every day, I love waking up with clean smelling hair."
It is sill an effort to resist thought. "All of it was hard to give up; the routines, the physical habit, the nicotine; the feeling of saying goodbye to an old, comfortable friend was probably the biggest challenge. But who needs stinky, expensive, demanding friends telling you what to do every half hour? For me the challenge was finding something greater to anchor to in order to release the past. That anchor is the freedom from smoking and the gift of renewal."
Miller has another addiction, though it's a healthy one. "I love being in nature, It feeds me. " Recalling times spent in Vancouver's Stanley Park as a little girl, or in the sea wall with girlfriends, Miller says she seeks our nature for both physical and spiritual health.
Miller also stays physical by doing Pilates (when in Vancouver) and yoga (in L.A.). Exercise helps her to stay fit, but also energizes her and helps her sleep better, she says. After the end of a 14-hour shooting day in Saskatchewan, "if I can muster up the energy to go for a walk or run, it's guaranteed I'll feel better and sleep better." A constant thinker, Miller says she has always struggled with getting enough sleep, but just being in nature and breathing and "grounding myself to the Earth" provide enormous support. Her parents' early influences are also resurfacing.
I grew up meditating with my father every morning. And then you grow up and move around and go to high school and get your career going and I kind of forgot about all of that. But it's interesting how you gravitate back to where you came from. Thats something that I've been thinking about. I think the attraction started with going back to doing yoga. Breathing and calming your mind is beneficial for me. I'm kind of going all the time."
If Miller's current career path is any indication, that constant motion doesn't show a signs of stopping.