Katrina Salisbury is the voice behind Yona in Hasbro’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Nina in Molly of Denali, a groundbreaking children’s show about an indigenous family from Alaska. Katrina is well known for her versatile voice work, recurring on several animes, cartoons, and video games, including one of the most popular children’s shows in Korea, Young Toys & Retrobot’s “Tobot”, currently on Netflix. Occhi Magazine had the opportunity to talk to her about her career so far.
Hi Katrina. Thank you for granting the interview. Congratulations on your career so far. You’re a successful actress now but you were a competitive horseback rider and autocross racer. How did you make the transition to acting?
Hey there, thanks for having me! When you put it like that, I guess I’ve had a pretty crazy life so far. I should remind myself more often since I’ve been playing video games inside for the last two months and feel quite boring! I began horseback riding at the age of seven and competed for about eight years. I began in English/western pleasure riding and switched to the rodeo circuit later on. Honestly, I was not very good when it came to rodeo. I loved my horse, but she did not love the arena, and I was afraid to go fast for fear of being bucked off. So my parents were quite surprised when I got into autocross.
My dad has always loved cars, and he could not wait to take me to my first race as soon as I got my learners license. When I started, it was like I was going for a light Sunday stroll (I had just learned how to drive) but a few years in, I was competing in national level competitions. Around the time I was finishing high school, I knew I needed to decide what I should do for the rest of my life. Did being a Formula 1 driver sound like a good idea? Of course! But I knew the chances of me being the next Danica Patrick were slim.
Acting has always been another passion of mine. I had taken a few classes throughout my childhood, acted in a few plays and musicals, but never went the extra step to make it a career. As you can probably tell, I’m not attracted to the 9 to 5 office jobs, just the super viable ones. I weighed my options. Driving is so much fun, but you can only compete until a certain age; acting I can do for the rest of my life and never get tired of it because as an actor you should always be learning and growing. So I dropped the keys and picked up some scripts!
You began your training at Vancouver Acting School. Please share your experience at the school.
I started my acting training at Vancouver Acting School about seven years ago, time flys! I enrolled in a six-month program, which focused on On-Camera acting but also included voice over. That’s where I first discovered my love for VO. I was so lucky to have instructors like Adrian Petriw and Maryke Hendrikse. They are so passionate and unbelievably talented in what they do. I learned so much in the short time I was taught by them. Fun fact: Before I was taught by Adrian in voice-over, his brother taught me how to autocross.
Your credits include one of the most popular children’s shows in Korea, Young Toys & Retrobot’s ‘Tobot’, Hasbro’s ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’, Aniplex’s ‘Kiznaiver’, and PBS’ ‘Molly of Denali’, a groundbreaking children’s show about an Indigenous family from Alaska. Which of these roles has been the most fulfilling as an actress and why?
All of these characters hold a special place in my heart. It’s hard to choose! Being Yona on ‘My Little Pony’ was a dream come true. I remember being at my best friend’s house, while I was in acting school, scrolling through Netflix, and coming across the show. My friends proclaimed “One day we’re going to be sitting here watching you in the show!”, so it was kind of surreal when that happened. Yona is also pretty similar to how I am in real life; clumsy, a little chunky, and loves her friends and family with all her heart. The crew and community involved in ‘My Little Pony’ is also such a once in a lifetime thing, I’m so lucky to be a part of that. Playing Nina on ‘Molly of Denali’ has also been extremely special. As you said, it’s the first children’s show to center on an Indigenous family from Alaska. It’s so important that Indigenous people, who are not usually represented in the media, get to shine, create, and tell their stories. It was also crazy for me to grow up watching ‘Corner Gas’ to walk into the booth and get to act with Lorne Cardinal! (I stayed calm, cool, and collected, don’t worry). To be involved with ‘Molly of Denali’ is an honor and I am truly thankful to help share the stories of the people who’s land we live on.
Did you envisage establishing a career as a successful voice actor?
I did. You have to have that faith as an actor that your time is coming, or else why bother? It definitely can be hard when you don’t get the role you really wanted, or something didn’t turn out just like you planned. But you can’t control anything in this industry besides yourself, so it helps to know what you want and keep working towards that goal. I’ve definitely had success, but I’m still not where I want to be, and that’s okay! It’s still early in my life and career and I have tons of time to continue working towards where I want to be.
You’ve recently written and directed a live-action short entitled “The Chaddening”. Please tell us more about the project and how this differs from previous projects.
The Chaddening is my directorial debut! It is a horror/comedy about a young man who moves into a college sharehouse, only to find his roommates aren’t what he expected. The film deals with themes including white privilege, toxic masculinity, and the many injustices to people of color in our world. I mean we all know a “Chad” right? I had been writing a ton of short films for about a year and decided it was finally time to make one. I ended up asking my partner to co-write/direct a film with me since I’m pretty new in the live-action department. He thankfully agreed, and we entered a 48-hour film festival competition. 48 hours to write, film, and edit a five-minute film. Not sure if I would recommend any first-time filmmakers attempt a 48-hour film festival, I think I aged about 10 years!
I’m lucky enough to have extremely talented friends who agreed to be part of the cast and crew. They’re all professionals and know what they’re doing, so I was pretty nervous being so new to directing. Working on set ended up being a breeze. My DOP would set up the shot and all I had to do was say, yup looks great. When you work with people you trust, your job as a director becomes so much easier. I think the hardest thing on set was when we had to hold our laughs in during takes. Without all of them, this film would not have been doable.
As you expand your resume, are there any major figures in the industry you would love to work with and why?
I’d love to work with Alan Tudyk. He’s such an underrated actor. The voices and characters he brings to life are insane and it would be amazing to learn from him, not to mention he seems like one of the nicest people alive. I love Tuca and Bertie, so if I ever get the chance to work with Lisa Hanawalt, I will die a happy woman. Her art style is so unique and fun, and I think the messages of the show hit home for so many people, especially women. Basically what I’m saying is, she makes things that matter, and that’s what I love being a part of. Also Henry Cavill. For reasons.
What advice would you give our younger readers seeking a career in the arts and entertainment industries?
Go for it and don’t let others knock you down! I once had a high school teacher laugh at me in front of my whole class for saying I wanted to be an actress. Use that kind of energy to propel you forward and keep going. It can take a while to get started, I didn’t book my first job for a year and a half. And at the end of the day, be kind, confident, empathetic, and have no plan B.
Do you have anything else in the pipeline we can look forward to?
Keep your eyes peeled for new episodes of ‘Molly of Denali’ airing on PBS Kids in the USA and CBC in Canada. I’ve also started working on my first feature film script. Wish me luck!
So where can we keep up to date with your activities?
You can find me on Twitter at @KR_Salisbury, and if you like random photos and a good ‘Throwback Thursday” every now and then, you can check my Instagram at @katrinasalisbury. Also, if you’d like to check out my horror/comedy The Chaddening – check it out here!
Photographer: Ariella Horvath, Hair and Make-up: Katie Elwood
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