The Netflix Christmas movie Hot Frosty quickly began a holiday hit this year, starring Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan. For Canadian star Sarah DeSouza-Coelho, who plays Nicole, an employee at the diner Kathy (Chabert) owns, she was attracted to a script that was “quirky and full of Christmas magic.”
“That messaging about being from a small town and falling in love, I think that it’s something that appeals to people of all ages,” DeSouza-Coelho told Yahoo Canada. “My mom, she watches these movies year round, and I think that regardless of the season it’s something that people can kind of come back to and find comfort in.”
DeSouza-Coelho also highlighted that she had a “fan girl moment” when she started shooting the film, working with notable actors like Chabert, Joe Lo Truglio and Craig Robinson.
“I didn’t actually realize that I was going to be working with Lacey and Craig Robinson and Joe until the night before,” DeSouza-Coelho recalled. “I remember I saw the call sheet and I freaked out in the best way possible, just because they’ve all been in shows and movies that I’ve watched time and time again.”
“Although I had a bit of a fan girl moment on the first day, it was really cool to just have regular conversations with them. And also see how professional and prepared that they were when they came to set, and how they tackled everything with so much confidence. It was just so inspiring and just so surreal.”
While DeSouza-Coelho is someone who grew up performing as much as she could, citing Hilary Duff as an “idol” when she was younger, her new idol is Issa Rae, with DeSouza-Coelho working to also create her own projects. That includes developing the Back to One digital series, which DeSouza-Coelho said was the “silver lining” of the entertainment industry halting productions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The entire film industry shut down, it forced me to take a step back and really think about where I was at with my career, the kinds of roles I’d been going out for and where I felt I was at with my craft,” DeSouza-Coelho said. “Growing up, I never really saw people on screen that looked like me. My family is West Indian, they’re from the Caribbean, and I never really saw characters or plots even that reflected that. So I thought, why not just write myself a leading role and drawing on … experiences of what it means to be a first generation Guyanese artist.”
“Back to One, it’s a six episode dramedy and it follows a budding 20 something Guyanese-Canadian actress who quits her nine to five to embark on a journey to become network TV’s biggest star. But along that road to success, she realizes her greatest achievement is disappointing the people that she needs the most.”
In terms of having the support in Canada to create her own series, DeSouza-Coelho highlighted the benefit of having several grant programs to take advantage of, but believes there’s still more room to help fund the work of artists in Canada.
“It’s great that we have a lot of grant systems in place to help underrepresented artists get their work off the ground, but I think that there’s so much more that the government, and other agencies and production companies and corporations, can really do from the top down,” DeSouza-Coelho said. “To shoot the teaser [for Back to One], it was a lot of self-funding, crowdfunding, which I’m very grateful for, but I think that it’s really hard for people who are just starting out in terms of creating to really get their foot in the door.”
“So I almost feel like those larger organizations need to take a step back and really think about how they can help the next generation of filmmakers.”
Her pursuit of this digital series also speak to the evolving way that we consume entertainment, and another avenue to up-and-coming creators to share their work.
“I think the way people are watching things these days has changed so much,” DeSouza-Coelho said. “A lot of people are watching things on their phone, whether it’s a YouTube video, or I’ve seen digital series … just on TikTok.”
“So I think the way people are watching things has changed. I think it’s only going to continue to change and that definitely benefits young filmmakers who are trying to get their work out.”
Whether in an acting capacity or creating her own project to star in, DeSouza-Coelho is certainly a Canadian talent we should look out for.
