Ask any little girl what she wants to be when she grows up, and at least until the advent of the term "influencer," odds are many would say "a movie star." When young Brigitte Kingsley (Bee, to those closest to her) told her parents that same blue sky wish, luckily for her, they were more understanding than most.
"I always wanted to become an actor, ever since I was a kid," she remembers. "I'd bug my parents, and they were always like, 'When you get to high school, if you still want to do it, we'll support you 100 percent.'" This open-mindedness paved the way for the ambitious Brigitte, who over the coming years found herself starring in national commercials and youth television programming in the Toronto area. If you lived in Canada or near the border during the 1990s, you may have witnessed some of Brigitte's early work, such as her role as host of Game Nation, her appearances in several popular OXY skincare commercials, and her guest star turn on the Saturday morning teen comedy Student Bodies. In her early years, she was a true working actor, taking gigs when and where she could and building a CV that would eventually lead to starring roles on networks
like MuchMusic and Space, now CTV Sci-Fi Channel.
Today, the 50-year-old actor, writer, model, trainer, and producer has expanded upon that early dream, founding a production company with her husband, Andrew Cymek, where they put their passions toward projects that truly speak to them. And whether looking at her body of work on film or the gym floor, one thing's certain: Brigitte never lets life, or uncertainty, slow her down.
Early Takes
As any woman growing up in the ’90s will remember, the “ideal body” that was splashed across television screens and in movie theaters was less than healthy, to say the least. And being a fixture of the Hollywood North machine meant that Brigitte was often subject to scrutiny that would not be tolerated today—at least in most circles.
“When I was 16 years old, I got fired from a job because I was a size 2, and I was a little too chubby for the director,” she recalls. That meant excessive cardio, bare-bones diets, and trying to fit into an impossibly small size 00, a difficult task for already-petite Brigitte. “I think the fitness trends of the ’90s definitely got into my head,” she admits.
“I think the fitness trends of the '90s definitely got into my head.”
Thankfully, as she grew older and became more aware of her body and its needs, Brigitte developed a better relationship with exercise, and building muscle and fueling her body correctly with a varied diet became her number-one goal. At the same time, she was honing her craft through the theater program at Toronto’s York University while teaching herself the business of the “biz” outside of her lectures and workshops. And though she loves her career, she confesses it’s always been a tough balancing act. As she says, “[My body] is something that has always been tied into my career.”
These days, Brigitte has found herself in a groove, working on spec scripts with Andrew and bringing their collective vision to life on film. While much of their body of work leans toward the Hallmark-style world of holiday magic and heartfelt romance, Brigitte embraces every opportunity that comes her way. Just prior to her STRONG cover shoot, the duo had been subject to an especially hectic production schedule that found them everywhere from Alberta to Barbados shooting their upcoming feature-length film, Shore of Secrets, a romantic adventure that Brigitte counts as the biggest and most influential movie they’ve worked on to date. The privilege of traveling to exotic and faraway locales is one of the biggest perks of her career, she admits, one that she promises to never take for granted.
Brigitte has worked with well-known talent such as Ryan Paevey—star of General Hospital and more than a dozen Hallmark Channel movies—seen here in a still from her latest project, Shore of Secrets, directed by her husband, Andrew.
“It was just so incredible [filming in Barbados],” she shares. “Being able to shoot by the ocean, it was just so beautiful. We live in the Toronto area, so we’ve shot in a lot of local places, and we tend to do the small town movies where they have a winter theme or Christmas landscape— which is great, but it’s nice to change it up.”
One big benefit of owning a production company is being able to cultivate a team that is more than just a set of coworkers—Brigitte and Andrew truly consider the on-set community they’ve built a family. And though it was far from a vacation, having the chance to bond with their crew in a tropical environment was a career highlight for them all. “There was one night where we were all just in the ocean, floating around, and I was like, ‘Oh, how wonderful it is to have these moments,’” she reflects. “It’s about making the movie, and it’s about having this cool product in the end, but it’s really about the people that you’re sharing it with.”
Expanding Her Horizons
Early in her career, Brigitte learned that if she wanted to make the movies she wanted to make, she needed to be behind the wheel—hence the partnership between her and Andrew in both life and business. “He’s taught me so much, and I became a writer because of him,” says Brigitte of her husband. “He’s encouraged me to take those steps and to learn how to do it. It’s been great to have a partner that I’ve been able to build something with.”
Her foray into writing led her to pen a book that’s part memoir, part self-help guide called Take Two: The Midlife Makeover, which will be available later this year on Amazon and is available now for preorder on brigittekingsley.com. Leveraging her experience as an actress, Take Two speaks to women in their forties and beyond who feel stuck and can’t quite escape the thought that their life is entering its denouement. It’s a feeling that she knows all too well: when she hit 40, Brigitte was surprised at her lack of energy, and frustrated that the same workouts she had been following for ages no longer seemed to have the same effect.
“I was down for a couple of years,” she admits. “I love acting and I love my career, but I didn’t know how to handle this transition.” Much like when she took the reins on her career years prior, Brigitte threw herself into research mode, studying to become a certified personal trainer so that she could speak with authority on the changes her body was undergoing. With this knowledge, she melded her tongue-in-cheek writing voice with real-world know-how to deliver a body of work that she’s proud to put her name on. “[In the book] I use real-life stories and the metaphor of filmmaking to show how midlife isn’t a decline; it’s a chance to reset the scene,” she explains. In the end, she hopes that it will help empower women to let go of what is holding them back and reclaim their confidence at any age, using the tools she’s collected over the course of her career.
On set with Andrew (above), and a scene from Shore of Secrets (right). Head to Brigitte’s Instagram to learn more about her work and preorder her upcoming book, Take Two.
Stepping into Her Future
Building on her newfound training knowledge, and with the help of her coach, Jac Phillips, Brigitte has settled into a gym routine that fits her lifestyle—even when there’s no gym in sight. The social aspect of her personal fitness program, supported by a group of girlfriends (“My best friends from primary school and high school,” she notes) who she trains with online several times a week at the crack of dawn, ensures that she is consistent and always looking forward to her sweat sessions. Arm workouts count as one of her favorites, and while she will do them begrudgingly, she shudders at the thought of a tough leg circuit. Long, leisurely walks, which she relishes for their meditative qualities and functional benefits, have also taken center stage in her schedule these days, but she always carves out time to lift heavy, paired with light cardio.
“Midlife isn't a decline; it's a chance to reset the scene.”
“It’s been a good formula at this stage in my life, which is very different from what I used to do,” she says. “I was so focused on hard cardio and burning calories and all that stuff, because it’s what I did when I was young. But now I’ve taken a step back to focus on my mental health. And it’s working.”
Stronger and more confident than ever before, with a support system that’s cheering her on at every turn, Brigitte is entering her fifties with a clear purpose: continuing to create content she’s passionate about and spreading the word about all the wonderful things women in midlife are capable of.
“What matters is the journey, the people, the experience, and so this next part of my life is just doing what I love and sharing it with others,” she says, adding, “If you just focus on being you, every day becomes a joy, not a job.”
Written by Rachel Debling, Editor-in-Chief
Photography by Paul Buceta
Hair and Makeup by Lori Fabrizio
Set photos courtesy of Good Soldier Films Inc.
