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The many sides of Grace Marks in Alias Grace

Canadian actor Sarah Gadon discusses her latest role as Grace Marks in Alias Grace, a CBC-TV adaptation of the famous Margaret Atwood book.
CBC Radio ·
Alias Grace star Sarah Gadon with Tom Power in the q studio in Toronto, Ont. (Melody Lau/CBC)

Sarah Gadon is a Canadian actor you might know from films like Denis Villeneuve's Enemy or David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Mind, or maybe you remember her from the CBC-TV seriesBeing Erica. Gadon's latest role has her starring as the notorious Grace Marks in Alias Grace. 

The character, who serves as the protagonist of Margaret Atwood's famous book that the TV series is based on, tells the story of a real woman. Marks was an Irish immigrant to Canada who was convicted of murder in the 19th century for potentially being involved in the brutal killing of her employer and a fellow servant. In Atwood's book, as well as the series, Marks is a complicated character with many different sides and narratives, which proved to be a rewarding but challenging task for Gadon.

Today, Gadon joins host Tom Power to talk about Alias Grace, working with Atwood and writer Sarah Polley, and finding complex, three-dimensional roles for women in film and TV. 

— Produced by Shannon Higgins

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