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Ella Ballentine

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Ella Ballentine
Photo by Tim Leyes
Born
Ella Hope Ballentine

(2001-07-18) July 18, 2001 (age 23)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Ella Hope Ballentine[1] (born July 18, 2001)[2] is a Canadian actress of Sicilian and Hungarian descent. She began her acting career as a child actress on the Toronto stage, before appearing on television and in films. Ballentine's portrayal of Anne Shirley in the television film adaptation of the classic Canadian novel, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery was a critical success, receiving a Joey Award in 2016 and a Canadian Screen Award in 2018.

Career

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Ballentine was born in Toronto, Canada to parents Eva and Blake Ballentine. She is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto.[3] She began her acting career as a child actor on the Toronto stage production of The Railway Children, directed by Damian Cruden (2011) for Mirvish Productions.[4] She went on to appear in other stage performances, including the lead role in Numbers, at the Toronto Fringe Festival (2013),[5][6] and as Little Cosette / Young Eponine[7] in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables (2013), directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell for Mirvish Productions. Also in 2013, she was invited to the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction Gala as one of the performers to read from one of the five prize-nominated titles.[8]

Her first TV role came in a Hallmark Channel movie, Baby's First Christmas (2012), in which she played Karen, a primary character with Casper Van Dien in a lead role.[9] She took on her first film role in Atom Egoyan's feature, The Captive (2013), an official selection for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[10] She went on to share the screen with Susan Sarandon, Gil Bellows and Christopher Heyerdahl, in The Calling. In her next larger TV movie role for Lifetime's Clara's Deadly Secret[11] (2013), she played Kate[11] alongside co-stars Emmanuelle Vaugier and Richard Ruccolo.

In the 2015 feature film Standoff, Ballentine portrays one of the lead characters, Bird, a young girl who finds protection with an ex-soldier (played by Thomas Jane) from a hit-man (played by Laurence Fishburne). Although the movie received mixed reviews,[12] Rene S. Garcia, Jr. of Workingauthor.com wrote "And let’s not forget Ella Ballentine. I typically have no faith in child actors, but Ella strikes the perfect tone with her burgeoning independence, but emotional and physical dependency."[13] Eoin Friel from ActionElite felt that "Ella Ballentine almost steals the movie as Bird, the girl being pursued by Sade. The poor thing goes through an absolute nightmare and manages to never be the "annoying kid" in the film; she brings genuine heart to proceedings and is essential for Carter's redemption."[14] In an interview on Collider, Jane stated "[Ella] was pretty wonderful. She was fun, too."[15]

Ballentine's next big role cast her as co-lead in writer/director Bryan Bertino's horror film, The Monster (2016) with co-stars Zoe Kazan, and Scott Speedman. The Monster became an independent success and Ella received Fangoria magazine's 2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. "If horror movie performances were given Oscars, [Kazan] would be a shoo-in. Same with Ballentine. These two are so believable," wrote Staci Layne Wilson in Dread Central.[16] Bloody Disgusting, an American horror genre website,[17] called Ballentine "The Most Badass Horror Hero of 2016".[18] According to critics, in the horror movie, The Monster "the spooky-good Ella Ballentine"[19] came up as "a minor revelation."[20] According to the Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang "Ballentine gives a fine, fierce performance as a child wise beyond her years and unafraid of confrontation",[21] and Matt Donato from We Got This Covered writes "Ballentine rolls with the punches well for an actress her age, and this shouldn’t be understated".[22]

In 2016 Ballentine began her role as Anne Shirley in the three-part TV movie adaptation of the classic Canadian novel, Anne of Green Gables. L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (2016) followed by The Good Stars (2017),[23] then Fire & Dew (2017).[24] The other main characters were portrayed by Martin Sheen as Matthew Cuthbert and Sara Botsford as Marilla Cuthbert. Ballentine's performance again received critical success and landed her a Canadian Screen Award (2018). "Ballentine is charming as Anne," wrote Francesca Rudkin in the New Zealand Herald.[25] Louise Keller in Urbancinefile states "[Ballentine] is outstanding. Wide-eyed and innocent, she proffers just the right amount of worldliness as the orphan who asks for just two things as she prays for the first time. That is a lovely scene."[26] "I was absolutely delighted by actress Ella Ballentine’s portrayal of Anne Shirley. She was a worthy Anne." wrote Sarah M. Miduski.[27] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sheen says "I adore [Ella]...She’s an extraordinary talent...She’s remarkable. And she’s very funny as well. We have great fun on the set and she’s got a great sense of humor. She’s a joy to work with."[28]

In 2019 Ballentine plays the lead, Jackie in Nicole Dorsey's Black Conflux (2019) with Ryan McDonald as her co-lead. Stephan Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter praised Ballentine's "luminous acting".[29]

In 2021 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries cast Ballentine as Gemma, as one of the leads in their television movie Rise and Shine Benedict Stone, based on author Phaedra Patrick's novel of the same name.[30][31][failed verification]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 The Intergalactic Space Adventures of Cleo and Anouk Anouk
2013 Lunchbox Loser Missy
2014 The Captive Jennifer
The Calling Rose Batten
2015 Standoff Bird
2016 Against the Wild 2: Survive the Serengeti Emma Croft
The Monster Lizzy a.k.a. There Are Monsters
Milton's Secret Anna
2019 Black Conflux Jackie
2020 The Dark and the Wicked Young Girl

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Baby's First Christmas Karen Pendrell Television film
2013 Clara's Deadly Secret Kate Television film
Time Tremors Medie Reno Main role
2014 Reign Voland Girl Episode: "The Plague"
Saving Hope Rachel Stewart Episode: "The Other Side of Midnight"
2016 L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables Anne Shirley Television film
2017 The Good Stars Anne Shirley Television film
Fire & Dew Anne Shirley Television film
2018 The Detail Annabelle Episode: "It Takes a Village"
2021 Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone Gemma Stone Television film

Video games

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  • Time Tremors (2013), as Medie Reno

Stage

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Railway Children Francis Perks Roundhouse Theatre
2012 Numbers Felicia Factory Theatre
2013–2014 Les Misérables Little Cosette / Young Eponine Princess of Wales Theatre

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2014 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding Performance - Ensemble in a Musical[32] Les Misérables Nominated
2016 Joey Awards Young Actress - MOW[33] L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables Won
2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Supporting Actress[34][35] The Monster Runner-up
2018 Canadian Screen Awards Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series[36][37] L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: Fire & Dew Won
2019 Whistler Film Festival Best Performance in a Borsos Competition Film Award[38] Black Conflux Honorable Mention

References

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  1. ^ "Ella Ballentine Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Ella Ballentine Biography & Movies". Tribute.ca. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "Anne of Green Gables". ESA. February 13, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Railway Children (2011)". The Toronto Theatre Database.
  5. ^ "Toronto Fringe Festival", Ontario Arts Review, retrieved May 7, 2014
  6. ^ "Numbers portrays the Holocaust through dance sequences", The Canadian Jewish News, July 9, 2012, retrieved July 16, 2012
  7. ^ "Les Miserables, Toronto: Cast and Creatives", Les Miserables Official Website, archived from the original on June 7, 2014, retrieved May 8, 2014
  8. ^ "Hon. Hilary M. Weston and the Writers' Trust Present $60,000 Literary Award to Graeme Smith for Account of Afghan War" (Press release). The Writers' Trust of Canada. October 21, 2013 – via Cision.
  9. ^ Baby's First Christmas at IMDb
  10. ^ "Cannes Unveils 2014 Official Selection Lineup", Variety, April 17, 2014, retrieved May 8, 2014
  11. ^ a b Kondoloy, Amanda (October 10, 2013). "LMN Presents New Original Movie 'Clara's Deadly Secret'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 25, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  12. ^ "Standoff", Rotten Tomatoes, Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  13. ^ Garcia, René S. Jr. "Standoff (2016) Review", "Workingauthor", August 9, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017
  14. ^ Friel, Eoin. "Standoff (2016 Review)", The Actionelite, March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Radish, Christina. "Thomas Jane on Working with Laurence Fishburne for the Indie Thriller 'Standoff'", Collider, February 12, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Wilson, Stacy Jayne. "The Monster (2016)" Dread Central November 9, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  17. ^ Graser, Marc "Collective nabs Bloody-Disgusting" Variety September 12, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  18. ^ Squires, John. "‘The Monster’: The Most Badass Horror Hero of 2016 May Be a Child" Bloody Disgusting November 17, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  19. ^ Whitty, Stephen. "'The Monster' review: Zoe Kazan faces her fears" NJ.com November 9, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017
  20. ^ Lyles, Jeffrey. "The Monster review – dark and stormy horror is rarely this good" Lyles Movie Files. November 15, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  21. ^ Chang, Justin. "Mother-daughter drama raises goosebumps in 'The Monster'" Los Angeles Times November 10, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  22. ^ Donato, Matt "The Monster Review" Wegotthiscovered.com. November 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  23. ^ The Good Stars at IMDb
  24. ^ Fire & Dew at IMDb
  25. ^ Ruskin, Francesca "Movie review: Anne of Green Gables" The New Zealand Herald, July 7, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  26. ^ Keller, Louis. "Anne of Green Gables" Archived March 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Urbancinefile. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  27. ^ Miduski, Sarah M. "An 'Anne Of Green Gables' Superfan Watches The Latest Adaptation" "Biff Bam Pop" November 28, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  28. ^ Raynor, Madeline. "Martin Sheen on PBS' Anne of Green Gables, the 1985 version, and farm animals" Entertainment Weekly November 21, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  29. ^ Dalton, Stephen. "'Black Conflux': Film Review | TIFF 2019" Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  30. ^ Rise and Shine Benedict Stone at IMDb
  31. ^ Phaedra Patrick's website
  32. ^ "awards database". tapa.ca. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  33. ^ "Joey Awards" (PDF). Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  34. ^ "Never mind Oscar, here's the 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Nominees Ballot!". FANGORIA. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  35. ^ "The 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Winners and Full Results!". FANGORIA. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  36. ^ "Winners Announced: 2018 Canadian Screen Awards". eBoss. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  37. ^ "Canadian Screen Awards – Take Two". Northernstars.ca. March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  38. ^ "Whistler Film Festival Announces 2019 Winners". Whistler Film Festival. December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.

Further reading

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