Role ignites new passion in actress

Vancouver-raised Carrie-Anne Moss sees her part in Normal as a 'gift'

Carrie-Anne Moss doesn't want to sound unmotivated -- or, for that matter, old-fashioned --but the Vancouver-raised actor who karate-kicked her way to fame via the Matrix movies says she's happy being a full-time mother.

"I have to be one of the most motivated people in the world, so I hope it doesn't sound like I'm happy to sit back and watch the world go by. I'm just very careful about the kind of work I take on right now because I'm so happy being a full-time mum to my kids. If I'm going to work, it has to be special."

In other words, Moss thought Carl Bessai's script for Normal had a little something extra -- something that coaxed her out of her California home spread and got her back up north for a visit to Vancouver Island.

"We shot very fast in Victoria and that made it kind of easy -- from a family, practical perspective," she says.

From a dramatic standpoint, Normal represented a much different challenge. A three-pronged story of loss, guilt and recovery, Normal shows us several characters trying to readjust to "normal life" after a car crash claims the life of a young, promising athlete.

Moss plays the grieving mother Catherine while Callum Keith Rennie holds down the fort with hefty doses of male pathos as an alcoholic college prof who had a hand in the crash. To complete old homecoming week, the Vancouver cast is rounded out by Air Bud star and Transamerica standout, Kevin Zegers.

"It was great to be around so many great people, and to come home is always a treat if you can make it work with a shoot," says Moss, who recently starred in the Kelowna-shot Fido and the Hamilton-shot Snowflake.

"I don't really look at work from a nationalist viewpoint. If there's great work anywhere, you want to be a part of it. And good work happens all around the globe -- but that doesn't mean I'm not proud to be Canadian. I'm really proud to be Canadian," she says.

"And Carl [Bessai] is such a great person to work with. I loved Carl's script and I loved him. To be completely honest --this may sound a bit effusive --but I think this part actually got me excited about acting again."

Moss says Bessai has a way of creating intimacy on set that helps actors find their emotional bearings. For a writer-director so committed to telling character-driven stories -- such as Johnny, Lola, Emile, Severed and most recently, Unnatural and Accidental -- finding the right emotional tone to carry the viewer through highly detailed character arcs is a big piece of the puzzle.

Moss says it comes to Bessai naturally because he's a born listener and all-around good person who has a bottomless well of empathy. The actress says it all came in handy during her recent turn as Catherine because as a real-life mom, taking on the role of a grieving parent was one of the last places she wanted to visit.

"Look, I just turned 40 and I have to say, I feel really good about it, but it's not to say that thoughts of mortality don't enter the picture. You think about it all the time because of your kids, and that's hard enough . . . but to imagine losing one of your own -- it's indescribable," she says.

This movie made me go there, and I can't tell you how much I've gained as a result. I really think I've been given a gift: I live in the moment now," she says.

"When The Matrix came out, I didn't live in the present at all. I had nothing to ground me and for a while, it was all a little overwhelming. I didn't even feel how overwhelming it was because I had no reference point," she says.

"Now, I can see where I've come from and I that, in itself, is grounding because it puts things into place, and puts you back in touch with yourself. The whole journey starts to make sense at an emotional level, and hey -- what else is there?"

Moss says since she's rediscovered her passion for acting, she's wrapped three movies back to back, including Normal, Disturbia and Fireflies in the Garden.

"My acting coach has been busy . . . and I've been getting migraines . . . but it's all been good. My heart has never felt so wide open."

Normal screens as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival today at 11:30 a.m.

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