From Winnipeg to being cast on Frasier 

Jess Salgueiro’s first steps on her acting journey weren’t taken because she pined to be a performer. Instead, her mother put her into dance classes because she was a “very hyper child who just wouldn’t stop moving,” the actress told Flatlander over Zoom. 

The more classes Salgueiro took, the more she grew to love performing. Soon, she wanted to become an actress. “But I didn’t know if that was possible. Because there weren’t many people in the industry growing up in Winnipeg.”

Salgueiro’s last decade has proven there was no need for her initial skepticism. After starring in episodes of The Strain, Man Seeking Woman, and Orphan Black, Salgueiro landed recurring roles in Workin’ Moms, The Boys, and Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters. Her most prominent part, though, has been in the Paramount+ revival of the classic sitcom Frasier, in which she plays Eve, a bartender and friend of the titular character’s son, Freddy. 

“Frasier was the biggest left turn for me,” admits Salgueiro. “I did not expect to be on a multi-cam sitcom. But it has been so fun. It was a welcome surprise.”

After deciding that she wanted to become an actor, Salgueiro looked to get involved in the industry in any way possible. She signed up to play extras in movies shooting in Winnipeg and did any community theatre play that would have her. “I was pretty driven as a kid. By the age of 13, I was really doing a lot of this on my own. My older sisters would drive me everywhere in Winnipeg.”

After spending a year at the University Of Winnipeg, majoring in political science, one of her dance teachers advised Salgueiro to audition for the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto. “She told me that I needed to go somewhere with more opportunities. I auditioned, got in, started studying in Toronto, and that’s where I really began my career.”

While she has repeatedly gone to Los Angeles in an attempt to land roles in television and film, Salgueiro calls Toronto “a good place” for emerging talent. “50 per cent of American television and films are shot in Canada. They often hire locals for smaller parts because they get tax credits. I really benefited from that.” Salgueiro describes her ascent as follows: she starred in a play, then got cast on a television show from the play, adding, “It grew slowly. I got two lines on a show. Then, two scenes. Then two episodes.”

Salgueiro landed her part in Frasier after auditioning for it in Toronto. “Then I got a call asking me to go to Los Angeles to do a chemistry read with Kelsey Grammar,” said Salgueiro, adding that filming each new episode can feel like working in a pressure cooker. She compares it to doing “an under-rehearsed play” every week, as they rehearse for just four days before performing in front of a live studio audience of 300 people. But she’s repeatedly reminded of how lucky she is. “I’m working with TV legends like Kelsey and Jim Burrows. We shoot on the Paramount lot, which is full of old Hollywood memorabilia. It’s thrilling and terrifying all at the same time.” 

While she’s now lived in Toronto for nearly two decades and repeatedly works from Hollywood, returning to Winnipeg helps to keep her feet firmly on the ground. “It’s such a charming and endearing place. I love going back home because it’s the place where I used to dream about what my future could be. Going back there puts me back in this childlike place where I feel like the sky is still the limit.”