Page 64 - 03_April-2025

THE WILD
WORLD OF
JENNIFER
WIGMORE
When her hair went grey, her career
took off — and she’s bringing the next
generation of actors along with her
by CORY SCHACHTEL
When it comes to what kind of life she’d lead, Jennifer
Wigmore never really had a choice. As the daughter
of Ron Wigmore — the first manager of the Jubilee
Auditorium, and a founder of Walterdale Theatre — she
wandered the hallowed halls of the city’s marquee
theatres before ever setting foot on stage.
“The Jubilee was kind of like my babysitter,” she says.
“So I don’t think it was any surprise that I became an
actor or an artist in all the ways that I am, and it’s totally
my father’s fault.”
64 EDify. APRIL.25
Actress and painter
Jennifer Wigmore
While she loved her theatrical upbringing,
her artistic urges didn’t fully emerge until
she enrolled in MacEwan University’s (then
Grant MacEwan Community College’s)
musical theatre program, which she calls
“still one of the best. I spent two years
there. And that’s where it all really began.”
Professionally, it all really began on the
Citadel stage, where she played Marian
Paroo in The Music Man, then Emily
Webb in Our Town. She ended up “bouncing
around” the country, to Vancouver and
then Toronto, where she started a film
and television career that would be the
envy of any actor. But a closer look at her
credits shows a gap where Wigmore’s 40s
started — a depressingly common reality
for women actors, but one she wouldn’t
let bring her down.
“I had a casting session that went very
sideways. I felt very disrespected, and
my time was abused,” she says. “I just
thought, is this what it’s going to be like?
Because acting requires a lot of your-
self, and if you’re upset and angry at the
industry, or you feel like you’re not being
seen, those things translate into your
acting. So, I literally phoned my agent
photos KRITSTINA RUDDICK