Late last month, Kandyse McClure won a 2024 UBCP/ACTRA Award for her work as fearless firefighter Kaia Bryant on Netflix’s wildly popular dramatic serial Virgin River. Audiences first met Kaia early on in season five, when she delivers a baby on the side of a mountain with Mel and Cameron consulting over FaceTime. From the jump, it’s clear that Kaia is an alpha woman: she’s confident, shoots back sipping tequila, and goes after what she wants, which by the end of that first episode is Preacher, played by Colin Lawrence – and the fact that she has a douche-canoe of an estranged husband and a high-octane career aren’t going to hold her back from getting what she wants. As season five ends, Kaia is Virgin River’s new fire chief, and Kaia and Preacher are building something new together. Things would be perfect if it weren’t for the fact that the body of an abusive asshole that Preacher buried seasons before in order to help Paige has just been unearthed. What does this blast from the past mean for Kaia and Preacher? We’ll get closer to some answers to this and many other questions when Virgin River returns for its highly anticipated sixth season on December 19. In this fascinating interview, Kandyse dishes on what she learned about fighting fires from the pros, where Kaia ends and Kandyse begins, her Virgin River scene partner Colin Lawrence, and that fan-favourite leap over the bar. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Powerhouse actress Sharon Taylor swings by the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about her role on Cross, the number one Amazon Prime series in the world. Cross stars Aldis Hodge as the famous detective from James Patterson’s books and, later, films starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry – but this is not your grandparents’ Alex Cross. Yes, this Alex Cross, like the Alex Crosses of yore, uses forensic psychology to identify murderers and bring them to justice. But the Alex Cross of 2024 is more of a fully fleshed human being. We see the fullness of his life as a Black man, father, widower, friend, lover, and detective in a white supremacist world upended by the murders of George Floyd and Sandra Bland. Cross on Prime is sexy, dark, addictive, and made even more delicious by the presence of the aforementioned Sharon Taylor. Sharon plays Oracene Massey, Cross’s immediate boss, which is a tough position to be in, because it’s hard to be Cross’ boss sometimes, especially when you’re very pregnant, and there’s a serial killer terrorising your city and your team. In this funny and fascinating conversation between long-time friends, Sharon and Sabrina delve into the joys and beautiful challenges of Sharon’s juicy role in this critically acclaimed thriller. NOTE: Crucial spoiler talk re: Cross occurs between 34:34 and 44:28. If you don’t want to be spoiled, skip ahead! Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

If you live in Canada, you’re probably familiar with Heritage Minutes. Produced by Historica Canada, these sixty-second short films educate viewers on fascinating or little-known stories from Canada’s history. Dozens of Heritage Minutes have been released since 1991, and many of them are iconic, like “Doctor Penfield, I can smell burnt toast!” and “You never know, it might be worth something someday” and especially “Both of you know I canna read a word.” The latest short film to join the pantheon of iconic Heritage Minutes tells the story of Mary Riter Hamilton, a brave Canadian painter who ventured into No Man’s Land in the aftermath of World War One. She bore witness to the destruction and devastation, painted what she saw, and suffered mentally and physically as a result. The haunting Heritage Minute – which stars Megan Follows (AKA Anne Shirley) as Mary – was written and directed by a Vancouver-based dynamic duo, Hayley Gray and Elad Tzadok, whose previous Heritage Minute told the story of Paldi, one of the most successful multicultural communities in our history. In this fascinating episode, get to know this trailblazing but little-known artist from the first half of the 20th century, as well as the dynamic duo who stepped up to tell her story. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment