In honour of International Women’s Day, Netflix Canada has highlighted a list of confident, talented, and badass Canadian women to keep an eye on throughout the popular streaming service as they dominate their way through the TV and film industry.

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Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

 

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Ramakrishna beat out 15,000 competitors to snag the lead role of Devi in Mindy Kaling’s new show Never Have I Ever.

The Mississauga native has been vocal about her goal of playing strong female characters on television and, eventually, in movies. She is a firm believer in the importance of representation and advocates for speaking up and taking your place in the world.

Anna Cathcart

 

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Born and raised in Vancouver, Cathcart won over the hearts of viewers as the nosey (but loveable) little sister, Kitty, in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Laysla De Oliveira

 

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Catch the Toronto-born De Oliveira in the latest Netflix sci-fi series Locke & Key, where she plays the villainous role of Dodge.

You might also recognize her from Stephen King’s 2019 thriller In the Tall Grass.

Genevieve Kang

 

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Kamloops, BC-native Genevieve Kang stars in Locke & Key as Jackie alongside De Oliveira. She plays a smart, girl-next-door love interest to the titular character Tyler Locke.

Vanessa Morgan

 

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Hailing from Ottawa, Morgan currently stars in Riverdale as Toni Topaz, a resident tough girl with a sweet side.

Zahra Bentham

 

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Toronto-based Bentham will be starring in the upcoming film Madam CJ Walker.

Aside from her work on the Netflix screen, Bentham collaborated with Canadian producer Jordan Evans to create a powerful video project for Black Lives Matter.

Taylor Russel

 

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This 25-year-old Vancouverite plays the role of the fearless teen genius Judy Robinson in the Netflix sci-fi series Lost in Space.

Russel has expressed how honoured she was to play a young, strong black woman on the show and has articulated how important it is to her that she has been seeing more young, racially diverse women in similar roles.

Taveeta Szymanowicz

 

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This triple threat from Toronto is a singer, dancer, and actress. Szymanowicz can be seen playing the role of young Deloris on October Faction and cheering her way to the top as RiRI Curtis on upcoming series Dare Me.

Isabelle Giroux

 

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Originally from Trois-Rivières, Giroux stars as Hélène in the upcoming Québec produced thriller film Jusqu’au déclin, Quebec’s first-ever Netflix original.

Jess Salgueiro

 

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Named as one of TIFF 2018’s Rising Stars, Salgueiro, from Winnipeg, is set to star as Isabelle in the upcoming series Tiny Pretty Things, which explores the darker side of an elite ballet academy.