Kat Harlton
Photo: Aidan Tooth
Actress Taylor Love is currently recurring in the new CTV Original comedy SHELVED following the eclectic staff and eccentric patrons in the underfunded Jameson branch of the Metropolitan Public Library.
Taylor portrays Sheila Boyd, a caring community leader and law student working part time at the Settlement Desk.
In SHELVED, Jameson Library has seen better days. While it’s often overlooked by head office, Wendy Yarmouth, the Branch Head, is constantly aiming to provide services for the community despite bureaucracy, underfunding, and a lack of resources. Alongside her unconventional staff, including Junior Librarian Jacqueline “Jaq” Bedard, Librarian Howard Tutt, and Senior Librarian and Assistant Branch Head Bryce deLaurel – who all have differing opinions on how to run the library – Wendy finds a way to give back to her community and create a “found family.”
I had the opportunity to chat with Taylor about her role and what’s next.
Kat: You’re in an exciting new CTV Original Series “Shelved”, how did you prepare for the role? Did you find any similarities between yourself and your character Sheila?
Taylor: I’m generally a really bubbly, expressive and boisterous person in real life, so toning it down a bit and being slightly more grounded than I am normally for the role of Sheila was something I had to prepare for. Not to say that she isn’t funny or lively – she is, and her particular humour meshes really well with the rest of the leads. But she is faaaaar more mature and professional than I am. She’s grown. I wish I had the composure she has in stressful situations. Her life experience is quite different from mine, especially academically and that really shows in her demeanour and how she approaches situations throughout the show. I love that amongst the comedic characters and the chaos that occurs at the Jameson Branch, Sheila is more of the straight (wo)man. And for me, tapping into a more grounded performance within a comedy was exactly the muscle I needed to flex at this point in my career.
Kat: Was there anything about your role that was particularly challenging?
Taylor: I think more at the beginning of shooting it was remembering that I’m on television and that I can’t get too wrapped up in all the comedy surrounding me. Not breaking while doing a take was way harder than I expected it to be! You can thank the writers for that – I was cracking up at the table reads before we ever got to camera. Sheila is a dream to play and I’m very lucky that I have such a great character with such a fleshed out background to work with, along with outstanding writers who allowed me the freedom to add to Sheila in ways I saw fit. The real challenge was keeping a straight face around Paul Braunstein – that was nearly impossible.
Kat: What were some of your favorite scenes to shoot and why?
Taylor: I shot the majority of my scenes with Chris Sandiford (Howard Tutt) and he’s just one of the funniest and sweetest people ever, as well as an extremely generous performer. He’s so talented and really was Howard. There’s a particular scene in the second episode where Howard and I cross paths outside of work and it was one of the funniest scenes to shoot. Not only was the writing hilarious but Chris’ delivery made the whole scene hysterical and it gave all of us in the scene a chance to play and improvise.
Kat: Is there a type of character that you’d like to portray, that you haven’t had the chance to yet?
Taylor: Oh now you’re gonna get me started! I’m a huge fantasy, adventure and sci-fi fan. Those genres introduced me to film and I’ve loved them since I was a kid. I love the world of Tolkien and Westeros, so anything aligning with the ‘Game of Thrones’ franchise or ‘The Lord of the Rings’ would be a literal dream come true. I already know how to ride a horse and have been doing so longer than I haven’t, so give me a horse, give me a sword, give me a bow and arrow, make me a warrior. I’m 100% there.
Kat: What can we expect from you for the rest of 2023?
Taylor: Along with ’Shelved’ (2023), you can hear me voicing the character of Joanna in ’Summer Memories’ (2022) created by the wonderful Adam Yaniv! Joanna is one of the best characters I’ve had the pleasure of playing, and the world of the show will take you back to your favourite summer memories from when you were 11. It’s such a feel good show. I have the best time letting my inner child flourish and I’m so happy audiences are loving the show so far!
Connect with Taylor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlovvvve