About

Jackie Torrens (she/they) is a Halifax-based non-binary actor, writer & film director. They and producer Jessica Brown own & operate Peep Media, a multi-award winning production company based in Halifax. Their films for CBC, the Documentary Channel and Bravofactual include Edge of East, My Week on Welfare, Small Town Show Biz and their most recent, Bernie Langille Wants to Know Who Killed Bernie Langille, which premiered at Hot Docs in 2022 & won WIFT-AT’s Best Director, Best Documentary at the FIN Atlantic Film Festival and Best Atlantic Filmmaker from the Lunenburg Documentary Festival. Jackie has also done two documentary films for Telltale Productions, Free Reins (CBC POV) and the feature length Radical Age (Vision). Their award-winning scripted short Pickled Punk, about a fetus in a jar, was touted for its originality on the North American film festival circuit. Torrens was nominated for a Gemini for their writing on Trailer Park Boys. For 10 years, they were a regular contributor and guest host for CBC Radio. Torrens’ CBC radio documentaries include The Poet Laureate of Youth Now, which received an Atlantic Journalism Award & also Camp Mini Ha Ha, which received a CBC Award of Excellence. As a playwright, Torrens’ play Georama premiered at the National Arts Center. As an actor, theatre highlights include playing Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Katurian in Martin MacDonaugh’s Pillowman and Liz in Daniel MacIvor’s A Beautiful View at Neptune Theatre. Their first television acting gig was playing Wanda Mattice for five seasons on Rick Mercer’s Made In Canada, a role that nominated them for a Canadian Comedy award. Torrens has received an ACTRA nomination for their work in Andrea Dorfman’s Heartbeat, an ACTRA award for their performance in director X’s Across The Line, and a Canadian Screen Award Best Actress in a Drama nomination for their work as series lead Drucie MacKay in Thom Fitzgerald’s television series Sex and Violence.