'A feeling of hope': N.S. actor, former politician Lenore Zann launches memoir

Nova Scotia actor Lenore Zann is pictured. (Source Lenore Zann)

Lenore Zann is writing another chapter in her story.

The Nova Scotia-based actor, who also worked as an elected official for 12 years, is now adding author to her resume.

“I decided to start writing it about two-and-a-half years ago when I lost my fifth election,” Zann tells CTV News Atlantic.

Zann was the N.S. NDP MLA for Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River from 2009 until 2019, becoming an independent member in her last year of provincial politics. From 2019 to 2021, Zann worked in federal politics as Liberal MP for Cumberland-Colchester. In the 2021 federal election she lost her seat in the House of Commons to Conservative Stephen Ellis.

“Believe me, 12 years in politics as a public official keeps you so busy that you don't have time to think about anything really, other than just getting up each day and facing the multitude of tasks that are before you,” explains Zann. “I kind of felt like I was on a speeding train with no end in sight. And then when I lost the election, I suddenly hit a wall where my body was speeding along, but I wasn't needed anymore to be doing all the things that I was used to doing. So I had to stop and figure out, well, what do I wanna do with my energy and my time now?”

After receiving some encouragement from friends, Zann started writing her memoir, “A Rogue’s Tale.” The title is a play on words from one of her most recognized acting roles: the Marvel comic book character Rogue in “X-Men: The Animated Series,” which aired from 1992 to 1996.

Zann says the summer and fall of 2021 was a dark time in her life both professionally and personally.

“That summer was the death of my sweet young niece Maia, who passed away at only 17 from cancer. She was such a great little fighter,” recalls Zann. “She passed away in June, and then a snap election was called at the end of August. The last thing I wanted to do was plaster on a smile and pretend to be happy, especially during a pandemic. I was grieving, and really trying to keep a lid on it. It was hell. A perfect storm of misery.”

That storm subsided when Zann was offered to reprise of her role as Rogue in the 2024 revival of “X-Men” on Disney+. The show received an Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program, and has been approved for two more seasons. Zann is currently recording her lines for season two.

“I'm doing much better. I've found that being able to do that performance and put my grieving and my emotions into it was also very cathartic for me, and very healing,” she says.

While the memoir touches on her public service, the majority of the book focuses on moving from Australia to Canada, and on Zann’s early acting career. Zann started at the age of 19, and earned hundreds of acting credits on screens both big and small. Show business introduced her to major names like Steven Spielberg, Sam Rockwell, and Mark Wahlberg.

The book also details her journey overcoming alcoholism in her thirties.

“There's a great deal of shame and self-hatred that goes on, and the behavior perpetuates it, it's a vicious cycle,” says Zann. “I decided that the braver choice was to live and face my fears. I started going to A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) and I really put the onus on my sobriety, and made that my number one focus in my life, and it really turned everything around. Within a year of that, I booked a lead role in a movie “Babyface” (1996) that ended up going to the Cannes Film Festival.”

Zann wanted to share that triumph over struggle with readers.

“I really hope that people come out of it with a feeling of hope that everybody has inside of us, the makings as you of a superhero. We all have certain aspects of ourselves that are very, very important to society, and that we can help others, and make the world a kinder place,” she says.

“A Rogue’s Tale,” published by Pottersfield Press, officially launches at Chapters Halifax on Oct. 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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