Biography

1974 · Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Her father Rainer Salomaa is a minister from the Finnish town of Ii, Northern Ostrobothnia and her mother the Canadian born Claudia Ranchie owns an upholstery business.

She was born in Sudbury, Ontario. At four-years-old, she moved to Salmon Arm, British Columbia and later to Prince George to attend the University of Northern British Columbia to pursue a bachelor of science in forestry. Every summer, she worked in the bush doing such jobs as mapping, brush cutting trees, research and engineering. During her last summer break, she moved to Victoria to sing and play guitar at "open mikes" to be more creative.

While in Victoria, she took an acting workshop conducted by two of Vancouver's top casting directors on a whim. A few days later, both casting directors invited her to Vancouver for several auditions. She booked one of the roles and her career took on a new direction. She got an agent that week and booked a U.S. national commercial. It only took another few months for her to book a recurring role on a Fox Kid's show where she had the opportunity to learn the business and she has been learning ever since.

She has won two Leo Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a one-hour drama for her role of "Maya Kandinski" on The Collector (2004) in 2005 and was also nominated for a Leo Award for Best Lead Actress in a Feature Length Film for her role in the movie Firefight (2003) and for her role on Durham County (2007) in 2008. In 2006, she was nominated for Leading Actress in a Television Series at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Has an older sister Tammy (born 1971) with two children.