Kamaia Fairburn is well known for her lead role as Piper Parish on Hulu’s Emmy nominated TV series, Holly Hobbie, of which she just wrapped seasons 3, 4 and 5 this year. She also just wrapped the first season of the brand new Nickelodeon series, Overlord & The Underwoods premiering October 29th 2021 on CBC (already available on Nickelodeon UK!) She is also currently working on her first animation project for Netflix.
Her work also includes Transplant (CTV), Endlings (Hulu), Star Falls (Nickelodeon) Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (Lifetime) as well as many others.
Kamaia is an avid bookworm as well as a budding track star in Toronto, Ontario. She enjoys using her platform to shine a light on animal rights as well as racial and gender equality.
Here’s 5 fast facts about Kamaia!
It took over 300 auditions before she booked her first lead role.
I have so many! But what I’ll never forget is when I booked my first lead for a Nickelodeon Show called Star Falls when I was thirteen. My best friend, sister and I were watching the office while I ate ramen noodles on my couch when I got a call from my agent. I picked up and he told me the news… I BOOKED IT! My bestie, sis, and I started screaming and jumping in the air!! I will never forget that moment. It took me about 300 auditions to get to that moment so it really solidified for me that persistence pays off. I’m glad I learnt that at such a young age.
Somehow, she survived THIS cringe-worthy moment:
Oh my goodness! One time I was at a PR event and I saw an actor that I thought was on one of my favourite TV shows. I walked up to her and said “OMG, I love you on *shows name* and she looked at me and said “I’m not on that show but you’re right, she’s amazing.” I was so embarrassed, I literally wanted the ground to open up and eat me. It was so embarrassing. That memory lives rent free in my head.
She has a healthy viewpoint about social media.
I think that body image is one of the biggest pressures for teens these days, especially teen girls. We see it everywhere, especially social media and it’s so detrimental to our mental health. My one hope for teens would be for them to realize that social media is fake, people only post what they want you to see. They use angles and filters and it just isn’t realistic. I really try not to feed into that and remind myself that I don’t need to be perfect on social media – I can be me! I hope it inspires others to do the same.
Canada is her home now, but she is from another place altogether.
I’m British! I was born in a small village in northern England and moved to Canada when I was one years old surrounded by cows and sheep. Which is funny because I’m such a city girl now but whenever I go back I feel so at home.
Her favorite food is a special dish from Vietnam.
Pho! Pho is by far my favourite food in life. I love it so much, I even started to make it at home myself with all the proper ingredients. I’m the only one in my family that likes it though, so I make enough for a small village and eat it for every meal for days at a time. Yum!
Selfie time!
**Currently in Florida surfing**
Kamaia’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/kamaiafairburn