SONYA SALOMAA
Sonya Salomaa was born in Sundburry, Ontorio. At 4 years-old she moved to Salmon Arm, British Columbia to pursue a bachelor of science in forestry. During her last summer break she moved to Victoria to sing and play guitar at 'open mikes'. While in Victoria, she took an acting workshop conducted by two of Vancouver's top casting directors. A few days later they invited her to Vancouver for several auditions. Sonya got an agent and booked a US National commercial. It only took another few months for Sonya to book a recurring role on a FOX Kid's show where she had the opportunity to learn about the business, and she has been learning ever since. Recently, Sonya joined the cast of the hit series The Guard. Sonya Salomaa has won two Leo Awards for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Maya on The Collector in 2005 and was also nominated for a Leo Award for Best Lead Actress for her role in the movie Firefight in 2004 and for her role on Durham County in 2008. Sonya played the lead female role of Maya Kandinski in the hit series The Collector, seen on City TV across Canada and in 66 countries worldwide. Her character has been at the mercy of forces beyond her control all her life, and we see increasing evidence of this as the series progresses. We see Maya go through the torment of a recovering heroin addict and struggle through her growing feelings for her unrequited love and sordid past. At a particularly moment in the beginning of Season 2, she overdoses, and the Devil intervenes putting her soul into a new body even as her old one dies. This switch isn't quite as clean as the Devil might wish, however, and Maya continues to be haunted not only by visions of her original self as an adult, but also by the child that she was.
