Cast of 'Wedding Every Weekned,' 'A Godwink Christmas,' 'The Nine lives of Christmas'

Kimberley Sustad | Biography 2021

Sustad was nominated for the 'Leo Award' twice in 2019

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : September 03, 2021

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Kimberley Sustad is a Canadian actress who rose to fame with her appearance in the television series 'Spooksville' (2013). 

Who is Kimberley Sustad?

Kimberley Sustad began her professional acting career with a short film titled Live Henry Live in 2009. She then started appearing in TV movies and series. She is known for her roles in TV movies, including A Bride for Christmas (2012), The Nine Lives of Christmas (2014), and A Godwink Christmas (2018). Sustad is also popular for her appearance in television series and mini-series such as Spooksville (2013), Travelers (2016), and Unspeakable (2019).

Early Life and Education

Kimberley Sustad was born 27 May 1980 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Growing up, she admitted herself as a tomboy. Riding horses and shooting hoops at 5'10" were her favorite pastimes during her young age.

Early Career

Sustad debuted her career in acting in 2009 when she appeared in the short film Live Henry Live, directed by Alec Whittle.

She subsequently began her journey in acting doing theater in Seattle. One day, when an acclaimed screenwriter and director Andy Tennant appeared in Seattle, Sustad’s agent reached out to him hoping to book a role for Sustad in his television series. She immediately got the series regular role but the series did not air, Sustad told about her early career in an interview with My Devotional Thoughts in February 2018. She further revealed that she ultimately got a role in the TV movie Thunderballs.

After she started working for the TV movie, Sustad quickly started making more money in just a couple of weeks of filming. She soon realized that she would not be able to make sufficient money for living through theater so she started focusing on her career in film and television. 

Theatre Career

During her early career, Sustad performed in a couple of theatre productions. In mid-2012, she performed in the role of a young bride in Lewis Black's play, One Slight Hitch at A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle. Other cast members included Joe Grifasi, R. Hamilton Wright, Marianne Owen, and Kirsten Potter. In early 2013, she played Gloria in Marc Camoletti's Boeing-Boeing at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver. She played alongside Moya O'Connell and Colleen Wheeler. 

Movies

Sustad appeared in many TV movies, mostly in Hallmark Channel Original Movies. In 2011, she appeared as Nikki in the comedy TV movie Thunderballs, aired on Spike network. And, in 2013, she appeared as Bethany in Lifetime Television's TV movie Baby Sellers. That year, she was also cast in the role of Christie in Benjamin Ratner's film Down River.  She was also seen in the 2020 movie Spotlight on Christmas, written by Juliana Wimbles and directed by Ali Liebert.

‘A Bride For Christmas’

Sustad portrayed the role of Vivian Patterson in the 2011 Hallmark Channel's romantic comedy TV movie A Bride for Christmas, alongside Arielle Kebbel and Andrew W. Walker. 

A Bride for Christmas follows Jessie Patterson (played by Kebbel), who abandons her third engagement at the altar. Jessie decides not to have serious relationships until she finds “the one.” Meanwhile, a charming but single man Aiden MacTiernan (played by Walker) tries to win a bet by convincing a woman recovering from a broken engagement to marry him by Christmas only four weeks away. Jessie is the target of Aiden’s bet, but he eventually falls in love with her.

Sustad portrays the role of Vivian Patterson as Jessie’s sister, roommate, interior design company partner, and her closest confidant in A Bride For Christmas. The film was directed by Gary Yates and written by Barbara Kymlicka. 

‘The Nine Lives of Christmas’

She then appeared in Hallmark Channel's 2014 comedy-drama TV movie The Nine Lives of Christmas, adapted from Sheila Roberts' 2011 book of the same title. In the movie, she starred in the lead role of Marilee White in The Nine Lives of Christmas, alongside Bardon Routh who played Zachary Stone. The movie chronicles a handsome fireman Zachary Stone who does not believe in love or commitment decides to stay single in his life. But when a stray cat shows up at his door, he adopts the cat and slowly starts loving the companionship with the cat.

Stonr's new pet brings him into contact with an animal lover and veterinary student Marilee White, who teaches him how to take care of his cat. Marilee keeps her own cat secret from her landlord. She also works in a pet supply store while she goes to school. After meeting Marilee, Stone and Marilee instantly develop chemistry, which challenges Zachary’s decision to remain a confirmed bachelor. Zachary also realizes that the single life is not as satisfying as he thought. Marilee also lwasn’t ready to accept changes in her life at first. However, they eventually get closer because of their cats.

When Sustad was asked if she also loved cats in her real life, she said, “I love cats, but I am so allergic to them.” She added, “My cat in that movie had so much hair so maybe my performance was so great because I was drugged up on antihistamines. {laughs} But I do love cats and I think they are very unique animals.”

The Nine Lives of Christmas was directed by Mark Jean and written for the screen by Nancey Silvers. 

Other Hallmark Movies From 2016 to 2019

Sustad went on to appear in Hallmark movies in the subsequent years. In 2016, she played the role of McKenna in All Things Valentine and Isabel in Hearts of Christmas. The following year, she appeared as Delia in Walking the Dog. In 2018, she then appeared as Jessica in Cooking with Love and Paula Mayer in A Godwink Christmas. She then played the role of Marianne Dashwood in the 2019 TV movie Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen, alongside Erin Krakow and Luke Macfarlane.

'Wedding Every Weekend'

In 2020, Sustad shared the screen with Paul Campbell in Wedding Every Weekend. It is the first movie on the Hallmark Channel to feature a lesbian wedding. The story follows the lead roles attending four weddings every weekend in a row and it turns out to be more than a friendship between them. The movie is written by Julie Sherman Wolfe and directed by Kevin Fair. The duo was again seen together in Christmas by Starlight the same year.

‘The Nine Kittens of the Christmas’

Sustad will be reprising her role of Marilee White alongside Brandon Routh in the upcoming Hallmark movie The Nine Kittens of the Christmas. It is set to release on 25 November 2021. It will be the sequel of the 2014 comedy-drama film The Nine Lives of Christmas. 

Onscreen Chemistry with Paul Campbell

Sustad has co-starred with actor Paul Campbell in several Hallmark movies such as A Godwink Christmas, Wedding Every Weekend, and Christmas by Starlight. Their fans adore them for their dynamic onscreen chemistry. Campbell credits Hallmark's working style for dynamic and realistic chemistry between him and Sustad in movies. He also has appreciated Sustad for her acting talent. Campbell told Media Village in August 2020 that Sustad was the right partner to play his ‘wedding buddy’ in the movie Wedding Every Weekend.

Television Series and Mini-Series

Sustad appeared in an episode of the action-crime drama series Alcatraz in 2012. She shared in an interview that she drove from Seattle to Vancouver for her first television show, in which she only had one-liners like “White wine, please.” The same year, she appeared in a recurring role of Brooke Cross in the action-adventure drama series Primeval: New World. She also appeared as Amanda Willer in the horror fantasy drama Supernatural in 2012. She appeared in another episode of Supernatural in the role of Betty in 2020.

In 2013, Sustad appeared as Katie in the crime drama Motive and Patsy in the sci-fi thriller drama Continuum. She then appeared in a recurring role of Madeline Templeton in the action-adventure fantasy series Spooksville between 2013 and 2014. In 2014, she appeared as a gorgeous young woman in the fantasy comedy-drama series Witches of East End. 

The same year, she appeared in Season 1 Episode 8 titled ‘Dark of Night’ of the mystery drama series Signed, Sealed, Delivered, in which she portrayed the role of a rape victim Melissa. The episode aired on 8 June 2014 on Hallmark Channel. Sustad describes her role in the series as one of her dramatic roles for Hallmark. Describing the role she played in the series, she shares, “When I got offered that…I mean, she gets raped, she has a child from that situation and her husband thinks she cheated on him. Then she needs a kidney replacement, and she dies. I was like, “Wow!””

The following year, she appeared as Sally Aldridge in the mystery crime mini-series The Gourmet Detective. 

Between 2015 and 2016, Sustad played the role of Kelly Hadler in ten episodes of the crime drama series The Romeo Section, created by Chris Haddock. In 2017, she appeared in the role of an interviewer in the comedy television mini-series The Real Stephen Blatt. She also appeared in two episodes of the mystery television mini-series Emma Fielding Mysteries. She then appeared in the role of Caroline Moss in a couple of episodes of Chesapeake Shores in 2018. 

‘Travelers’

In 2018, she got a significant role in the sci-fi mystery drama Travelers, in which she played the role of Joanne Yates in seven episodes. Sustad joined the cast of Travelers in its third season which was released on Netflix on 14 December 2018. The series follows the story of surviving humans from the future (hundreds of years from now), who discover the technique of sending consciousness back through time, into people of the 21st century.

In Travelers, Sustad portrayed the role of the FBI agent who is assigned to be the liaison between the FBI and the Traveler Team.

‘Unspeakable'

In 2019, she appeared in a recurring role of Caitlyn Hartley in the historical drama mini-series Unspeakable.

 Based on the non-fiction books ‘Bad Blood: The Unspeakable Truth’ by Vic Parsons and ‘The Gift of Death: Confronting Canada’s Tainted-Blood Tragedy’ by Andre Picard, the eight-part mini-series chronicles a tainted blood scandal of the 1980s. It follows the emergence of HIV and Hepatitis C in Canada in the early 1980s and the tragedy that ensued after thousands of people were infected by tainted blood. About the mini-series, Sustad said,  “ It was the scandal of the Red Cross distributing tainted blood infected with AIDS to a lot of people in Canada. And then, inevitably, these people died from that. It’s based on true stories, and it’s a really dramatic script.”

More Television Works

The same year, she guest-starred as Helen Foley on The Twilight Zone and Lana Brown on Morning Show Mysteries. In 2020, she appeared as Julia in an episode of the romantic comedy-drama series You Me Her.

Awards and Nominations

Sustad was nominated for the 'Leo Award' twice in 2019, under the category 'Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Television Movie,' for her role in A Godwink Christmas (2018) and the category 'Best Supporting Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series,' for her role on Unspeakable (2019).

Husband and Children

Sustad tied the knot with Scot Sustad on 9 August 2004. Scot is an entrepreneur who co-founded Vancouver-based ventures Inbox Booths, Brands For Better, and Digital Hot Sauce Inc. Previously, Scot was the co-founder of Student Lawn Services Inc., The Arrival Store Inc., and Adventure Teaching. He also taught the English language from August 2005 to April 2008.

The couple welcomed their first daughter, Vienna, on 12 June 2015 and their second daughter, Aria Royal, on 24 May 2017.

Sustad frequently travels around the world and also lived in various countries and states. She has lived in Ecuador, South Korea, Taiwan, four states of the United States, and three provinces of Canada.