Mom of a Critch Claire Rankin

 Claire Rankin says she"s waited "a really long time...to land something like this." The PEI native is talking about her role as Mary on Son of a Critch. How she landed the role -- after one of those remote zoom call auditions -- is just one of the stories she shares on this hour-long podcast. Season Four finds Mary -- and Rankin -- out of the kitchen and in the thick of it. On this Tuesday"s episode (CBC, CBCGem), Mary has a mid-life crisis. In a few weeks, she"s going back to school. Later, she"ll be getting back in touch with her beauty pageant roots. The challenges are all welcome for this versatile actress who began her stage career at Stratford performing in Shakespean classics such as Love"s Labour"s Lost, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. During her Hollwood years, Rankin found gest starring roles in everything from House, Monk and Ally McBeal to The Drew Carey Show. Those shows were all more fun and less stressful than one of her first LA jobs opposite a Hollywood legend, a "Wish" she wishes she had never made. Way more fun was working opposite Dick Van Dyke on Diagnosis Murder, especially getting a chance to sing with the TV legend between takes. Get to know Claire Rankin, this week on brioux.tv: the podcast.