Student Graduation Speaker Sophia Cano on Finding Purpose Through Performance

For Sophia Cano, acting has always been more than a career aspiration – it’s been a lifeline.

Born in Manizales, Colombia and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Cano found solace in every artistic outlet she could access: dance, music, improv, and theatre. When life felt overwhelming, when her family faced health crises, and when her own mental health struggled, film became her refuge and other artists became her unseen support system.

Now based in Toronto, Cano has transformed that personal connection to storytelling into a driving force behind her work. At Toronto Film School, where she studied in the Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre program under instructors including John Tench, Matty McDonald, and Ingrid Hart, Cano not only honed her craft but discovered her deeper purpose. She wrote, produced, and directed her own silent short film Lost Souls, starred in multiple thesis films including Arturo, On The Front Porch, and Pink Psychedelic, and embraced every opportunity to grow as a multifaceted artist.

Fluent in Spanish and French, with training in tap, jazz, and ballet, plus vocal, guitar, and piano skills, Cano brings a rich artistic palette to her performances. But it’s her commitment to using her platform for advocacy – particularly around mental health and bullying – that truly defines her vision as an artist.

As she prepares to address her fellow graduates at TFS’s 2025 graduation, Cano reflects on what acting means to her, the artists who inspire her, and how she plans to create work that makes others feel less alone.

What made you want to pursue acting at TFS?

I decided to pursue acting at TFS because acting has always been more than a dream for me. It has been the thing that held me together when life felt like it was splitting apart.

As a kid, I used every artistic outlet I could find – dance, music, improv, theatre. Being on stage or in front of a camera gave me a place where I was allowed to be bigger than the version of myself than I knew I could be. It gave me a world where I could be loud, intense, emotional, messy, honest. It gave me a world where I could feel safe.

And when my family was going through major health crises, when I didn’t feel like I fit anywhere, when my mental health was crashing, films were the only thing that consistently allowed me to escape long enough to breathe. Other actors and artists didn’t know who I was, but they became my lifeline. That changed me. Now I want to do the same thing for someone else. I want to use my work to give someone the feeling I needed so badly: comfort, relief, belonging, possibility. And as I grow as an artist, I want to use my platform to advocate for mental health, and to help young people who struggle with feeling like they don’t belong.

When I chose to pursue acting, I realized I found my purpose. I chose TFS because it felt like the place where I could sharpen my voice, take all the pain and all the beauty I’ve lived, and use it to make work that actually matters.

If you had to choose one actor whose career path you’d like to model your own upon, who would it be and why?

Although I know she’s not primarily known as an actor, Lady Gaga‘s career is who I would want to model mine after. I admire that she has never conformed to what society expected her to be. She built a platform where people could be weird, funny, expressive, emotional; where people could be their truest selves without any shame. Where people could feel like they belonged. She’s opened up about her struggles, including bullying, and yet instead of letting it break her, she used it as fuel for her art and career and to empower others going through similar situations. I also love her versatility as an artist – she has proven she can excel in music, songwriting, acting, performance art, film, and still be deeply authentic in all of them.

That is what I want for my own career. I don’t want to limit myself to only one avenue of storytelling. I want to be able to explore music, film, acting, movement, performance to use every part of my artistry to tell stories that matter.

And beyond the work itself, I admire what she’s built outside of entertainment. The Born This Way Foundation is one of the clearest examples of what I believe art can lead to. It supports youth mental health, eliminates the shame around struggling, and turns vulnerability into community. That’s something I connect with deeply, because that’s a wound I’ve lived with too, and something I still continue to heal from.

I want a career that feels bigger than just roles, fame, or projects. I want to one day use my work and platform to help people feel seen, understood, and less alone. And yes of course as a performer, I want the range, the challenge, and the transformation, but as a human being, I want to leave an impact. And Lady Gaga has proven that you can do both.

What is the most important thing you’re taking away from your studies at TFS?

I came into this program wanting to learn how to act, but I’m leaving understanding that art is more than just creating something beautiful or putting on a show. It’s about human interaction; it’s about reaching people on a deeper level. It’s about using the parts of ourselves that hurt, the parts we’ve had to fight through, and turning that into work that heals. TFS didn’t just train my technique, it redefined my purpose. It taught me that my voice matters most when I use it to uplift others, to create work that makes people feel seen, understood, and less alone.

If you offered one piece of advice to an incoming student, what would that be?

There will be days here where you will question everything. Where you’ll wonder if you really have what it takes, or if the pain, exhaustion, and constant self-doubt is even worth it. Those moments are real. They happen to all of us. But when they come, don’t run from them. Remember why you chose this path in the first place. Remember the spark. Remember the version of you that fell in love with this craft before you even knew how this industry worked. Go deeper into the work. Stay curious. Stay inspired or find new ways to re-inspire yourself. Watch a movie that shook you once. Pick up a new skill. Take a risk and make something weird. Allow yourself to rediscover the joy. Remember your “why.” And don’t ever forget it.

What’s your favorite film and why?

La La Land is my favourite film because it combines all the things I love most, acting, music, and dance. It just feels like everything that inspired me growing up is all living in the same movie together. But it’s also the story itself. And although she is fictional, watching Mia struggle, fail, and keep trying anyway made me feel inspired. It reminded me that chasing this dream isn’t supposed to be clean or perfect. It showed me that sometimes the people who end up “making it” are just the people who keep going. In a way the character Mia is all of us. That inspires me to keep pushing and not let fear or doubt stop me.

On top of that, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling‘s performances are unbelievable in that film. They can literally tell a whole story in one tiny look. They make you feel everything from the heartbreak, the tension, the hope, the pressure, even when nothing is being said. That’s the level of emotional honesty is what I want to bring to my own performances one day. La La Land is like a reminder of why I wanted to do this in the first place.

What are your plans after graduation both immediate and long term?

Immediately after graduation, my plan is to continue training and working on my craft. I want to keep taking acting classes, working on set as much as possible, and building my portfolio and demo reel so I can start getting professional credits. I’m also planning to keep writing and creating my own short work because I’ve learned how powerful it is when we share work that is important to us or carries a message and how we don’t have to wait for someone to “pick us,” but instead create our own opportunities, and create work that matters to us.

Long-term, my goal is to not only work consistently as an actor, but to also eventually expand into other areas of the industry like music and producing. I want to be part of projects that have meaning, things that actually say something and make people feel something. I want to use my platform to advocate for mental health and to be honest about the struggles that so many people hide. I want to help tell stories that make people feel less alone and stories that inspire healing and create a film that brings these struggles to light IN FULL without any shame. My plan is to keep growing, keep creating, and keep building toward a career where I get to tell stories that hopefully make a difference.