Catherine Lough Haggquist is an Actress & Entrepreneur who has built a legacy of artistic sustainability and versatility to go along with tireless support for the industry at large.

She can currently be seen in the final season Motherland: Fort Salem as “Petra Bellweather,” airing on Freeform in the US & ABC Spark in Canada.

When Catherine is not acting, she can be found working on her entrepreneurial businesses BizBooks & The Drama Class.

In this interview, Catherine answered my call to share:

• What it was like to film the emotional final season of Motherland: Fort Salem
• What she will miss most about playing Petra Bellweather
• How storytelling first inspired her to become an actress
• Why entrepreneurship gives her a different kind of purpose
• Her best advice for artists, fans & anyone chasing a creative life
• So much more

Connect with Catherine: Website, Facebook, Instagram, BizBooks, The Drama Class

Connect with Motherland: Fort Salem: Facebook, Instagram

Catherine Lough Haggquist
Motherland: Fort Salem, Photo Credit: Disney Enterprises

1. You are currently starring in the final season of Motherland: Fort Salem. What was filming this final season like? Filming the final season of Motherland: Fort Salem was bittersweet. On the one hand, it was very sad to know that we were coming to the end of our time inhabiting this incredible world as these complex and interesting characters, but on the other hand, we were all so grateful for the opportunity to come back together to craft what we hope will be a very satisfying ending for our loyal, devoted and loving fans.

In a business where things can and have been cancelled during the commercial break, that we were given the gift of knowing we would end, is something I remain truly grateful for.

2. What are going to miss most about the show? In addition to the friends and family I have made on this journey, I am truly going to miss “Petra.” She was one of the most interesting, complex and powerful characters I have had the privilege of portraying and I appreciated the many layers of relationship and responsibility that she was written to navigate.

3. What was the best part about being on Motherland: Fort Salem? The best part of being on Motherland: Fort Salem was to be able to contribute to the emerging conversations about difference and power.

Over our three seasons, the number of times that our storylines on the show echoed or foreshadowed global conversations about similar or related topics made it feel like our work became allegorical in service to exploring how to navigate our current challenging times.

Catherine Lough Haggquist (2nd from left)
Motherland: Fort Salem, Photo Credit: Disney Enterprises

4. Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories from filming that you can share with us? The behind the scenes information that I am happy to share is that the directors, producers and crew on Motherland: Fort Salem were just as devoted to bringing these stories to the screen as the actors.

And their commitment was tested regularly...through Taylor’s car accident, COVID challenges, schedule changes and other logistical issues, this team pulled together with professionalism and humor like nothing I have ever experienced before.

I will miss working with them just as much as the faces you see on screen.

5. Who or what inspired you to become an actress? I remember clearly enjoying the rush of “performing” when I first started school and because I was able to read fluently, I was allowed to read the story to the rest of the class during “Story Time."

Having an audience’s complete and undivided attention, leaning forward to find out what would happen next in the story was addictive and, while I didn’t know it then, I would continue to search for that same feeling throughout school until finally I learned that there was actually a job you could do to experience that regularly.

6. In addition to acting, you own BizBooks.net & TheDramaClass.com, which offer education and resources to actors, writers, and other creative professionals. How did you come up with these business ventures? We – my husband Neil and I – along with help from many friends opened Biz Books as a brick and mortar bookstore in 1996.

It had become apparent to me from my travels associated with being on the executive board of the Union of BC Performers that cities that aspired to grow into production centres for film and television all had stores that provided the resources for developing the skills and knowledge to create a workforce to foster that growth.

There had been a store like that in Vancouver, but it had closed and so in 1996 we opened Biz Books in the city’s Gastown district. We operated in that neighborhood until 2010 when we transitioned the storefront to BizBooks.net and our current “Online and On Location” format where we now ship to customers all over the world and create pop-up shops at local industry events.

In 2020 we acquired TheDramaClass.com where we develop classes and workshops to assist actors, writers, directors and teachers develop skills and knowledge to help them achieve their creative professional goals.

Catherine Lough Haggquist
Photo Credit: Shimon Photo

7. What do you get from being an entrepreneur that you don't get from acting? What I get from being an entrepreneur that is different from what I get from acting is a deep sense of paying it forward and being of service by providing curated information, either books or classes and workshops, to assist the next wave of actors, writers, directors, teachers and other important storytellers as they assemble the tools for their craft.

8. What resources & education secrets do you offer actors, writers & creatives that other sites don't? What makes our selections on Biz Books different from offerings at other sources are our curated topic sections, all selected by people really working in the different craft areas, our product descriptions, all written and/or edited together by my wonderful husband and business partner Neil and our ability to make suggestions and recommendations based on real-world practical knowledge that is offered to get our customers to their goals as quickly, practically and creatively as possible.

9. What is the best piece of advice you've received that you would give to someone else? The best piece of advice I was given and that I would now offer is to remember that this is a creative business based on relationships and trust.

And, as a guide on how to manage and cultivate those relationships and that trust, I was told the following quote from Dr. Maya Angelou which I would also share: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Those words are a principle that now guides not just my work but also my life.

10. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my readers to know about you? Something I would like other people, especially the Motherland: Fort Salem community, to know about me is that I am excited every day I go to work now as I was when I first started acting as I feel that this craft is a calling that is instrumental to the expansion and elevation of the human condition.

I believe that the world is facing many increasing challenges and, just like during the first year of the pandemic, it is the storytellers that we turn to for comfort, entertainment and inspiration.

I am proud to devote my life to this calling and to assist, in any way I can, those who are called to this service as well.

Catherine Lough Haggquist, Photo Credit: Kristine Cofsky Photography

More on Catherine Lough Haggquist:

Catherine’s her return as Petra Bellweather in Motherland: Fort Salem brings her to over 140 professional acting credits in television and film over the course of her career.

Catherine has been a fixture across genres and mediums – appearing on staples like Supernatural, Stargate: SG1, Fringe, Bates Motel, Van Helsing, Once Upon a Time, The Good Doctor, Superman and Lois and Another Life to go along with roles in films like Godzilla, Elysium, Fifty Shades Freed and the horror festival favorite, Puppet Killer.

Prior to Motherland: Fort Salem, where she plays mother and mentor to Abigail (Ashley Nicole Williams), Catherine was perhaps best-known for playing Inspector “Nora Harris” on the long-running sci-fi-drama series Continuum, “Terry Sternholz” in Hallmark’s Aurora Teagarden Mystery movies, and “Linda Nelson” on Chesapeake Shores.

Outside of Catherine’s film and television success, she owns and operates BizBooks.net and TheDramaClass.com – which offer education and resources to actors, writers, and other creative professionals.

Honored by Women in Film and Television Vancouver with a Special Jury Award and by UBCP/ACTRA as an International Women’s Day Honoree and in 2020 with the Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award, Catherine continues to build a legacy of artistic sustainability and versatility to go along with tireless support for the industry at large.