Published on July 2, 2013
Updated February 6, 2016
Picture
From San Diego Comic Con 2010
Profile

Name: Joanne Kelly
Nickname: Jo
Birthday: December 1978 (specific date unknown*)
Hometown: Bay d'Espoir (pronounced despair), Newfoundland, Canada
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Actress
Family: Has a mother, father, and brother
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Right handed/Left handed: Right handed
Tattoos: 
Right ankle - Infinity symbol. It is visible in Warehouse 13 Season 1 Episode 8 around 9:57.
Left ankle - Appears to read “Simply the thing I am shall make me live,” spoken by Parolles in William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well (IV.iii.333-349). Coincidentally, that play's protagonist is a woman named Helena. It is visible in Warehouse 13 Season 2 Episode 4 around 31:38. (This Tumblr post was responsible for the photo and the eagle-eyed catch.)

*Saw a few specific dates, but nothing that was verifiable/reliable
Gist

Joanne Kelly is one cool ass lady. She says things like "man" and "dude" a lot, loves football and hockey, and has no quarrel with telling a dirty joke or ten. She's also incredibly intelligent and well-read, always speaking very articulately about her roles, herself, and the issues that matter to her. Oh, and she's stunningly gorgeous with a face that is capable of moving mountains, parting seas, and bringing nations together. When she's sad, it makes you feel like you're dying slowly. When she's happy or laughing, it's as if God is shining down upon you directly from above. And when she's angry, well...it's really hot. You also do not know what "adorable" really looks like until you've seen her be adorable. A gallery of her amazing face is available here.

She's a proud Canadian, hailing from a small town in Newfoundland, and she is decidedly a very private person. She stays out of the spotlight, avoiding the bullshit and the artifice that can come with fame and the acting gig in general. Instead, she's an actor's actor, focused on the craft, while maintaining a refreshing authenticity and relatability that is immediately apparent in her interviews and appearances. As for the GLBT community, she has been supportive, not only of her show, Warehouse 13, integrating gay-positive portrayals and elements into production, but she also has been instrumental in the creation of a GLBT storyline for one of her own characters, Myka Bering, which will be discussed below.

Overall, Joanne Kelly is endearingly goofy and a self-professed nerd who does her own thing, without apology and without pretention. She does not fit neatly into any stereotypical category and what you see is what you get with her. Simply put, she's the shit, man.

Picture
From 2009 Sci Fi Upfront Party
Quotes

"I grew up on a farm with goats and horses and stuff so a little bit of poo doesn’t really faze me." - Joanne Kelly on having to stand on cow manure for the Warehouse 13 pilot in a 2009 interview with Nice Girls TV

"It’s cool to be different, it’s cool to be unique, it’s cool to be yourself. Why should we look like other people? Or think or say? That’s true coolness, you don’t care, you’re just yourself." - Joanne Kelly in an August 1, 2011 interview with Geektown

"I think that as television becomes more bombarded by reality programming and by kinds of – I don’t want to sound too judgmental, but screw it – by this kind of mindless vapidness. Well, I mean what kind of a little… you want little girls to look up to … like what happens to the little girls who want to be astronauts or teachers or the President of the United States? That’s something that we should instill in our children. Not to be rich or pretty. Those are…and that’s what I feel that kind of television has gone in that kind of direction; the celebration of celebrity, the celebration of dumb." - Joanne Kelly in an October 2, 2011 interview with Three If By Space

"I am also a big believer in sexuality is very fluid, and you can be straight and perhaps have an experience with the opposite sex or I mean, you can be bi, or you can be tri, or you could be quad." - Joanne Kelly in a July 5, 2012 interview with Media Blvd.

"I was just at Trader Joe’s getting groceries and this guy called me a rock star and asked me if he could have five minutes of my time. I was like, 'Are you selling something?' And he said, 'No, I just want to get to know you!' Yeah...not going to happen. And the fact that he called me a rock star…what? Who are you? Get away from me. And also don’t pick up girls outside of a grocery store. That’s lame. Are you working for Greenpeace or something? You’re just standing out here in your douchebag skinny jeans with your hair slicked back and your iPod in…go away." - Joanne Kelly in an April 3, 2013 interview with Playboy

"I'm a nerd. I'm a big geek. I've always wanted to be cool, but I'm never going to be. One of the reasons I love Comic-Con so much is, you know, the reasons I was made fun of in high school are now a celebration. It's a place for people like me. It's empowering to see people who have been marginalized come into their own. It's given a voice to people." - Joanne Kelly on the appreciation by fans of Myka Bering representing the "outcast" demographic in an April 22, 2013 interview with After Ellen

"I'll start tweeting when I stop drinking." - Joanne Kelly in a May 2013 interview with Starry Magazine

"Women like women! Newsflash! It happens all the time!" - Joanne Kelly in a July 25, 2013 Interview with TV Addict

"Sexuality is fluid, you know? It's not a concrete box in my mind. It's a very fluid kind of thing." - Joanne Kelly in a July 25, 2013 Interview with TV Addict

"Imagine greater!" *along with a hand gesture for the ages (just watch) - Joanne Kelly in a July 27, 2013 Interview with Whedonopolis Videos

"It's about F&*KING TIME! i am very very very very happy that this country is catching up to the views of its constituents. Love is for everyone. Marriage is a human right. HUZZAH!" - Joanne Kelly on her reaction to the June 26, 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges finding that same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marriage, in a June 26, 2015 AMA on Reddit
Picture
From 2012 Comic Con
Facts and Trivia



Picture
Bianca from Dresden Files
Picture
Myka Bering from Warehouse 13

Gay Résumé

To my knowledge, Joanne Kelly has played two characters that have touched upon the "gay":

  • Bianca from The Dresden Files -  a sexy vampire who runs a brothel in Chicago, occasionally having run-ins with the series' protagonist Harry Dresden, who is a detective/wizard of the supernatural. Kelly appears as the bisexual Bianca in episodes 1.05: Bad Blood and 1.08: Storm Front, where she appears to have a very touchy-feely relationship with some of her employees. Bianca also shows that Kelly had begun her ability to engage in same-sex eye-sexing long before Warehouse 13. The Dresden Files television series (it was based off of a book series) only aired for one season, but it is available for viewing on Netflix, Amazon, and on DVD.
​
  • Myka Bering from Warehouse 13 - an ass-kicking, brilliant secret service agent, who is one half of the gloriously angsty ship Bering and Wells. Kelly and her Bering and Wells co-star, Jaime Murray, came up with the idea of having their characters "fall in love a little bit," even though Myka Bering had always been written and perceived as a straight woman. At times, Kelly was a one-woman Bering and Wells PR machine, the lone public voice steadfastly recognizing and rooting for their relationship, which the mainstream media at large and the show, to a certain point, was oblivious to or just dismissed as a non-serious storyline. Bering and Wells is arguably not canon, but the pairing has gained varying degrees of recognition and acceptance by the show, the cast, the network channel, and, even the public/mainstream media. Using the voice of Regent Kosan a la 2.09: Vendetta - This is thanks in no small part to Captain Jo's tireless Bering and Wells campaign. If you're looking for a captain of a ship, one could not do any better than Joanne Kelly. It is available for viewing on Netflix, Amazon, and DVD.
​
  • Brin Madly from Closet Monster - a disinterested and overall absent mother of the film's central character, Oscar Madly, a teen struggling to grapple with his queer identity, along with the emotional turmoil surrounding him. While Kelly's character is not queer (that we know of), the film's heavy focus on LGBT issues warrants a mention in her gay résumé for sure. Check for availability on the film's Facebook page.
Picture
From Chuck the Movie Guy August 10, 2011 interview
Picture
From Syfy's Inside the Episode 4.18
Picture
From TVaholic July 22, 2012 interview

Interviews (in chronological order)

While Joanne Kelly does not do a lot of interviews/public appearances, despite what the list below may make you conclude (most interviews are done once a year during the Comic Con blitzkrieg of press), some common themes underline most of the Q & As. Kelly has been very vocal about her support and desire for strong female roles and female-driven storylines, where the woman is not treated as a peripheral or secondary character, deriving her value or substance from her relationship with a man (consistent with the philosophy behind the Bechdel test). She has also spoken out for the increased need for intellectualism within the television medium, in response to the rising trend of programming that appears to "celebrate" people just because they are famous (e.g., Kardashians) or making stupid choices (e.g., Jersey Shore). There is a strong feminist undercurrent present in almost all of her interviews/answers and it's pretty spectacular how consistently and subtly she has been able to get her message across, regardless of what the interviewer's questions or topics were meant to relate to.

If I had a dollar for every time Joanne Kelly was asked about when or if Pete and Myka (Pyka) would get together on Warehouse 13, I would have enough money to buy twenty-five Toyota Priuses and a ten year supply of Cialis. Yeah, that much. Even Joanne Kelly pointed out in an interview, "Why does everyone always [inquire?] when are Pete and Myka going to get together? What an interesting twist to have Myka fall for a woman. You know what I mean?" Yes, Jo, I absolutely do. Someone give her a bag of awards for that statement. ​Even when Kelly has stated that she does not support Pyka becoming romantic or tries to steer the focus away from the problematic tendency to anchor an entire show or character's importance on a romantic relationship, a lot of times she is just steamrolled over by the interviewer who has a one-track Pyka mindset. 

In response to the indomitably present Pyka question, Kelly noticeably began to bring up Bering and Wells unsolicited in some of her interviews, subverting the interviewer's expectations. She does so with a smile and in good humor, but without ever trying to use the same-sex relationship as a way to gain attention. Like Jaime Murray, Joanne Kelly has been masterful at maneuvering through the minefield of interviewers who attempt to reduce the Bering and Wells ship or her character down to just the prurient value placed upon them. The calm and eloquence in which both Kelly and Murray handle these continuous efforts are worthy of recognition by themselves. The fact that the Bering and Wells ship has not one, but two actresses who speak with such grace and respect about the ship, the GLBT community, and women in general is a reason in and of itself why Bering and Wells stands apart from the rest. 

All interviews below are in print (on the web) unless stated otherwise (e.g., audio, video):
Resources and Links
  1. Joanne Kelly AfterEllen Posts
  2. Joanne Kelly IMDB page
  3. Joanne Kelly Wikipedia page

Damianodefense Tumblr - Great source of Joanne Kelly gifs

Maiagaru Tumblr - Again, another great source of Joanne Kelly gifs
comments powered by Disqus