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Bomb Girls content provided by: Shaw Media

Head of Online Content, Shaw Media: Chris Harris
Website Producer, GlobalTV.com: Lori Harito
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Production Executive, Shaw Media: Susan Alexander
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Website created by: Secret Location

Executive Producer: James Milward
Producer: Noora Abu Eitah
Creative Director: Pietro Gagliano
Technical Director: Ryan Andal
Art Directors: Stefan Grambart, Ryan Cherewaty
Set photography: Ryan Cherewaty
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Photo Gallery

Newspaper Clippings

Reprinted with permission from The Globe and Mail.

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About the Show

They work in munitions factories, building the arms that keep their overseas husbands, lovers, brothers and sons alive and fighting. For these women, the freedoms they're fighting for… come to include their own.

While they're building bombs, women also find themselves flourishing with newfound freedom, discovering strengths they never before imagined. At the same time they're often woefully under-equipped for the new challenges they face. Amid propaganda and sexual harassment, crossing social and cultural boundaries, these remarkable women form a sisterhood never experienced before.

BOMB GIRLS delves into the lives of exceptional women — peers, friends and rivals. There's the fiery rich girl Gladys looking to escape her crushing social expectations. There's gentle, honey-voiced Kate who lands in Toronto on a raft of secrets.

There's tough-talking Betty who's finally found a place where she belongs. And the gritty matron Lorna, whose heart blossoms through the power of work and unforeseen romance. The women form an unexpected kinship, while contending with the fathers, brothers, coworkers and suitors who are also facing various struggles (and advantages) of staying home.

When your overseas lover could be shot dead tomorrow, when the materials you work with could explode in your face today, when you're not sure if the free world will even be standing next month... you play your cards how you want — and you don't play by the old rules.

Watch full episodes of Bomb Girls on GlobalTV

MEG TILLY as LORNA CORBETT

LORNA CORBETT (43) has one twisted heart but if she can clear out the thickets of her past struggles, it just might blossom. She met her husband Bob at age 18 before he shipped out to the Great War, and married after their affair left her pregnant. Upon his return, Bob was left a broken man, shell-shocked and paralyzed, and their dream of a happy life vanished. Lorna quietly relishes her new job as it’s a chance to escape an oppressive home. While secretly fascinated by the women around her with their blossoming sexuality, and expanding horizons — Lorna’s jealous of their happiness, and determined not to let them make the same mistakes she did. Lorna is especially resentful Gladys and seeks to break the spirited girl, even though she recognizes her own long-lost exuberance.

Born in Long Beach, CA and raised in British Columbia, Meg Tilly had set her sights on a dance career, until a fractured vertebra led her to acting. A few brief TV roles and her performance in the film Tex led to a star-making turn as Chloe in the generation-defining film The Big Chill, followed by her performance as Sister Agnes in Agnes of God, a role that garnered her a Golden Globe® award, as well as an Oscar® nomination for best supporting actress. After a busy decade and a half, Tilly stepped away from acting to focus on her family, raising three beautiful children. In that time, she also wrote four critically-acclaimed novels. After a 17 year absence, she has returned to acting in this, her first major television role.

JODI BALFOUR as GLADYS WITHAM

GLADYS WITHAM (22) is a wild child. The only daughter in a wealthy Rosedale family, Gladys’s privileged life has made her fearless with an appetite for life. Gladys always got what she wanted; only what she wants is now changing. Although a privileged life has many advantages, it can also can be suffocating. While her father works to expand the family's empire, her mother lives by her wealth and liquor. Given these silent and oppressive pressures, Gladys considers the war an escape and eagerly takes up an office job at Victory Munitions. After seeing what the other women do on the factory floor, Gladys insists on getting her hands dirty, and is drawn to this most difficult and dangerous work as a way to feel alive and connect with “real women.”

Born and raised in South Africa, Jodi Balfour spent her early youth working in Cape Town’s burgeoning theatre and television industry.

In 2009 she graduated with a BA in Theatre and Performance from the University of Cape Town. Upon graduating, Balfour landed a coveted role in the BAFTA nominated BBC mini-series The Sinking of the Laconia, and was hooked on making acting her career. She moved to Vancouver in 2010 where she’s worked on such acclaimed projects as SyFy’s Sanctuary, The CW’s Supernatural, Shunji Iwai’s Vampire and The Hub’s The Haunting Hour.

CHARLOTTE HEGELE as KATE ANDREWS

KATE ANDREWS (24) lands in Toronto on a raft of secrets. She’s eager to please and gifted at lifting spirits — in a large part due to a staggeringly talented singing voice. Beneath her smile is a sheltered, insecure girl beginning to find her way in the world. She’s on the run from her abusive street-preaching father and she needs this job.

While she’s fascinated by the wealth and confidence of Gladys, it’s her friend Betty who unexpectedly becomes Kate’s best friend. Cobbling together a new identity, Kate appears to have evaded detection and punishment...so far.

Charlotte Hegele was born in Toronto but spent most of her formative years in London, Ontario. Although Hegele began acting in community theatre, she knew film was where her ambitions lay. She returned to Toronto in 2008 to attend Humber College’s Acting for Film and Television Diploma Program.

After graduation Hegele began landing roles in several projects filming in Toronto. Her recent credits include: a guest star role on Murdoch Mysteries, Sunday at Tiffany’s and the series XIII.

ALI LIEBERT as BETTY McRAE

BETTY McRAE (28) is a recent arrival from rural Saskatchewan who moved to Toronto for work. An early arrival to Victory Munitions, Betty quickly rose through the ranks to be a well-regarded worker who doubles as Blue Shift’s on-floor trainer of the new workers. She fled her troubling past to live and work in a more “female” milieu, with fewer of the men she mistrusts. Yet she struggles to connect within this new sisterhood. Among her new trainees, she finds Gladys frustratingly naïve, but in time discovers a grudging respect for her. Her hard attitude doesn’t apply to Kate. Kate inspires her to be a kinder, better person, to show the patience and understanding she lacks with others. Betty doesn’t have the words to explain it, but we know... it’s love.

Duncan BC native Ali Liebert studied musical theatre at the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria before moving to Vancouver to pursue acting professionally. It wasn’t long before she snagged the role she is perhaps best known for: sassy Nikki Bolton on the popular Global TV horror/drama TV series, Harper’s Island. Her over 45 credits include guest appearances on Hellcats, Human Target, Fringe, Dead Like Me, The L Word, The 4400, Whistler, Fallen, Psych.

In January 2011, Liebert was honored to work alongside Academy Award nominee Michael Clarke Duncan and Emmy® Award nominee Loretta Devine in the dramatic feature, In the Hive directed by the legendary Robert Townsend.

ANTONIO CUPO as MARCO MORETTI

MARCO MORETTI (35) is Blue Shift’s materials controller, responsible for the raw materials coming into the factory, and the export of every finished bomb. He gained his experience from his family’s fireworks factory, and now supports his mother, sister and nieces as the sole breadwinner — his father’s been locked away in an internment camp alongside hundreds of other Italian immigrants.

While he considers himself Canadian, he has found that since the war, he’s seen as a potential enemy, which is why he’s unable to enlist. Before the war, he and Lorna would have never met — spaghetti is still a foreign food — but at the factory, their fiery rapport that starts with a clash, shifts into a growing attraction.

Antonio Cupo was born in Vancouver to Italian parents. By his early 20s, his love for acting had developed into a full-blown career, landing roles in such shows as The L Word, Steven Spielberg's Taken and James Cameron's Dark Angel. When released in Europe, Cupo was noticed by an Italian director who cast him as the new lead character in the Italian series Elisa Di Rivombrosa. With over 14 million viewers, the role sprung Cupo’s career to new heights. He has since worked opposite Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham in three films, September 11 1683, Sword of War and Carnera: The Walking Mountain, playing 1934 world boxing champion Max Baer. Antonio Cupo’s artistic abilities also extend into music writing and production. He has written dozens of songs and fronted numerous bands.

SEBASTIAN PIGOTT as JAMES DUNN

JAMES DUNN (24) is smart, attractive, monied, and poised to take the world by storm. He’s a decent man, one whose wealth and refinement haven’t resulted in snobbery. Still, having been largely sheltered from the world’s harsh truths, he’s woefully innocent about matters of the heart — and the body. While he is drawn to Gladys (his fiancé, with her free-wheeling spirit and is usually patient with her intensity), her exuberance often threatens to overwhelm him.

In a world of soldiers, James chooses his battles carefully, preferring the fray of the men’s club to skirmishes in the trenches. As an American before Pearl Harbor, James has yet to feel that the war is truly his to fight.

Born in Toronto and educated at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, Pigott’s numerous credits include the TV series The Listener, Haven, The Bridge and Deadliest Sea, as well as feature films Small Town Murder Songs and SAW 3D. Pigott had a recurring role on Being Erica and holds a supporting role in the film High Chicago. He is one half of the musical duo The Pigott Brothers, who are currently working on their sophomore album.

ANASTASIA PHILLIPS as VERA

Born and raised in Toronto, Anastasia Phillips received a BFA in Acting from the University of British Columbia. Her professional acting career began with the title role in the Vancouver Arts Club production The Diary of Anne Frank, for which she received a Dora nomination for Best Actress. Phillips moved back to Toronto when she landed a lead on the CBC series MVP, where she played a flawed, but lovable small town girl. She played the lead role in Mary Walsh’s comedy pilot for Global, Rise Up and was featured in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries, which led to a Gemini nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role. She recently joined the cast of SKINS (USA) for MTV and currently provides the voice of “Lo” on the Fresh TV animated series Stoked.

PETER OUTERBRIDGE as BOB

Peter Outerbridge was born and raised in Toronto. He studied Theatre at the University of Victoria and later co-founded the fringe theatre company, Way Off Broadway, touring with various festivals across Canada for several years before crossing over to film and television. His credits include starring roles in the Showcase Lifetime movie My Name is Sarah, the drama series Whistler and the feature film, Burning Mussolini. Other film credits include The Bay of Love and Sorrows (based on the novel by Giller Prize winner David Adams Richards), Men with Brooms, starring Paul Gross and Leslie Nielson; Marine and Better than Chocolate with Wendy Crewson. Early feature films also include Paris, France and Kissed with Molly Parker, in which he earned his first Genie nomination.

JIM CODRINGTON as LEON

Jim Codrington was born in Montreal, but calls Toronto home. A career which spans several decades includes memorable lead roles in the CBC series The Border, and in The Movie Network series Zone of Separation, in addition to the multiple-award-winning independent production A Passage to Ottawa. Recurring roles include Republic of Doyle, Da Kink in My Hair, DaVinci City Hall, Kevin Hill, Odyssey V, and Liberty Street among others. As a child, Jim was selected to attend St. Michael's Choir School where he received 9 years of intensive Vocal, Instrumental, and Music Theory training. He played the role of “Mufasa” in the Toronto production of The Lion King, and enjoys singing jazz and playing tenor sax.

LISA NORTON as EDITH

Since graduating from George Brown Theatre School in her hometown of Toronto, Lisa Norton has worked at building a well-rounded life and career. As a stage actor, she has appeared in theatres across Canada. Lisa has proudly premiered new work at the Blyth Festival for three seasons, and was a member of the esteemed Shaw Festival acting company. On television, her latest adventure, Lisa has recently appeared in Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story for Lifetime; Fringe (Warner Bros./Fox), Rookie Blue (Global/ABC); and as the famous anarchist Emma Goldman in The Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury Films). Other appearances include the Movie Central series Living In Your Car; Degrassi: The Next Generation; and the true crime show 72 Hours. Lisa makes her home mostly in Toronto, sometimes in Vancouver and maybe next in some sunny clime where she can work at improving her terrible Spanish and/or her embarrassing French.

Watch videos of the making of Bomb Girls

BOMB FACTORY ROOMING HOUSE PARLOUR

Creating the Bombs

On the line

The Life of a Real Bomb Girl

Behind The Show

Signs of the Time

The Wardrobe

A Transformation

Radio Times

What is 'women's work'?

Easy Listening with the Gramophone

Gladys and James in Love

A Drink or Two

A Piece of Hearty News

The Memory Wall

The Memory Wall serves as a space to contribute memories and stories that were shared with you from the time of war.

You can participate in the conversation by simply saying thank you to the brave men and women who served and are serving today.

Welcome to the
world of Bomb Girls!

Step back in time and experience life during the 1940s as war erupted and the world changed forever.

Set in 1940s Toronto, Bomb Girls explores the lives of five different women who find themselves thrust into new worlds building bombs on the assembly line in a munitions factory.

The Rooming House

You can use the Navigation Bar to quickly navigate through the scenes.

Thanks for Exploring the interactive world of Bomb Girls

We hope the journey back to a time of social, political and economic change will serve to commemorate the contributions made by women in munitions factories all over the nation to shape the course of history.

Watch Bomb Girls

For a dramatic look at how war changed the lives of Canadians, tune in to Bomb Girls Wednesdays at 8.00 et/pt.