By Michaela Gordoni
HEARTLAND’s Amber Marshall is always surrounded by animals, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m kind of like Dr. Doolittle,” Marshall told Cowgirl last month. “Animals keep me humble. They don’t care who you are or what you look like. They’re just like, all right, let’s go do this.”
She’s played Amy Fleming on Canada’s homey western series, HEARTLAND, for two decades.
“I believe horses have a lot to do with the longevity of HEARTLAND,” she said. “You can feel their power even through a screen.”
Related: HEARTLAND Star Thinks She Knows Why Fans Connect to the Show
“There’s something about the Western lifestyle. That connection between humans and horses, that people just feel. Even if you’ve never been near a horse, there’s a respect there. I think that’s what keeps people watching,” she added.
On her own farm, she has dogs, cats, a peacock, chickens, ducks and cows.
“Any chance I get, I’m spending it with my animals,” Marshall said. “They make me happy. They’re what keep me balanced.”
“They keep you humble,” she explained. “If I’ve had a stressful day, I come home and the dogs bound toward me, the cats run up, the horses are waiting, and I can’t help but smile. They’re everything that makes me happy.”
Marshall loves her peacock, Peter, who makes her laugh and reminds her not to take herself too seriously.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve been bringing animals home,” she recalled. “Stray cats, dogs, you name it. My parents would say, ‘Please stop bringing home cats you don’t know.’ And I’d say, ‘But I do know them!’ That’s just me.”
She loves working with animals on set — and children, too.
“I love working with kids and animals because I feel like it creates this environment on set that is very spontaneous because you never know what is going to happen. Everyone has to be ready for anything,” Marshall said last year. “When I have done other things where there are not animals, it is an entirely different on-set dynamic.”
The cowgirl doesn’t ever tire of her role on HEARTLAND.
“I won’t be done until they tell me I’m done. I love it—the people, the horses, the fact that I get to film in my own backyard and sleep in my own bed every night,” she said. “I’m such a homebody.”
The latest season of HEARTLAND, Season 19, is currently available to stream on UP Faith and Family. It will air on UPtv on March 19.
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