When Toronto native Romy Weltman found out she’d be leading a TV series for the first time, her reaction was pure joy, but also reverence.
“It’s a dream come true,” she says. Not just because it’s the next big step in a career that began when she was barely a teenager, but because it meant getting to work alongside Canadian television royalty: Wynonna Earp’s Melanie Scrofano.
Weltman says, “She’s the lead of all leads. She held my hand the whole way through and taught me everything. She is a light.”
The pair’s new show is Crave and SyFy’s Revival, a supernatural drama based on the cult comic series by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton (who actually visited the set during filming). It blends small-town intrigue with a heft of family drama and community grief, and follows what happens one day when the recently deceased rise from their graves. When officer and single mom Dana Cypress (Scrofano) starts unravelling a murder mystery, she discovers her younger sister Em (Weltman), who died days earlier, is involved and she’s got to piece it all together — all while getting closer to Em. Weltman says that while they stay true to the original comics, they also made the story their own, giving certain characters more of a back story.
“It’s so rare that you get to immerse yourself in [every genre],” she says. “There’s horror, humour, heart. You need all of these elements to make it feel real. Everyone copes so differently and goes through grief so differently. And I think that if you’re doing a show about such a serious topic, you have to show every element of how people process things.”
That duality — between origin and reinvention, past and present — mirrors Weltman’s own career. Now 25, she’s been acting for over half her life. Most Canadians probably remember her from Backstage, the Family Channel drama that helped define a generation of young performers. Weltman remembers it just as fondly, calling it the moment she realized she didn’t just love acting, but the work.
“It really helped me form my love for this industry,” she says. “I don’t want to ever stop.”
FAST FACTS
Name: Romy Weltman
High school: Westmount Collegiate
Go-to meals: Danny’s Pizza Tavern for mozzarella sticks, Sugo for pasta, and the since-closed Mira for everything, RIP
Favourite neighbourhood: Liberty Village for dog-watching
Top venue: Scotiabank Arena
That love has carried her from kids’ television to an American comedy (The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh) and, now, into the genre-bending world of Revival. Shot in Saint John, New Brunswick — from an unseasonably hot September to December — the series is set in a fictional Wisconsin town with ghostly undercurrents. Weltman says, “It had the perfect feel of a small town. And it was my first time being on the East Coast; I was so excited.”
Despite the show’s apocalyptic tones, Weltman describes the experience as one filled with laughter and care, especially with Scrofano at her side. Their fictional dynamic hit close to home: Weltman has an older sister herself, and an older brother who’s closer in age to her character. “Growing up, I always really looked up to my sister,” she says. “That made [Scrofano] feel like she had to live up to a certain version of being a big sister. That’s where Dana and Em are at, too.”
The role also brought a physical transformation. Before even booking the part, Weltman was asked if she’d be willing to cut her hair. “I was like, I don’t care. Yes,” she laughs. “Then I got the reference photo — and I was like, ‘oh, that’s badass.’”
She worked closely with the show’s hair department to design a look that matched Em’s emotional state, resulting in a sharp and stylish undercut. “We wanted it to not look well kept,” she says. “To reflect everything she’s going through and that appearance isn’t her main concern.”
Still, the haircut marked something deeper. Weltman had long used her hair as a kind of shield since she was a kid. “There’s real metaphor in that,” she says. “With the long hair, I could feel small and hidden. But this new look — it changed how I carried myself.”
Weltman is only just beginning to hear from comic book fans, a notoriously passionate (and at times protective) community. “I’ve seen screenshots of tweets, a few Reddit posts,” she says. “People are really excited and I’m excited to get to know them.”
Revival is available to watch on CTV and for next-day streaming on Crave.
