  Being Erica's Erin Karpluk.
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Remember when you were going to school and you'd go away for summer vacation? Upon your return in September, everything would feel familiar, yet so, so different.
That's the emotion Erin Karpluk has felt on the set of Being Erica this fall. She's back at the same school, but she's in a different grade.
"That's such a great way of putting it," Karpluk said. "That's a good one, I love that, it's absolutely correct.
"It was like coming home, but it felt different. I think if it felt the same, we'd be dead in the water. I would be concerned. But I'm glad I'm kept on my toes and it's fun."
Being Erica returns to CBC for its second season on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The critically acclaimed series centres on Karpluk's character, Erica Strange, who spent the first season travelling back in time in an attempt to fix past mistakes and re-experience lost pleasures.
But season two is not merely a repeat of season one.
"I didn't know where they were going to go with it, and I was like, 'How many regrets is this girl going to have?' "
Karpluk said. "You don't want to stick so much to the template that it becomes, 'Oh, the time I cut my hair.'
"But I read the first episode of the second season and I thought, 'Here we go, it's spinning in a completely different direction.' It's the same show, but the writers really upped their game."
For one thing, season two is not so Erica-centric, per se.
"Erica is more worldly and she's more accountable and more experienced in the ways of time travel, and she uses her experience to help others," Karpluk said. "So it's not all about Erica's regret, Erica, Erica, Erica.
"I was worried that it could take a turn toward her being too self-involved about trite, petty things. But the writers, they totally blew me away with this season. New characters are introduced, and a lot of questions that people had in the first season are answered in the first couple of episodes. But then, there are a billion more questions posed that we're all really excited about."
Karpluk, whose star quality and camera presence is undeniable, said her day-to-day life hasn't really changed post-Being Erica, other than being busier than ever. She isn't living like Cleopatra or anything like that.
"You can take the girl out of Alberta, but you can't take Alberta out of the girl," Karpluk said.
But Karpluk certainly finds herself being recognized more often. And it doesn't seem to matter where she is, since Being Erica has been running on SOAPnet in the United States and has aired in various countries around the world.
"It's something I'm getting used to, because for a while I'd be like, 'Why is that person staring at me? Do I have something in my teeth?' " she said.
"Even in Mexico, someone came up to me, and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding!' I was sitting with a margarita in my bikini, just enjoying down time, and they were like, 'Oh my God, you look like that girl from Being Erica.' "
Ultimately, Karpluk is proud of Being Erica, so she's happy to be associated with it, whether she's on a set, or on a junket, or on a beach.
"I also was on another series (Godiva's), so that was kind of a good warmup to this," Karpluk said. "But the best thing I have going for me is, I'm part of a show that I feel great about. It's harder when you're doing press for something and you're thinking, 'Oh God, I can't believe I'm attached to that project!' But this one, I will promote this show any time."
Well, to a point.
"You have to pick and choose things," Karpluk admitted. "What is it they say, that some actors would be at the opening of an envelope?
"During the hiatus, for example, they wanted me to go to a SOAPnet party for the critics in L.A., a big fancy party and they were going to fly me down and put me up and get me dressed. And then my brother called me and said, 'Hey kid, mom and dad are coming to Jasper and we're going to go fishing.'
"So I called back the party people and said, 'I'm going to be in the mountains.' Some things are more important."
Sounds like Erin Karpluk leads the sort of balanced life for which Erica Strange is striving.
Debut dates for some of the higher-profile Canadian scripted shows on Canadian networks this fall:
- Being Erica, CBC, Tuesday, Sept. 22
- Flashpoint, CTV, Friday, Sept. 25
- The Ron James Show, CBC, Friday, Sept. 25
- Little Mosque on the Prairie, CBC, Monday, Sept. 28
- Rick Mercer Report, CBC, Tuesday, Sept. 29
- This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC, Tuesday, Sept. 29
- The Tudors, CBC, Wednesday, Sept. 30
- Degrassi: The Next Generation, CTV, Sunday, Oct. 4
- Heartland, CBC, Sunday, Oct. 4
- The Border, CBC, Thursday, Oct. 8
- The Guard, Global, Friday, Oct. 23
