• Rukiya Bernard is a 36-year-old Canadian interior designer, actress and producer
• She is best known for her role of Doc in SyFy’s “Van Helsing” series
• She is an interior designer, and has been the star of “The Stagers”, an HGTV reality series
• She is married to PJ Prinsloo, and has two children
• Her net worth is approximately $500,000, as of October 2019
Contents
- 1 Who is Rukiya Bernard?
- 2 Early Life and Education: Growing Up in Toronto
- 3 Career Beginnings: Undressed, Doc, Blue Murder, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Stagers and More
- 4 Staying Productive: The Cabin in the Woods, That Burning Feeling, Witches of East End and More
- 5 Personal Life: Is Rukiya Bernard Married? Does She Have Children?
- 6 Body Measurements: How Tall is Rukiya Bernard?
- 7 Net Worth: How Rich is Rukiya Bernard?
- 8 Online Presence
Who is Rukiya Bernard?
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under the air sign of Aquarius on 20 January 1983, Rukiya Bernard is a 36-year-old Canadian interior designer, actress and producer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Doc in SyFy’s “Van Helsing” series, which is based on the Zenescope Entertainment novel of the same name. Some of her other notable roles have been in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Stuck” and “The Cabin in the Woods”. In addition to her acting prowess, Rukiya is also an esteemed interior designer and has been the star of “The Stagers”, an HGTV reality series renovating run down properties from the inside. Her passion towards both acting and design stems from her mother, who was a prominent figure in the Toronto art scene.
Early Life and Education: Growing Up in Toronto
Bernard was raised in her birthplace and is of mixed ethnicity. Her father, Gilbert Bernard, owned a car shop and was instrumental in teaching his daughter the value of hard work and independence. Her passion towards art, however, came from Nyakiringa Magugu, who owned a store with African art. As Toronto has always been a multicultural metropolis, Rukiya’s mother played a key role in nurturing and developing cultural awareness in the many African immigrants who called the city their home. If you thought Rukiya being hard working and passionate towards art was impressive, you’ll be surprised to find out that she was also very athletic. As a child, she competed in both basketball and track, while practicing karate and classical ballet at the same time.
On top of all these extra-curricular activities, she was also a gifted pianist. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this ambitious girl was going to accomplish big things. Concerning her education, we know that she matriculated from an unspecified high school in her hometown in 2001. Afterwards, she would go on to major in Theatre at Ryerson University, perhaps Canada’s most elite tertiary educational institution. In 2004, she graduated cum laude (with honors).
Career Beginnings: Undressed, Doc, Blue Murder, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Stagers and More
Rukiya made her acting debut at the tender age of 16, assuming the role of Talia in the hit TV show “Undressed”. Albeit a small part, this experience gave Rukiya the knowledge necessary for making a name for herself in show business.
In 2001 and 2002, she appeared in many titles, such as “Get Over It”, “Relic Hunter”, “Doc”, “Spynet” and more. She wasn’t quite ready for a bigger role, but she didn’t mind the grind, as she perfected her craft and became a more versatile actress. The rest of her early career involved cameos, non-speaking parts and other small roles that each movie needs in order to be functional, so to speak. In 2005, she assumed a recurring role for the first time, as she appeared in two episodes of “Killer Instinct”, followed by a stint in “Falcon Beach”. Despite the lack of recognition and the absence of any significant offers, Bernard refused to give up. She did appear in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, but it was just a small-time part. However, her knowledge of interior designed landed her a role in “The Stagers”, a popular Canadian remodeling show.
Staying Productive: The Cabin in the Woods, That Burning Feeling, Witches of East End and More
Appearing in such a high-profile series for two seasons allowed Rukiya to gain some much needed recognition. She followed this success up with two TV movies – “Christmas in Canaan and “The Farm” – both of which were well-received by critics in the US. Afterwards, we could see her in “Christmas Lodge”, “Fairly Legal” and “The Cabin in the Woods”. Around this time, Bernard was considered as one of the most productive actresses in the industry, with several quality roles each year. There aren’t many talented people who are able to carve out a career through quality support roles, and many up-and-coming actors cite her as an inspiration, in that she needed time to amass a myriad of accomplishments.
She was Lisa Merriweather in “Primeval: New World” and Mrs. Stevenson in “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Tour”. However, her biggest role to date was as Doc in “Van Helsing”, one of the more popular horror series in recent years. Surprisingly, it was her first big role. As of late 2019, Rukiya has several projects in pre-production and post-production, which means that we will be seeing a whole lot of her in 2020.
Personal Life: Is Rukiya Bernard Married? Does She Have Children?
Rukiya Bernard is married to PJ Prinsloo, who is a music teacher by profession. There is no information pertaining to their relationship, nor do we know the exact date of their ceremony, however, we do know that they have two children. Their first child, a daughter, was born on 1 May 2010. Despite her fame and the recognition she’s getting in the last few years, nobody knows anything about her family.
Bernard herself stated, on one occasion that she wanted to be a good role model for her kids and not expose them to unwanted media attention. Currently, her place of residence is the city of Vancouver. In addition to her prowess in acting, Rukiya is also a spokesperson for minorities and mothers around the world. As a child of a Jamaican father and a Kenyan mother, she beat the odds and used her perseverance to make a name for herself. That alone is worthy of all the praise in the world. ‘I want to be everything I want my daughter to be, so that she can look up to me’, said Bernard. ‘As a woman of color, you have to be creative and independent in this day and age.’
Body Measurements: How Tall is Rukiya Bernard?
Rukiya Bernard is 5ft 7in (170cm) tall, weighs approximately 120lbs (54kg) and has a slim figure, as evident by her vital statistics of 34-26-33. Both her hair and eyes are dark brown.
Net Worth: How Rich is Rukiya Bernard?
Have you ever wondered how affluent this Canadian actress and interior designer really is? According to authoritative sources, Rukiya Bernard has a net worth of approximately $500,000, as of October 2019, accumulated largely by investing a lot of effort in taking on as many roles as she could in the early part of her career. As she’s achieved a lot in the last five or so years, many industry experts believe that her best years are yet to come. For this reason, it’s safe to assume that her net worth will probably rise significantly in the next several years.
Online Presence
Like most actors, Rukiya recognizes the significance of social media as a tool for promotion. She is active on both Twitter and Instagram, with 3,000 and 4,600 followers, respectively. On these accounts, she mostly posts teasers for upcoming projects, in addition to selfies and family photos. She is also noted for her sense of humor, as you can frequently see or hear her making jokes. Her Twitter bio says that she only pretends to be other people “for a living and when farting”. Not bad, Rukiya, not bad at all.
