Keenan Macwilliam started her career at the age of 6 with her first commercial in Nashville. She was born in Toronto. She moved to Africa, then she moved to Tennessee and now she is living in Canada and she has worked with a lot of big names in her lifetime such as Denzil Washingtion, Angelina Jolie, Ann Banncroft and Gloria Rueben.
When she started work on the set of The Saddle Club she was 11 years old like the majority of the cast, but since then she has grown, as her pictures show, and changed a little bit and is now 14 years old.
Keenan has a very busy lifestyle. She takes singing lessons when time allows. She has been singing since she was 6 and has been taking vocal lessons for the last five years but only when she has time. The voice is a beautiful instrument that you can take anywhere, she tells us. Keenan also plays the guitar and says that she chose the guitar so that she could sing to her instrument. She says that she could consider singing as a career. We hear Keenan singing "Hello World" as the credits roll (for pictures see the snap shots page), as well as in 1 or 2 of the episodes of the show, I just can't remember them right now. Keenan also sings on The Saddle Club album, Fun For Everyone, with Lara and Sophie as well as 2 solos, "Dreams" and "We are The Saddle Club", on On Top Of The World she sings "Ride Like the Wind" and has the majority of play time in track one, "We Can Do Anything" and on the most recent album, she sings Perfect Boy and the album tittle, Friends Forever.
When Keenan was asked whether she wanted to end up as an actress she said; "I love acting but I don't know yet whether I want to finish up as an actress. I really like Nature and animals and I'm in love with the ocean so I could finish up working for the environment."
Keenan is also a Humane Society volunteer, looks after her labrador dogs, Savannah and Toby, as well as her 2 pet mice. She also plays soccer and is a member of a track team. She is also a part of a program for gifted learners in maths and her strong subjects include english, drama, maths, visual arts and science.
Keenan has done a lot of work in her life and her best credits include the starring role in Must be Santa, (CBC/Universal Studios MOW), lead roles in Deep in My Heart (CBS MOW) and Best Girl (Dish Productions). She appeared in The Bone Collector (Universal Studios), Keenan was the host/presenter for a pilot television show Popular Mechanics for Kids, as well as The Saddle Club.
Keenan had never really ridden until she got her job on The Saddle Club with she developed a bond with her horse on the show, Starlight. Keenan told the ABC that she and Starlight were like two peas in a pod and she couldnt believe that she and Starlight were going to be separated, again!!! She also told the ABC that breed and colour of a horse dont matter as much as whats on the inside. Keenan says that her dream horse would be a lot like Starlight. She also hopes for her own horse when she returns to Canada.
As you might expect, Keenan was asked a lot about Carole, since she is probably the one of the only people who know about Carole on the inside. When she was asked about how she can Carole differ, she quoted; My character Carole is devoted to horses and to her friends. She takes her riding very seriously. I also love horses and riding, but don't have quite the same level of devotion that Carole does. We are similar in that we share a close friendship with Stevie and Lisa. My interests, although they include horses and riding are more varied than Carole's. She was also asked to comment on Carole in general; I think Carole is somewhat conservative in some ways. Although when there are no adults around she can get pretty crazy with Stevie. She is in love with horses and gets quite emotional about things. Bits of her remind me of myself. And she isn't too interested in boys. I'm not either. The boys in my class are annoying but okay as friends. She was also asked to 're-quote' Carole again after the second series and she says; "I think Carole really knows what her priorities are and at this point of her life, horses are the most important things. In this series, she will probably become more interested in boys because as you grow up, that happens. Carole is really smart and she knows an amazing lot about horses. She is a really loving girl, always thinking about the other girls, not herself and she is passionate about The Saddle Club. I think she and I share one trait - she is affectionate and so am I."
Keenan has realised that people actually know her face from TV now and sometimes finds herself in emmbarrsing situations with fans, she tells us, "I was in the mall one day and a young girl started screaming out to her friends that I was in The Saddle Club and she wanted an autograph. That was when I realised that people now know me from television. I also couldn't play in a school softball tournament because everyone was sort of following me around. The recognition is fun at times, but I don't take it too seriously"
Keenan says that the best things about being back in Australia for the filming of the second series is great because she is reunited with all her friends, people and horses, but its still a lot of hard work, not just the acting, school work to! She says; It's a huge thrill. Just watching the horse whisperers and wranglers is great and I know I'm going to learn a lot.
In ten years from now Keenan says she hopes to be as happy as she is now. She says she needs to narrow down her career choices because she loves doing so many different things including dermotogly, arcitecture and film producing, but she knows that she would love the opportunity to work on a major film.
Keenan Says: "Hi, I am Keenan MacWilliam a.k.a. Carole Hanson from the Saddle Club. I thought I would write to you this way rather than through the guest book as I didn't want to be mistaken for someone else. I visit the site a couple of times per week from home and I feel compelled to express my gratitude to all the Australian fans who have taken the time to write such positive comments about the show. I am overwhelmed by the response. I would love to write each and everyone of them back, but naturally I can't. I enjoyed my 6 months in Australia (my first time) and I have my fingers crossed that I will return for a second year." and... Thank you to all the fans of the Saddle Club, you are very much appreciated and loved!
