Little did Miku Martineau know that all those years spent lacing up hockey skates and practicing her volleyball serve would come in so handy.

The 22-year-old Canadian actress leads new Netflix series “Crew Girl,” which premiered in early September and has recently been greenlit for a Season Two. The show follows Teagan Tao, a competitive rower, whose life is turned upside down when she and her mother have to relocate cross country to her mother’s hometown. Her new school only has a boy’s crew team, so Teagan finds herself auditioning to be a coxswain.

Martineau grew up far from the world of Hollywood, in The Beaches of Toronto. Her parents run a family-style restaurant called The Beacher, which is known for its brunch menu.

“My parents know nothing about the industry. I think they’ve learnt along the way, same as me,” she says, over Zoom from her backyard in Toronto.

As a kid Martineau was a figure skater and then a hockey player; she missed out on tryout season after breaking her leg, so then pivoted to volleyball once healed. Gymnastics was also in the mix throughout.

“Sports are great. There’s so much emotion involved in them, and it really teaches you resilience and a lot of mind over matter, which is a huge concept involved in rowing,” Martineau says.

She received an audition for “Crew Girl” in her inbox one day, and recognized some of the creator names from “Bet,” the other series she stars in, which immediately felt like a good sign. Once she landed the role, she began her training, initially in Ithaca, N.Y., where she was filming an indie, and later in Victoria, British Columbia, for a two-week bootcamp with the rest of the cast.

“I was still practicing in my single skull, but also I was learning how to become a coxswain. And throughout Teagan’s journey, she’s also learning how to become a coxswain,” Martineau says. “So I was kind of learning with her, which was a really fun experience.”

Martineau admits to being a bit nervous before showing up on set ahead of meeting the boys who would play the crew team.

“When I’m working, I want it to be a great environment. You’re there for months on end working long, long days with these people every single day, so I just want to become friends. And I was like, ‘I hope they want to be friends,’” she says. “And they were all so sweet. We really bonded during the beginning rowing bootcamp sessions. We had the most fun together, and those boys are so sweet and funny. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder on any other set.”

“Crew Girl” is her first foray into the YA genre, and Martineau is more than happy to be part of this current wave of teen drama streaming hits.

“It’s just a juicy, fun teenage story about the messiness of adolescence, but in the best way possible,” she says. “I think in our teen years, we’re navigating friendships and crushes and new romances, but also family dynamics as we become our own people. We grow into who we are, and it’s all about making mistakes and learning and trying new things and finding our place in whatever world that we’re in. And that was really appealing to me because I think it’s something that all teenagers go through on very different levels.”