Kavan Smith (When Calls the Heart)

[00:00:04] Hi, I'm Bran and I love Hallmark movies. I'm Dan and I despise Hallmark movies. I

[00:00:10] Am Kevin and I am in Hallmark movies. I am somewhere in between those two to be honest

[00:00:36] Yeah, yeah, oh boy, yep, yep, this is it this is this is legend territory is where we are

[00:00:43] I mean, this is this is the real deal. We imagine of the screen legend of my heart. We made his deal work somehow

[00:00:50] Feisty lawyers that Kevin Smith has but we made his deal

[00:00:55] Kevin Smith Lee, it's good to see you, sir

[00:01:00] Well, thank you so much. I'm really happy to be here again. I love it

[00:01:03] Very very curious to see how it's gonna go great. It's gonna go great cabin

[00:01:13] We take each other out for our birthdays every year so she told me that this was a lot of fun man

[00:01:19] You gotta live up to that

[00:01:21] A lot of fun really good

[00:01:23] And also she told us in the rapid-fire segment of her interview that you guys go to this one specific restaurant

[00:01:29] I believe for your birthday. Is that correct? Yes, because we asked her

[00:01:32] Go ahead

[00:01:33] I told her the name of the restaurant is Joe Fortes and I was I told her yesterday because she mentioned that you said that and

[00:01:39] I was like, I'm gonna tell them that you take me to McDonald's

[00:01:43] She is cheap. She's wonderful, but she's cheap. You can supersize your meal on your birthday

[00:01:50] It's the best we can do we can't maybe a Tim Hortons donut since we're in Canada. There's my Canada joke. We did it

[00:01:58] Yeah, I'm just I just want to jump in Kevin because I'm so happy birthday, of course, of course congratulations on another year

[00:02:06] Thank you. Let's go back to your original birthday

[00:02:10] Your birth the day that it happened. Okay, I

[00:02:13] Then let's fast forward a little bit. I don't want to get into all the nitty-gritty there

[00:02:16] We don't know specifically do you want to focus on your childhood a little bit?

[00:02:22] Where you were born what you were like as a child and kind of that first

[00:02:27] Maybe itch to do something called acting

[00:02:31] Yeah, sure. This is I love these kind of questions who doesn't want to talk about themselves. Unfortunately, I don't remember the moment of conception

[00:02:40] But I live I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

[00:02:44] only stayed there for a few months and then we kind of hit the prairies and I lived in a lot of prairie towns over

[00:02:49] the years and I

[00:02:52] Was not raised in a family that gave one

[00:02:56] flying fart about art or

[00:02:58] Or theater or cinema or anything? No, certainly no music or anything

[00:03:03] so I was kind of a redneck growing up to be honest with you and I

[00:03:09] Had a friend of mine go that I guess I'm skipping ahead here till maybe

[00:03:14] Grade six or seven and we became best friends. He just lived down the street from me. We didn't go to school together, but

[00:03:20] we became inseparable and

[00:03:22] We were not particularly good kids we developed this habit of skipping school and

[00:03:29] We would stay home at my place and we'd get out whatever kind of cameras we could find or cassette

[00:03:36] recorders and we'd practice these skits sort of like

[00:03:40] SCTV skits

[00:03:41] And then we would just take him out on the local city buses and try him out and see if we could get people to

[00:03:47] And enjoy themselves and more often than not we got some we got some good laughs and but I didn't think of it as a

[00:03:54] Any kind of a vocation or anything and then school progressed? I mean that's bad choice of words

[00:04:00] It didn't progress well, and and then I ended up in university somehow got my way to university and then was asked

[00:04:07] politely to leave

[00:04:10] They said that you obviously aren't ready for this

[00:04:13] You don't your your grades or you've dropped enough classes that you won't go under review

[00:04:18] But if you continue with the classes you do have you will go under review and then we're gonna kick you out

[00:04:23] But if you leave now of your own volition, we'll let you back next year

[00:04:27] under your high school grades, which were okay to get in and so I left and

[00:04:32] I didn't tell anybody for a while and then I remember I went to visit my mom and we were having dinner

[00:04:39] and I told her I was really embarrassed about it and

[00:04:43] She's like, okay. Well, what's next? I'm like, I don't know and then she said something that was very interesting

[00:04:49] And she said what do you like to do? What do you want to do?

[00:04:51] What do you enjoy and I couldn't think of anything. I really couldn't think of anything and I thought

[00:04:55] Oh, what about those skits that I used to do with Ronnie? That's his name

[00:05:00] No one of my best friends and

[00:05:03] And I was like, well, I used to love that. That was awesome

[00:05:06] I mean really used to enjoy the you know doing the skits in the room and taking them out. So

[00:05:10] My mom was like well, I'm not sure what that would be

[00:05:14] I'm like it is a stand-up comedy or and I didn't like the sound of that because I was quite shy and

[00:05:20] She's like, I know I think that's acting and I was like, okay

[00:05:23] All right, and then that was kind of it

[00:05:25] it took a while, but I went back to university and went back to performing arts and

[00:05:30] Been knocking it ever since the skits that you were doing were these like

[00:05:36] Things that you had seen before and you want to try to recreate them like some kids do

[00:05:41] Ideas you guys are coming up with yeah, these are these were totally original ideas. We would be arrested today for trying any

[00:05:57] Appropriate but very funny. I mean we could do them in front of kids

[00:06:02] But

[00:06:05] But they were they were all ours and we remembered these skits forever and we still refer to each other by the names like

[00:06:11] if I sent him an email, it's still then one of the names from the skits and

[00:06:15] Things like that. So it was it really though did like when we were on those bosses

[00:06:21] It's one thing to be in my house in the basement doing these skits

[00:06:24] But when we were out in public on the bus

[00:06:26] The the rush that we got or that I got anyway from doing these was like, okay

[00:06:31] Yeah, I could see myself enjoying that so when I went back doing unsolicited

[00:06:36] Skits. Yeah, nobody. Yeah, these people are just trying to get to work and they're like, oh we're doing

[00:06:44] They often although every once in a while we'd get a guy or a gal who would come up and be like you guys should

[00:06:49] Take this on the road. That was really funny

[00:06:52] You know, yeah some people really hated it and wanted us to leave

[00:06:56] It's real that's really of crowd

[00:06:58] That's really like a really unique story that I haven't like I feel like if that would happen today

[00:07:03] Like kids would record it on their phone and maybe go and say watch this

[00:07:07] Tell me what you think but like you had to go out and actually do it

[00:07:10] That's like you do in front of the toughest crowd like you don't know

[00:07:14] Yeah

[00:07:17] That is I thought I just assumed stand-up comedy at a place like the cellar where people just can come and have been drinking all

[00:07:22] The day like this is harder. You don't know you don't know if they're even right for your material. You're just

[00:07:29] Don't even know if they speak English to be honest

[00:07:32] The confidence you need I do have a few questions

[00:07:35] You said we just went we moved you said we grew up on the prairies plural

[00:07:39] Were you moving from Prairie to prayer? Like what was your?

[00:07:43] Doing in

[00:07:45] Canada the prairies basically everything in the middle

[00:07:48] So there's like three or four provinces that are in the middle and so I I started in Edmonton

[00:07:53] Like I said, so that's Alberta sort of like the Badlands kind of thing coming off the Rockies

[00:07:57] And then we lived in Saskatchewan which is dead center

[00:08:00] And that's just wheat as far as you can see and then spend some time in Manitoba as well before you get into the next

[00:08:06] kind of interesting looking range in Ontario, so

[00:08:10] It was my folks divorced very young okay, I was I think I think I was seven

[00:08:18] and we were raised by my I was raised by my dad and

[00:08:22] So he got a job

[00:08:24] We were living in I think Regina when they got divorced and he got a job transfer to Calgary

[00:08:28] Which is where I spent most of my childhood in Calgary. So Calgary fan or Oilers fan Edmonton Oilers, or do you care?

[00:08:35] well, I don't I I

[00:08:38] Did care when I lived there I really bought into it

[00:08:41] But my kid my kid my youngest son is a real basketball fan. Oh, yeah, everything is bass great

[00:08:47] Good. Yeah love to hear that. We both love basketball as well

[00:08:51] Passion for us. Um, have you seen the show letter Kenny?

[00:08:56] That's okay. I got a good letter Kenny story if you I would love to hear but you said rednecks and in my head

[00:09:01] Canadian rednecks are the folks on letter Kenny like that's what that's yeah

[00:09:06] But they talk really fast though, which is different than you know, I'm from South Carolina

[00:09:10] We you know, we pride ourselves on being rednecks and we definitely slow it down some but letter Kenny tends to speed it up

[00:09:17] But that's what I popped in my head. I didn't know if you'd seen it or not, but I love to hear the story

[00:09:21] Well, first I want to make sure do you know those guys? Oh, no Tyler Hines who's been on the show a bunch

[00:09:28] He knows Jared who is the guy that created it and he is

[00:09:33] Goes up and does stuff and like speaks very highly of them, but we've never met them personally

[00:09:38] Okay, so I'll tell you my story cuz what do I care?

[00:09:41] So I was at this restaurant in Toronto and I love this place. I go there all the time and

[00:09:46] It's called bar Isabel a really great Spanish place and I'm sitting at the bar and this guy's beside me and

[00:09:51] The bartender was just doing his job and asking me a few questions and that's what I was doing there said

[00:09:56] Oh, I'm actually from Vancouver just you're doing a quick thing

[00:09:59] I think I was doing a movie out there with Kelly Martin at the time and

[00:10:04] So I

[00:10:06] I'm kind of reluctant to start talking about acting in front of crowds and stuff

[00:10:10] But I don't want to lie about it either. So I was talking to the bartender

[00:10:13] There's a guy beside me heard us talk about that. He's like, oh, yeah, so you would know me then

[00:10:23] No, I'm sorry

[00:10:26] He told me his name and I stand it to this day I don't remember

[00:10:31] Okay, and I'm like, sorry I still he goes you don't know who I am and then he mentioned the show and I'm like

[00:10:37] Story don't know the show and and he was and I'm just an idiot

[00:10:41] I'm the wrong guy to talk to because I don't know any shows and if I did know what I forgot it

[00:10:45] I forget everything and so but he was he was a little tipsy and he was so mad

[00:10:50] He was oh my gosh, so I looked him up when I got back to the hotel and he was one of the guys

[00:10:59] And I just just help your demeanor in the ten minutes I've known you I'm sure it was so kind and just like

[00:11:08] Yeah, I wasn't trying to be rude at all it wasn't I wasn't

[00:11:13] No for me, I don't know. I'm sorry. I wish I did I guess and that's I'm an actor

[00:11:18] You want me to play along? I could be like yeah

[00:11:20] I love what you're doing all the time and that's how he met Tyler Hines. That was crazy story. Yeah, Tyler. Yeah

[00:11:28] It wasn't Tyler

[00:11:31] Create that he just is going up. Yeah, he didn't create of course help

[00:11:34] So you do the skits you talk to your mommy mom says I think that's acting

[00:11:39] What's what's next because you you you're no longer doing school. No, but he went back. He went back for acting

[00:11:45] I I did go back actually a little segue

[00:11:49] So the first thing I did is I didn't know that acting required schooling. I just figured oh, I'll take an acting class. So I

[00:11:57] Was in and out of my father's house at the time. We we had a tempestuous relationship. So I was

[00:12:02] Not on board. I'm sorry to interrupt you. He was not on board with acting

[00:12:06] No

[00:12:07] Not he wasn't he wasn't at least in the beginning

[00:12:10] No, eventually he got on board but in the beginning did you just thought it was the silliest thing in the world

[00:12:16] I remember when I told him he's like, oh, let me get this straight. You want to be the next Tom Cruise?

[00:12:20] Is that it and I was just like it's not such a bad thing

[00:12:27] But um, so I I

[00:12:30] found an acting class across the street from where my father lived at the time and

[00:12:36] I just signed up and it was this little sweet old lady's house

[00:12:40] She had a couple she was a hippie lady and her husband was a hippie dude

[00:12:43] and he taught piano lessons upstairs and she taught acting lessons downstairs and

[00:12:48] So I joined and I was all of about four or five classes and we did a performance

[00:12:53] For everybody's families and stuff and I was hooked from that point on and then they all told me no

[00:12:59] You need to go back to school

[00:13:00] You need to get you know

[00:13:02] Get back to university or college or whatever and go to a proper theater school and learn how to do it

[00:13:06] Right, and and that's what I did. What was the moment where you were like I'm doing like what was the thing?

[00:13:11] What was the role that you got the audition you went on the play you did in university?

[00:13:16] Whatever it was. What was the thing where you're like, yeah, this is this is freaking it right here. I'm an actor

[00:13:22] This is what I'm doing come hell or high water

[00:13:26] Okay

[00:13:26] I think the best answer for that was at right after I finished theater school loved theater and I really enjoyed it

[00:13:32] I bought in hook line and sinker all the academic classes

[00:13:35] I

[00:13:36] It's like I just turned a switch on in my head and I went from being a lousy

[00:13:39] Student to being a good student because I really liked what I was doing. Not just the acting part even even the academic classes

[00:13:47] But when we got out, I always had the whole way through

[00:13:51] Theater school I had a giant Achilles heel and that's where the redneck part comes in because I had no idea how to sing

[00:13:57] I couldn't sing I couldn't carry a tune

[00:13:59] My family used to joke that we were all tone-deaf

[00:14:03] So even though I'd done some leads and musicals while I was in school and during you know theater in the summertime and summer stock

[00:14:11] It was bad. I'm not a good singer and I when I as soon as I got out of a theater program

[00:14:17] I was like, I should probably focus my efforts on film because I'm to make it in theater

[00:14:23] I didn't want to be broke broke

[00:14:25] So I was like if you're gonna go into theater, you really got to be able to dance

[00:14:29] You got to be able to sing and you got to be able to act and I could probably tackle

[00:14:33] Dancing if I worked really hard acting is fine, but singing no chance. So I

[00:14:39] did a I

[00:14:41] kept looking for film auditions and

[00:14:44] This one casting director in Calgary actually

[00:14:48] Had put in a call to our school and said hey, do you have anybody that might be right for this port?

[00:14:54] she was just throwing a large net out and they threw my name in so I went in for an audition and

[00:15:01] it was

[00:15:02] It was oh

[00:15:04] Gosh, it was really cheesy and I cheesed the heck out of it

[00:15:07] I did all the worst things. So it was a call for a guy

[00:15:12] It was like a ranch hand on a cowboy kind of show, but he was supposed to be a motorcycle guy

[00:15:17] so I drove up on my

[00:15:19] Motorcycle and I went in I was wearing all my motorcycle stuff and then he's supposed to be a real jerk

[00:15:24] like a real jerk this guy and at the end of the scene I

[00:15:29] Decided because he's supposed to make an advance on this girl an unwanted advance. So you can't do that

[00:15:34] So I was like, well, I'll just take my shirt off and I took my shirt off and I kind of threw it at her

[00:15:39] It was such an arrogant

[00:15:41] Horrible thing to do but it got me the part because she was like, oh my god

[00:15:46] You are this guy and they were and there was the first film audition

[00:15:50] I'd ever done and and I got a series out of it and

[00:15:53] They called us

[00:15:56] I think a day or two later and said hey, are you ready to go and shoot this?

[00:15:59] Like can you do this and I was like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can do it

[00:16:03] And then and then they called me back two days later and said no you're just you're to degree in the producers are worried about

[00:16:09] You know

[00:16:11] Going a different direction. I was like, I was so bummed and then two days later

[00:16:15] They called again and said actually they really want to meet you

[00:16:18] They can't find anybody else that they like so I drove up there and it was really about

[00:16:25] Whether or not I was that big a jerk

[00:16:27] Like if I if I was the kind of guy that really just takes his shirt off and throws it at somebody

[00:16:31] They were worried that I was a you know a bad dude

[00:16:34] So we met we talked and before they by the end of the meeting

[00:16:37] He pushed a contract in front of my face and I signed

[00:16:40] Wow

[00:16:41] Just like that just like that believable. It's pretty good, right? That's pretty good

[00:16:46] You mentioned that growing up your family wasn't like big into the arts not a lot of

[00:16:51] Movies or music or anything like that when he decided, you know

[00:16:55] You want to act and you decide that maybe film or TV is a thing

[00:16:58] Did you like just start consuming a bunch of TV and movies like what what were you turning to to kind of be like I

[00:17:05] Like what this guy does and I like was there anything that stuck out to you?

[00:17:09] It's like I want to be like this actor or anything like that. Yeah

[00:17:13] I I mean, I liked movies as a kid growing up. I was a sci-fi guy

[00:17:17] I liked Star Wars and all that stuff, but I I remember going when I started back at theater school

[00:17:24] I remember the girlfriend that I was dating at the time

[00:17:26] she and I went to this little art house theater was her idea and

[00:17:30] Kind of cool room and everything and we watched Casablanca and I'm like, oh man

[00:17:36] And like that's cool

[00:17:38] like it's just all the the the feel of it and the and the whole aura and the lines and the

[00:17:45] Costumes the music the sound I just bought in. I was like, this is so cool. And

[00:17:50] So there wasn't a ton of that in my life

[00:17:56] Up to that point, but then once I got into theater school a few of the academic classes were sort of

[00:18:04] They kind of played well with a lot of the acting classes

[00:18:06] So they do like classics literature poetry stuff like that that kind of was related to some of the old

[00:18:12] you know the Greek tragedies and stuff like that and

[00:18:15] so I I loved all that stuff and

[00:18:18] I would lie to the teachers if I hadn't read these books. I'd be like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of course

[00:18:23] I read of course I read it and just trying to get a laugh out of the other kids in the class

[00:18:27] but then when I finished the school, I was like I

[00:18:30] Should probably read those books. So I started so I started reading all these famous books and stuff from you know around

[00:18:37] 1900 and stuff and moving forward and I just I

[00:18:40] started reading old plays and I started reading old screenplays and watching old movies and

[00:18:45] Before I knew it I was you know

[00:18:47] And I found modern people artsy fartsy guys like David Lynch and weird wild stuff and just fell in love with so

[00:19:03] So you get you get out of school and you get this job immediately you get this series

[00:19:09] Were you still since you weren't living with your dad?

[00:19:12] Were you still like supplementing income like bartending waiting tables doing all that grinding going on auditions? That was kind of the process. I

[00:19:20] Was very lucky because I had literally just got out of theater school and my father was letting me

[00:19:26] I kind of lived with him and a little bit with my girlfriend. It was rocky, but we made it work. I had a job

[00:19:34] Bartending very briefly. I was the world's worst bartender

[00:19:38] But my father actually ended up hiring me for a while

[00:19:42] his his secretary quit and

[00:19:45] He was a business guy and I just worked the phones for a couple of weeks when I got out of school

[00:19:50] and

[00:19:51] That was kinda it was kind of it. It's the only real job I had

[00:19:56] until

[00:19:58] After so the job that series didn't go for long went for one season

[00:20:02] But it got me an agent got me a bank account some money

[00:20:04] so got me some money and so I moved to Vancouver and started spending more time in LA and

[00:20:12] Then I went broke and then I had to get a job job

[00:20:15] So I bartended for two more years in in sort of like 95 96 and

[00:20:24] That was it goes and I was again

[00:20:26] I remembered how bad I was worst bartender you ever saw I wanted to close my section every night didn't care about the money

[00:20:32] just just hated the job and

[00:20:35] And so when that when that ended, that's the only the only other job I've ever done Wow

[00:20:41] I I just realized something in

[00:20:44] 94 95 96 you're starting your acting career and also there's a guy named Kevin Smith

[00:20:50] Who has made one of the most important independent films because of what I meant to other independent filmmakers

[00:20:56] And he's bursting on the scene with clerks and then he gets to write mall rats chasing Amy did that

[00:21:02] Yeah, so clever Kevin Smith Kevin Smith. Did that cause any confusion as you were trying to get jobs?

[00:21:10] No, not really

[00:21:13] The most confusion that I ever got was people just not being able to pronounce my name no one no one you guys got it

[00:21:18] Right. I'm

[00:21:19] Pascal you must have listened to her say it or something because no one ever gets my name, right?

[00:21:23] We did the best we can cave on. Thank you for joining us

[00:21:29] Quick funny story so why I go to the coffee shop with my kid one time my eldest son and

[00:21:36] Anytime I order a coffee they're like what's the name? I always say Kevin

[00:21:39] I just say Kevin cuz it's easy. It's easier. So he says to me he's like dad

[00:21:43] Why are you saying Kevin your name is Kevin? It doesn't make sense. Like why are you embarrassed about your name? I'm like no, it's not

[00:21:51] Okay, excuse me miss. Could you it's actually cabin and she's like Calvin like no, it's Kevin

[00:21:57] Heaven no haven't Calvin. No Gavin. No, so I look at my son. I'm like he goes. Okay dad

[00:22:03] It's all I need say no more say no more

[00:22:07] Easy it's easy. That's great easy

[00:22:10] How often so you mentioned that you spent some time in LA?

[00:22:13] Did you ever actually moved to LA and tried to do the whole LA thing pilot season? Yeah, how was that?

[00:22:19] Yeah, I did. I did pilot season a bunch of times

[00:22:22] I ended up moving to Los Angeles and I was there on and off for probably about five or six years and

[00:22:29] I did it the wrong way

[00:22:31] There are a lot of the guys that I know that have done really well just go and never come back and and I guess

[00:22:38] That just wasn't

[00:22:40] Destined to be my way. I would go until I ran out of money and I didn't want to get a Joe job

[00:22:45] I did it all legally with old with work permits and everything like that. So I couldn't get just regular jobs

[00:22:50] I had to you know stick to the the acting gigs and my first

[00:22:55] Time going down. I was hooked up through a friend with this other guy

[00:23:00] Who was looking for a roommate and I

[00:23:03] moved in with this guy and we became we're still best friends to this day and

[00:23:09] And neither of us like the guy that set us up. That's funny

[00:23:13] Yeah, it's pretty ironic, but I I would go down and I would spend four or five months

[00:23:17] I remember the first pilot season I tested nine times

[00:23:20] I did nine screen tests and none of them worked out but that's back when it was like

[00:23:26] It was just like a feeding frenzy and I was doing, you know five auditions a day every day for four months and it's insane

[00:23:34] Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot

[00:23:36] It's a lot of a memorably bad audition story. Like were you just oh god. Yeah

[00:23:42] So many so many I mean literally so many but I have I do have there is one that kind of shook me for a while

[00:23:50] and actually

[00:23:51] Sort of squeezed my confidence out of me for a while. It was for Battlestar Galactic

[00:23:56] Oh, wow, and I got a I got a call

[00:24:00] And and it was right after I had just done this pilot and the pilot was supposed to do it was really great

[00:24:06] It was gonna be we were told we were picked up. We were picked up

[00:24:08] We were picked up and then the night before the announcements they said oh, it's too expensive

[00:24:12] We didn't get picked up and then there was a writer strike and then there was nothing and I was broke

[00:24:17] And I just went out and made a quintessential actors mistake and I bought myself a brand new car

[00:24:22] So I was like, oh I need this job. So I get a call from my agent

[00:24:27] This is several months later and nothing is happening and she's like they really want you for this job

[00:24:34] They just want to they just want to meet you. So I was like, oh, that's great. That's fantastic. I need a series and then

[00:24:39] Day goes by I get a call about seven and they're like listen, I don't think they're gonna have you audition

[00:24:45] But just in case I'm gonna send you the sides. I'm like, oh god

[00:24:49] So this I they sent me the sides and it was a two-page monologue

[00:24:53] Oh side to side top to top all all technical job

[00:24:58] Basically, I'm describing the low-tech

[00:25:02] Computer components of how this whole thing works. Oh my gosh

[00:25:06] Oh, it was the worst. I'm I can do lines fairly well, but I need at least three days

[00:25:10] my brain is a three-day brain I just it just takes that long to get there and

[00:25:15] I stayed up all night and I was just walking in circles trying to get this done

[00:25:19] So I and it's of course the auditions first thing the next morning. I get there

[00:25:23] It's slammed with a bunch of people. I know all the guys I compete against and right away that I go

[00:25:28] Kevin come on. They want to meet you. Come on. They're so excited. I go in there

[00:25:31] There's ten guys or ten people and they're like, oh, I'm so excited

[00:25:35] Or ten people and this way say hi to everybody we're

[00:25:39] Joking, we're having fun and a whole time in the back of my mind

[00:25:42] I'm like and it just as I'm about to walk out there like oh, hey

[00:25:47] Did you get a chance to see the sides the the lines? I'm like, yeah

[00:25:51] Yeah, I did and right before I'd come into the room

[00:25:56] I had run it in my head and it was like if I got the first line

[00:26:00] I was good and then I could kind of BS my way through the rest

[00:26:05] But then the next time I tried I'd get the first two words out and then gone like just gone all of it nothing

[00:26:11] So I I went in there and I'm like, yeah, I know it and I'm like, okay

[00:26:14] Well, would you mind I'm like no not at all. So the guy who's the reader just says well

[00:26:19] It's just a big monologue. So I won't be involved just whenever you're ready and I'm like, okay

[00:26:23] And I read the first

[00:26:26] couple of words and I lost them and I was and then it wasn't just a little lost like he was gone and

[00:26:33] The guy who was the main producer he talked me up to everybody's like all happens great you're gonna love him. He's so good

[00:26:39] He's so I ended up having to read the whole to pay and my voice was cracking

[00:26:45] My lips were shaking. I was terrible. I tanked and

[00:26:49] so I got to the end of it and

[00:26:53] The guy gets up and he's like listen, yeah, that was rough

[00:26:56] But I know that you can do this you can memorize lines. You've been on lots of shows. That's not the problem

[00:27:03] Why don't you just tell us the story just tell us the story?

[00:27:05] I was like great, but it's two pages of technical chart and like I'm basically telling you how this machine works

[00:27:12] And you can't lie or bluff your way through it. So I I started again

[00:27:16] I got a few lines out properly in the beginning, but then I went blank again. I just read it again

[00:27:21] Oh, it was terrible. It was

[00:27:23] Wrenching

[00:27:30] I'd love a funny one

[00:27:32] Cleanser for you. If not, yeah, you should have said after you messed it up the second time

[00:27:37] But you put me on a city bus in Canada. I will destroy this

[00:27:43] But so this this one was for outer limits

[00:27:47] I did a few outer limits and this is I think my first one was with a Melissa Melissa Milano and

[00:27:52] The is an audition so I went in and it was an atco trailer

[00:27:56] so super thin walls all the other actors can hear every line you say every word you say and

[00:28:03] The idea is is that my character is a football player and she's an alien

[00:28:09] We start kissing and making out and then we have sex and then she eats me. She sort of consumes my body

[00:28:21] You guys can so I did so I

[00:28:24] There's a scene in the beginning. So I do the scene part. That's fine

[00:28:27] no problem, and then we get to the you know, the making out part on the sex part and that's pretty awkward and it's

[00:28:35] Done

[00:28:40] Embarrassing but I need you to kind of go for it

[00:28:42] So the scene part was great

[00:28:43] But then just you know really get into the sex part really get into the dying part because we're gonna do this with the you

[00:28:49] Know the earliest early days of CGI and I was like, okay

[00:28:53] So I did it again, but only kind of half committed again and he made me do it again

[00:28:58] And this time he's like I need to see your physique because we'll be doing this

[00:29:02] Mine taking your shirt off and I was like back then there wasn't a lot of thought on that yet

[00:29:07] It was just like oh, I guess okay. Yeah, and

[00:29:10] so I did and

[00:29:12] So we did it again and again and again

[00:29:16] And then finally finally he says to me he's like have you ever seen that movie when Harry met Sally

[00:29:23] When she's faking the orgasm in the restaurant because that's what I want

[00:29:28] Okay, okay, so I I go for it as much as I keep in mind I'm just a kid I was probably

[00:29:35] 24

[00:29:37] We want to go ahead and play

[00:29:45] Mortified by the end of it

[00:29:47] I walked out the atco trailers by the other actors and I didn't even bother putting my shirt on I just dragged it out with

[00:29:53] Me and left I got back to my house and oddly enough. I got a phone call and they're like, hey

[00:29:59] So they really liked what you did, but they were wondering if you could come back and do it more masculine

[00:30:07] Oh my god, it was so humiliating I ended up getting

[00:30:15] Can you play Meg Ryan from when Harry met Sally

[00:30:19] More masculine if you can believe it that is wild. That is that's fantastic

[00:30:27] What um, what what happened to the car you bought oh

[00:30:31] I I definitely had to take that back right? Yeah. Yeah, it was an Audi and they were very

[00:30:38] Drive those off the lot you're in big trouble, but apparently the Audi dealership in Los Angeles not their first time

[00:30:43] I'm sure not this one was this one was in North Vancouver

[00:30:47] There it is Canadian that makes a lot more

[00:30:50] Kevin you're in

[00:30:52] Mission to Mars and you are yes by the by IMDb which could be wrong seven or eight on the call sheet

[00:30:57] So not a nothing like show up effect like you're in it and this is this is heavy hitters. This is Tim Robbins

[00:31:04] Don Cheadle Connie Nielsen Jerry O'Connell and it's Brian De Palma

[00:31:09] Directing like legendary Brian De Palma directing and so I don't ever like to do the what was it like working with?

[00:31:17] But this is an exception. I feel like I have to ask you this question

[00:31:21] What was it like working on a film directed by Brian De Palma?

[00:31:26] It was really interesting like it was I mean, he's a legend and to go in there

[00:31:32] Again, I was still quite young and you know, Tim Robbins Gary sneeze Don Cheadle

[00:31:37] I mean, these are these are big dudes, you know and

[00:31:42] It was it was a little overwhelming and I happened to know I was quite good friends with two other

[00:31:49] actors on the show to other Canadians I knew quite well and

[00:31:52] It was

[00:31:55] Interesting to be on at the time if I'm not mistaken it was

[00:31:59] one of the top

[00:32:01] like top two or three biggest budget movies ever shot Wow and

[00:32:05] like a huge massive hundred plus million dollars at the time or 200 was a lot and

[00:32:11] It was wild to watch it was interesting

[00:32:15] Ryan was an older guy by this point and pretty set in his ways and he could be Kent

[00:32:20] he could be Kent anchorus which was really intimidating because you just want to do a good job and and then there was some

[00:32:28] It was it was really interesting

[00:32:30] It was a good experience in the end

[00:32:31] but it ended up being not a great movie and you could see why it was a Disney movie and

[00:32:36] Why Brian De Palma's acting at Disney is beyond me?

[00:32:39] Well, I remember it being PG and I was allowed to go watch it

[00:32:42] Which I when I saw the first trailer before it was rated

[00:32:45] I was like well, there's no way my parents are gonna let me see that and then it was a PG Disney movie

[00:32:50] Directed by Brian De Palma and I just there's a there's definitely a clash of themes. Yeah, I was happening there

[00:32:58] Yeah, and but I mean, you know, you got to work for that guy

[00:33:02] You have that story now of you know, 100% 100% for my friends for my close friends

[00:33:08] I know there are many other stories

[00:33:12] We were just hanging out at a bar, I think I'd get a better I think I'd get that was great

[00:33:17] I think I'd get even more good stuff there. So we got to hang out at some point. I guess that's on the agenda. Yeah

[00:33:23] So you you you would go to LA you did some pilot scenes you did all that

[00:33:27] Do you remember what was the the project whether it be a series regular role or a movie or something?

[00:33:33] Where you could finally like breathe a little bit as an actor where you finally went

[00:33:38] Okay, I think I think I can actually be okay for a little bit. I

[00:33:45] I don't know if that ever really happens to be quite honest with you. I I think financially speaking I

[00:33:53] Did a movie the movie I did I did it was actually another Mars movie. It was originally called mission to Mars before

[00:34:00] The the De Palma one took over but it was it ended up being called

[00:34:04] I think escape from Mars and we shot it just the year before mission to Mars, but

[00:34:07] That one paid enough that it was I could quit bartending

[00:34:12] Which was huge for me and then it gave me some confidence moving forward that I okay

[00:34:20] I'm actually a professional at this now and I I can make enough money to survive and build a bit of a future

[00:34:27] There were there were there were some other ones I was I was recurring a lot

[00:34:31] I you know, I've done series leads on stuff

[00:34:34] You know, I've done series leads on stuff

[00:34:36] But I was really big on recurring things and I'd be on three or four shows at a time

[00:34:41] So it was never one show like I remember I was recurring on

[00:34:46] 4400 Stargate and Eureka all at the same time. That was my question

[00:34:50] You have 4400 Stargate and Eureka you combined to about 70 some episodes there

[00:34:55] So yeah, that's pretty for being recurring. That's a really regular paycheck if you're doing all three of those. Yeah, that's a lot

[00:35:03] Yeah, it is. It definitely made a big change in me. I got more confident

[00:35:09] I was able to do regular things like buy a house and pay a mortgage and do those sort of things

[00:35:16] So you felt like a real professional?

[00:35:18] And you know doing that many episodes especially on different shows with different people and different crews you learn a lot

[00:35:26] You know, you're always working with new people different styles different directors

[00:35:31] Different actors and you see a lot you sort of absorb a lot more we've we've not seen Eureka

[00:35:38] The two of you that you don't see on screen. However, we have been told by producer Aaron

[00:35:45] The you know who produces everything for us

[00:35:49] There if we don't ask about Eureka that she's Aaron would you like to ask about you like to ask about Eureka?

[00:35:55] Would you like to say Aaron?

[00:35:57] Ask me anything

[00:35:59] Questions it's just it was a huge show for me when I was in college

[00:36:04] Deputy Andy is phenomenal. There are a lot of times where I'm watching when calls the heart and I am picturing deputy Andy

[00:36:14] So that would be a fun crossover for me

[00:36:19] There's a lot of when cause the heart I mean, oh my god hallmark actors from there now like Nile maters on there

[00:36:26] Mm-hmm Colin Ferguson has been on a few home

[00:36:30] I can't think of her name, but Nile maters love interest on Eureka. She just did one with Victor Webster last Christmas

[00:36:37] So Erica Sarah. Yeah

[00:36:39] I mean

[00:36:40] Have you had a chance to work with any of them in the hallmark realm or you know?

[00:36:44] Would you like to revisit the kind of the Eureka cast in the hallmark world?

[00:36:48] Well, I first of all, I'll say that I loved working on that show. That was a character

[00:36:53] It's the first time since I got out of theater really where I did something that was very against type

[00:36:58] It was a I'll fill you guys in he was a robot

[00:37:01] He was a basically a robot who had a love affair with a house computer and he was just the most earnest

[00:37:08] sweet innocent guy you could ever imagine and

[00:37:12] He was so much fun to play. It was so

[00:37:16] different than anything I'd ever done before and

[00:37:18] And

[00:37:20] So that show I got a lot out of Eureka. I really really enjoyed that as an actor and then

[00:37:27] Nile and I are still friends and Colin and I are still friends and

[00:37:32] Hallmark used to do this thing

[00:37:33] I don't know if this is a budget thing or not

[00:37:35] But they used to have these things they call TCAs and we would come down two or three times a year and we would do

[00:37:41] some

[00:37:43] Yeah, it's just up front yeah and

[00:37:46] So but they don't do those right now

[00:37:48] so but every time we would call on and Nile and I would get together and

[00:37:53] Relive some old Eureka stories. That's fun. Super fun. So if a robot was gonna have sex

[00:37:58] So, how would it if you could really sell it? We'll be clear

[00:38:02] Yeah, but if we're gonna need you to be more masculine

[00:38:20] Let's venture into Hallmark

[00:38:23] How did what was your first role with Hallmark? How did you kind of enter into the the Hallmark world?

[00:38:29] Well, I did it before I got

[00:38:31] When calls I had done I think maybe two or three

[00:38:36] Movies all going way back like just sporadically over my career. I think the first one I did was with

[00:38:43] It's called growing the big one. Oh my gosh

[00:38:47] Yeah, the most unfortunate title. I couldn't believe they kept it is a wild movie

[00:38:53] Yeah, I have no questions Kevin. I have no questions about that movie because you see

[00:39:00] He's a giant pumpkin right? They're trying to grow. Yeah

[00:39:05] Because of Hallmark movie drama

[00:39:06] I see we had to watch every movie that every wind calls the heart star had done to rank them the top ten

[00:39:13] Yeah

[00:39:14] Growing the big one growing the big one

[00:39:17] The one it was actually, you know, it actually was a lot of fun

[00:39:21] It was it was a good time

[00:39:24] Gosh what's her name again? I don't know that I know. Hello. It's me Kelly Martin. That's a more serious movie

[00:39:30] That is not growing the big one. That is a much more serious film

[00:39:33] Yeah, that is that was I think maybe the second one I had done Shane and already Kelly is

[00:39:40] We had a great time on that show she's a she's a firecracker

[00:39:45] But we got along great and then the and then when I worked with Kelly Martin, she was she's unbelievable

[00:39:51] She's so nice and and we got she's such an easy

[00:39:55] Person to hang with and I like to improv on set

[00:39:59] She was cool with that

[00:40:00] But that one was we shot that one in Toronto and that is where I was shooting that one when that guy from Letterkenny

[00:40:08] That's the movie I was shooting you don't know me that's fantastic

[00:40:15] I love it. Yeah, I love that for him and for us. Yeah for sure

[00:40:20] Let's talk when calls the heart

[00:40:23] Okay

[00:40:24] How'd you get the the role obviously?

[00:40:27] You come in at a what what what season it's three

[00:40:31] I think I've been on there over a hundred episodes to to to I started at the beginning of season two. Yeah, so

[00:40:39] Tell me about what what you auditioned for was it?

[00:40:43] Supposed to be what it into what you ended up being as Lee or how did that all come come to happen?

[00:40:49] Well Pascal had done

[00:40:52] One episode or two episodes at the very end of season one and they wanted to keep her on the show

[00:40:57] so they wanted to find some kind of a

[00:41:00] love interest for her so

[00:41:03] my agent

[00:41:05] Asked me to read for it

[00:41:06] And I said no because that show didn't make any sense to me and then she asked me again and I say oh

[00:41:12] Yeah

[00:41:18] Finally she called me one more time and she says listen the guy who's directing the first couple episodes is Neil Fernley

[00:41:24] he was a he actually was the guy that was directed the first Mars movie I did and

[00:41:29] He and I got along great. He

[00:41:32] you know

[00:41:34] Through the channel said please come in. It's just please come in and do this

[00:41:37] So I was like, okay, I'll read and he told me when I got there

[00:41:40] We're just trying to see if there's any connection between you and Pascal

[00:41:43] I knew Pascal because she was on the 4400 for a few episodes and that so we had met there and

[00:41:48] I was like, all right. All right. Okay, so we did it and

[00:41:53] hi, so I got the job and

[00:41:56] Basically what they had told me is sort of what he was and what they wanted to do

[00:42:01] and

[00:42:03] I guess it would have been on my

[00:42:06] Maybe second episode or something. I still didn't I'll be honest. I didn't quite understand

[00:42:11] Didn't I didn't I didn't quite get it?

[00:42:14] so I was just remember I was off the side and I just had this perplexed look on my face like what and

[00:42:21] Martin Cummins who plays Gowen came over to me and said yeah, he's like I know

[00:42:27] Don't ever quit this show

[00:42:28] Don't ever quit this show and I was like, I'm not that I was I'm not in a position

[00:42:32] Not the kind of actor that quits shows. I don't have that career

[00:42:35] So I was like, okay why and he's like cuz this show's gonna go for a long time

[00:42:39] He's gonna go for a while. I I was like really based on what?

[00:42:45] I'm watching this and he was like the fans he goes these there. There's a group of fans that have that have

[00:42:51] Caught wind of the show and grabbed hold of the show called the Hardee's and I was like

[00:42:56] Okay, I guess it's a pretty good name considering when calls the heart, but I didn't know anything about it and

[00:43:02] I still actually still to this day

[00:43:05] I can't believe the only reason the show is still a show is because the Hardy's that's calm down a lot, right?

[00:43:14] Martin's like you think this shows it makes sense. I do Riverdale and if you could

[00:43:20] About Riverdale you'll be like, oh this is I love her Martin Cummins is just spitting sage advice

[00:43:27] Regardless of if he's on set or offset. He's just you know, we've not talked to him

[00:43:31] But he's not our less man. Just fantastic. Yeah, that's great. No, he's great and it was very

[00:43:38] That actually made me what you just said about Riverdale. I

[00:43:42] That's one of the things that helped me get through those first few seasons

[00:43:46] Because they really didn't make a whole lot of sense

[00:43:48] I didn't know where we were or what we were doing on the show and I

[00:43:52] Don't watch a lot of television my so my wife sat me down and she's like watch some of this stuff

[00:43:56] so we just watched some episodic television and

[00:44:00] So much of it you don't know what's happening like it's like what is this?

[00:44:05] So actually I'm like, you know what our little show is it's not so bad

[00:44:08] It's I mean I started to buy into it a little bit more

[00:44:12] wholeheartedly and then a weird thing happened is that after

[00:44:17] You know five six episodes in into my first season

[00:44:21] Pascal and I became

[00:44:22] Good friends and then our families became good friends

[00:44:25] and then I got to know Aaron a bit better and I got to know all the guys and Jack and and then

[00:44:31] We became a family and you we get paid to hang out as a group

[00:44:36] And I'm sure everybody that you've talked to says the same thing and but it's no less true

[00:44:40] I've done I've been doing this for a long time

[00:44:42] I've been on a lot of shows and I could count on two fingers how many

[00:44:47] Casts I've been including crew as well shows. I've been on where people get along like this. It's just

[00:44:52] It stems from Aaron because she's super nice and she's number one and if number one is awesome

[00:44:58] you can't get away with anybody else being a jerk so everybody else a trickle-down effect, but

[00:45:05] It's it's like everybody is super tight

[00:45:09] It's pretty cool. You can tell and I think for us we've seen every episode of this television program

[00:45:15] I think the thing about Lee and Rosemary that is so great

[00:45:20] Is is that and I asked Pascal a similar question, but and I the way I phrased it

[00:45:25] Sounded like I was trying to make a dig and I'm not but like in the Big Bang Theory

[00:45:30] They just try to find ways for Sheldon to be in predicaments

[00:45:34] It's like well

[00:45:35] How do we make Sheldon get upset because he has to drive a car or he can't control the germs or whatever and what happened is?

[00:45:43] Somewhere along the way when calls the heart

[00:45:45] You and Rosemary became that couple that they could just fluctuate

[00:45:51] Because you have this very like Rosemary has a very serious and Pascal crushes this

[00:45:57] I don't know if I can have kids you guys are amazing, but then it's like what if we have them run a newspaper?

[00:46:03] What if we haven't run the bar? What if we have him be mayor?

[00:46:05] What if we have him you know have this lumber company? What if we have them?

[00:46:09] negotiating deals with the mayors of other

[00:46:11] Do you just walk in and go as long as Pascal and I are on screen we'll make it work

[00:46:16] Don't worry about that 100. Yes

[00:46:19] percent yes, but literally that's we have these phone calls with the writers every year and

[00:46:25] When they ask what they pitch their ideas to me, and I have a couple ideas

[00:46:28] I'm just like basically if you put Alan I a room and put a camera on us

[00:46:33] We'll find a way to make it work

[00:46:34] And yeah, and we really I mean I need to branch out more and start doing scenes with other people

[00:46:40] But my favorite thing to do like so we as we had a scene

[00:46:44] We just talked about I think it aired last week or the week before and we're sitting on a couch in our house

[00:46:49] And we're just talking and it is it was written as such a simple scene not much happens

[00:46:55] And we just started riffing and then the director was like yeah, I love it keep going keep going

[00:46:59] So we just kept going and it just got wilder and wilder and that is so fun

[00:47:05] And and because we get along so well, there's a lot of trust

[00:47:10] There's like she lets me go wherever I want to go and follows me

[00:47:14] She doesn't break character, and then I let her do the same and you know it's it's it's pretty cool

[00:47:19] I can just say from personal experience as someone who watches the show

[00:47:22] And I'm not I'm not the target demo or audience for it last week

[00:47:27] You know so much of this show is like all right

[00:47:29] Just kiss already Nathan and Elizabeth or like just whatever like Benson Hills like what are we doing?

[00:47:34] It's a mountain like it said you guys didn't want to resort now you do

[00:47:37] But all of a sudden we get to this point in this show last week where you become mayor

[00:47:43] And it's like almost a Laurel and Hardy bit

[00:47:45] You're just like I don't bit and then your mayor and then yeah, you open the door to the newspaper offices

[00:47:52] And you have to tell your wife who you said we're gonna slow down. Here's how I know yeah slow down

[00:47:59] I bought a bar

[00:48:02] And and you have to come in and go you know how I bought that bar

[00:48:06] And I've already bartended several times which I told you I wouldn't do I'm now

[00:48:10] I'm now mayor and as you walked in as someone who by all accounts don't go listen to the episodes

[00:48:16] But by all accounts doesn't like the show I literally said to Brandon as we're watching it

[00:48:19] This is gonna be good because I know I know what's like

[00:48:23] I know what's happening you guys are gonna get to play

[00:48:26] And it's very evident that that like the show is best when it lets great actors

[00:48:32] Just play you know what I mean like it's very clear that you guys have earned that trust to be that

[00:48:39] Kind of almost a catch-all for this like if they need comedy if everything gets too serious

[00:48:44] Lee and Rosemary will bring the hijinks if they need serious because this other stuff is all lovey-dovey and and

[00:48:51] Lucas and and Elizabeth are engaged and everything's going great well

[00:48:55] Let's have this storyline where can they get to infertility so like it?

[00:49:00] And you guys you just never you look so comfortable you relish those those just oscillations those giant

[00:49:07] Oscillations from one plot point to another and you take it with such a plum like you just tackle it

[00:49:12] And that's so admirable, and you guys are clearly having the time of your life. Oh, thank you

[00:49:17] And but you know it's so funny as you say that that is literally what we

[00:49:23] Pitch every year like that. Well. That is what we want

[00:49:27] We want to be able because she and I laugh our asses off

[00:49:31] Literally every day all day, and that's it's great, but you have to have

[00:49:36] The yin to the yang so what we love is to be able to do comedy and to be able to kind of have some levity

[00:49:42] To this show that would otherwise be heavy

[00:49:44] But then balance it all out with heartfelt moments like real real heart where you can actually see that there because if they're just

[00:49:52] Comedy, then it's their farcical and it's only one-dimensional

[00:49:56] But if they're if they can also really do like all the stuff with the kid and the fertility and you know where they're going

[00:50:01] With their lives all that stuff. It's relatable, and it's kind of real and it makes the comedy a little less farcical

[00:50:08] And you're like okay, I get it they're doing Dizzy and Lucy and it's great

[00:50:12] But but I'll allow it because I know that when something real happens. They can go there, too

[00:50:18] Yeah, is there anything that you haven't gotten to do on?

[00:50:22] one calls in your many

[00:50:24] Seasons that you hope to do maybe it happens this season or in just in the future that you would like to do with this

[00:50:31] Lee character

[00:50:35] Well, I really like the stuff with the kid

[00:50:37] I mean, it's a long time coming Pascal champion that I'm kind of older and I wasn't sure if I wanted to work with babies

[00:50:43] Again, but Mike if my kids are kind of grow mostly grown up and I forgot how much I missed

[00:50:50] Babies like it was really it was really sweet

[00:50:52] So I like I hope that the kid still likes being on our show and I and I hope we do some more of that

[00:50:57] stuff on a more superficial level they

[00:51:00] Might my entrance to the first episode that I did is on a motorcycle, right and it's not really a motorcycle

[00:51:07] it's a bicycle that they put a little electric motor in but

[00:51:11] I've been asking to get the motorcycle back because I've rid motorcycles my whole life and I want I

[00:51:17] They've given the bike to almost everybody else in town and I would like lead to get the motorcycle back at some. Yeah

[00:51:24] Didn't you sell the bike to Jesse and then he left?

[00:51:27] That's right. Yeah

[00:51:29] Jesse drives around in that motorcycle all episode and then has the audacity to get mad when it runs out of gas and he stuck

[00:51:36] And I was like buddy. Come on man to brain cells rub them together. Let's go

[00:51:43] Learn something new every day

[00:51:47] Are you

[00:51:48] You you tell about Martin and season two telling you about the Hardys. Are you still I?

[00:51:54] Somehow I'm still surprised when something happens to see the response

[00:52:00] Are you still surprised do things still happen where you go boy?

[00:52:04] I just didn't see this response. How are you are or are you just not that in tune with what the Hardys are are talking about?

[00:52:12] Well, I'm definitely out of tune as far as my social engagement. It's not my fourth day

[00:52:18] I'm not very good at it and I don't I don't read it whether it's good or bad

[00:52:23] Because I I don't know that it's good for my mental health

[00:52:26] So I I don't I post stuff about the show and I try to show the fans that I care and that I appreciate their

[00:52:32] Involvement, but I'm I'm always trying to get my kids off social media and I don't want a dad that's sitting there doing all that

[00:52:39] So so I'm a little bit disengaged, but I also I also come from

[00:52:45] Sci-fi I've done a fair bit of sci-fi and I did a few conventions when I was young and I I've seen you know

[00:52:51] rabid fans and I know what that's like and I would say the Hardys are like the

[00:52:56] the kindest version of the

[00:53:00] Like their fans because of the nature of the show the nature of the show being community coming together

[00:53:06] and not being driven apart and not fighting and war guns or violence or sex but

[00:53:12] they're fans because of the sense of community and

[00:53:17] and I

[00:53:20] Over the years I've come to accept that that's why they're all there and that they kind of come at it from the most

[00:53:27] Lovely place there has it hasn't been without some, you know animosity

[00:53:32] I mean obviously the stuff with the love triangle and Daniel leaving and then you know

[00:53:37] Chris and Kevin coming and who's gonna be the guy and who's not gonna be the guy and I know there's warring factions and that

[00:53:42] Parts unfortunate but I mean it is just television

[00:53:46] We are just making a show trying to entertain people at the end of the day so

[00:53:53] I I've said this many times and it's true and I and I and I

[00:53:57] Anytime I get the chance to say it I do is that the show doesn't exist without the Hardys

[00:54:01] They kind of are the lifeblood of the show. I

[00:54:05] think that we give them something that they like that they're in the market for and

[00:54:11] And vice versa, we wouldn't be there without him

[00:54:13] I I can't believe I'm asking this because it's such a just a fan type question

[00:54:18] But I you've been so incredibly honest that I have to

[00:54:22] when you heard she was leaving Lucas and

[00:54:25] choosing Nathan like the first time you like this is a show that deals like that pedals in

[00:54:33] Monogamy that pedals in chasteness that pedals in very much like a kiss is pretty much

[00:54:41] Man permanent Mary. Yeah, that is like like they Nathan and Elizabeth have not kissed yet

[00:54:47] Right when you heard we've gotten kisses and we've gotten engagement

[00:54:52] We got the kit baby Jack is helping propose when you heard whenever we're not doing that right now when it when it when you heard

[00:55:00] Well, I don't know

[00:55:01] I want to know when it was that they were like so this year actually turns out

[00:55:06] Elizabeth is gonna break up with Lucas and say yeah, I ever really loved you like that

[00:55:09] And and now I'm gonna be with Nathan

[00:55:11] That's who had chemistry with all along which she she has chemistry with both of them. She has Kim. It's she in spades

[00:55:16] She's great Aaron is unbelievable that we've had a chance to tell her that she's amazing

[00:55:20] But when you heard that like what was the the reaction? I'm sure it was very

[00:55:26] Like oh, okay. I guess we're doing that now

[00:55:28] But did you think man what our fans gonna think because this is I mean, this is a big deal

[00:55:33] Yeah, I definitely I

[00:55:36] definitely

[00:55:37] was concerned I

[00:55:40] Part of me was like, okay. I mean this TV we're trying to make something interesting and I and it wasn't my character. So

[00:55:47] but but

[00:55:48] What was told to me and I don't maybe this is too much information

[00:55:52] But what was explained to me was that when that decision started to get bandied about?

[00:56:00] That

[00:56:02] we were looking at

[00:56:04] If if things kept going the way they were a couple of seasons ago, so Rosemary and Lee have a baby

[00:56:11] Elizabeth and Lucas get hooked up. Yeah

[00:56:17] What else is there? Where's that? Where's the drama? Where's the rest? Where do we go as a show? So I I think that

[00:56:25] And

[00:56:26] There was there what I think also sometimes one of the things that the Nathan character that they did when that

[00:56:35] Storyline was kind of evolving with Lucas where it looked like Lucas was gonna be the guy is that they had him

[00:56:41] Back talk to her and stand up and be kind of like, you know, screw this

[00:56:45] That's no you're wrong

[00:56:46] And and nobody really did that on the show and I think it really boosted their chemistry

[00:56:53] More it became something a little different and then I

[00:56:59] Know through experience that whatever side I take or speak up

[00:57:05] It doesn't go well that people get horses off one way or the other

[00:57:08] But I both guys are such great guys, and they both do a really good job on the show

[00:57:14] I don't really care who ends up with Elizabeth one way or the other

[00:57:19] Hope that when they make that choice we find more things to write about Pascal did confirm that Nathan did shoot Lucas

[00:57:29] She confirmed it for us

[00:57:32] You don't have to do that Pascal already did that for you so it works out well Nathan did shoot Lucas

[00:57:38] That's the big twist

[00:57:39] For what? It's worth the thing

[00:57:42] We're champing right now is whenever if this show in next season and five seasons, whatever

[00:57:47] What we want is a spinoff where Rosemary and Bill do a case of the week and you're

[00:57:53] And you're brought in obviously

[00:57:58] Click something with so Rosemary's like always following the case and then you'll say something and you help click like that

[00:58:04] I would watch a Rosemary

[00:58:07] Bill Avery

[00:58:09] Detective procedural that is that's fun. That's a fun time. Like it could be fun

[00:58:13] Yeah, so, you know, I I think that Jack is really in the last few years

[00:58:18] He's really embraced that role of being the curmudgeon and it's just it's so perfect and it's so funny

[00:58:25] You know, it's it's perfect for him. Yeah, it did feel like early on he was Jack Wagner like I'm here

[00:58:31] I can't believe yeah, and then now it's now he's really invested. That's true

[00:58:36] I've never talked to me seems like a great guy really quickly. You've done a handful of Hallmark movies

[00:58:41] Of course, you've done when calls the heart

[00:58:45] Do you do you have any and you and you got to kind of?

[00:58:48] Create one from the ground up. Do you want to do more of that with the with the movies?

[00:58:53] Or have you found yourself just being like I really love the the series

[00:58:58] I love doing the show and building a character over however many episodes or maybe a little bit to keep doing both

[00:59:04] Well, I actually

[00:59:07] One of the things you realize pretty early on and I have written one of these as well is that

[00:59:13] Like I came like I like I told you guys I come from theater and I got into theater because I actually wanted to be

[00:59:19] Artsy-fartsy, which doesn't come naturally

[00:59:21] So I I wanted to do that. I wanted to be I guess an artist but once you start if you're not

[00:59:30] Brad Pitt or Daniel Day-lewis you don't really get much opportunity to be an artist

[00:59:35] You get to be an actor and you find out that it's a job and it's like any other job and it's a good job

[00:59:40] And I like it, but as the show has gone on and it's offered a bit more security

[00:59:48] It shoots roughly half of the year a little less than half of the year

[00:59:51] And I have this big chunk of time that I do it maybe a movie or something sometimes a little bit more

[00:59:59] But I've always liked books and I've always liked writing and it doesn't involve anybody else

[01:00:05] I don't have to have a partner or a network or anybody. I

[01:00:10] Don't have to cater to anybody. I can be as crazy or as artistic as I want

[01:00:13] So I've been writing a lot just like books Wow. So I've in the last three years

[01:00:19] I've written four novels and I'm just

[01:00:22] That's sort of what I do with all my spare time now. Can we find him or you just are waiting to publish?

[01:00:26] No, no, I've just been writing. I haven't put any time into getting them published yet

[01:00:30] I'm and my my reason for that is not because I don't want to do it. I do

[01:00:34] and I think the later few are

[01:00:38] Good, but I know how much rejection I have had to face as an actor and it can be very daunting over time

[01:00:45] And I know that literature will be the same way like agents and publishers

[01:00:50] It'll be the same amount of rejection and I don't want it to stop me from writing right now

[01:00:54] I got a lot of stuff. I got a lot of stuff. I want to get out

[01:00:58] Yeah, is it can you tell us like a genre a genre or something?

[01:01:03] Wynne calls the Hart fanfic like what are we talking about?

[01:01:07] Because boy do I have a team Gowan for you

[01:01:10] Another thing that I've been championing is that Gowan actually ends up with Elizabeth because when those two have scenes together

[01:01:16] Holy smackers, there's some chemistry on screen. But anyway, you do your thing. I'll do my thing. But yes genre

[01:01:24] I guess it would I mean, it's it's it's comedic in nature, but

[01:01:30] Gosh like

[01:01:32] Combined Kurt Vonnegut with like it's weird like that

[01:01:35] I like weird stuff

[01:01:36] but as I as I'm getting more and more this latest one I'm just working on is kind of like a

[01:01:42] Retelling of my grandparents lives. I mean, well, no nobody knows much about them

[01:01:46] So it's got some the style is a little bit more artsy fartsy

[01:01:50] But it's sort of piecing together their past how they met in the war and what led to some of the ups and downs in

[01:01:57] Their lives and I've made most of it up because none of my family knows

[01:02:00] so they died under very sort of sad and tragic circumstances and I

[01:02:07] Tried to fill in a bunch of that for my own stuff

[01:02:09] I write mostly for me like I like to fill in

[01:02:12] The blanks that are inside me and that's sort of the the genesis of why I'm doing it. That's great. I love it

[01:02:19] Should we rapid-fire rapid-fire? We each could have you three questions. It can be about anything

[01:02:24] very different

[01:02:27] Yeah rapid in nature unless you don't want to do whatever you want with Dan

[01:02:34] Your best guess how many seasons when calls the heart

[01:02:39] Pascal and I talked about it yesterday. We both hope 15 15 more more would be great

[01:02:44] Like we've all been told I

[01:02:46] Remember old I shouldn't say old but back in the day Bill Avery who was the head of Hallmark at the time

[01:02:51] He wanted 20. He always had 20 in his mind. So that seems very

[01:02:58] Fantastical to me, but so now we got a bump at a little bit not unrealistically, but now we're hoping maybe 15

[01:03:04] Yeah, I like that. Do you have a go-to candy? And if so, what is it? Not a candy?

[01:03:12] But how about a confection? How about like a like a like a treat?

[01:03:16] Okay, all right, okay there's these things in in Paris I found years ago now

[01:03:20] They're everywhere the ubiquitous but back when I first found them like 25 years ago

[01:03:25] There are these little they look like a little upside down bundt cakes and they're called cannoli and they're like crunchy

[01:03:30] Honey on the outside and soft custard on the inside. Yeah

[01:03:34] So good sign me up right now. Yeah

[01:03:38] Favorite I know Joe Forte's is the birthday place. Is that your favorite meal in in Vancouver?

[01:03:44] No, my favorite meal is at a place called. Oh

[01:03:48] My god, my wife just took me there for dinner the other day. I said Lauren it's a little French restaurant in Gastown

[01:03:55] It's so good. It does have a it does have a Michelin star. Oh, wow

[01:03:59] This guy gets it if if if reincarnation is what happens

[01:04:05] do you have a choice of which you would like to come back as a

[01:04:13] Bird oh, that's nice. One of I've always wanted to fly. Yeah, I think it'd be cool. It's beautiful

[01:04:19] What's your favorite David Lynch movie? Oh

[01:04:22] That's easy Mulholland Drive. So I okay quick

[01:04:30] So I went to the I went to see Mulholland Drive with a friend of mine

[01:04:33] and this guy is sort of from my hometown kind of redneck II and not that open-minded and

[01:04:40] There were 17 people in the theater we counted and

[01:04:44] so they were all girls except for my friend Kieran and I and we watched the movie and

[01:04:50] It's a bit of a mind-bender and couldn't figure out what was going on, but loved it cuz he's just so sensual and so

[01:04:57] just so much so it's so artsy and

[01:05:01] When it was over one of the last things that happens is these little grandparents run out of a sandwich bag and I'm like, okay

[01:05:07] I don't get it

[01:05:10] And

[01:05:11] the movie

[01:05:13] Stops, it opens the lights come up and all the 17 people are just bewildered. Just oh my what was that?

[01:05:19] And we all start talking and as we're leaving

[01:05:22] The 17 people are kind of talking and joking and laughing

[01:05:26] And then we all decide by the time we get to the street that we're all gonna go for dinner together and talk. What?

[01:05:32] Yeah, so we all went down to this little restaurant

[01:05:35] That's about two blocks away and the 17 of us sat down at a table and talked about

[01:05:40] Mulholland Drive for a good. This is my new heavens and new earth

[01:05:44] Everyone in the theater has an experience together. They walk outside and go can we continue this communal bonding?

[01:05:50] It's nice. Are you kidding me right now? No, this was this was in Canada. This was in Canada, wasn't it? Yeah

[01:05:56] There's no way I was in Los Angeles

[01:06:02] This is the thing is you guys with your health care and your community, it's just better

[01:06:07] It's just better and that's unfortunate. We got I feel good about a lot of what we do down here

[01:06:12] We deep-fry stuff better we do it

[01:06:14] You guys you guys that's unbelievable. What a story

[01:06:19] I got I got one more which is before we started this

[01:06:24] We told you how we in the show by saying Merry Christmas. You said I love Christmas

[01:06:28] So take us into like Christmas Eve at the Smith household

[01:06:32] Do you guys have a movie that you watch every Christmas Eve or some sort of?

[01:06:36] Tradition that you do together that you would like to share

[01:06:38] I have a good Christmas tradition and it's what it's one that comes out of sadness I suppose but when my folks divorced

[01:06:46] And like I said, I was raised by my father and we split Christmases

[01:06:50] So when it was my dad's turn, he had no idea what to do with us at Christmas time

[01:06:55] No idea so so he for quite a few of the Christmases we had with him

[01:07:00] He took us out to Banff and there's this

[01:07:03] holy Banff is this little skiing town just

[01:07:05] and there's a castle there big old castle hotel called the Banff Springs Hotel and

[01:07:11] it is

[01:07:13] Christmas incarnate it feels like the North Pole

[01:07:16] And so when I started dating my wife I for our first Christmas together

[01:07:21] I took her there and then we got married there at Christmas and then we've tried it's it's a getting

[01:07:28] Getting a little absurd price wise because with inflation and stuff

[01:07:31] I'm not sure how long we're gonna be able to afford to do this

[01:07:33] But if we have a decent year, I try and take the family to the Banff Springs Hotel

[01:07:38] Wow, we've been fortunate enough to go quite a few times

[01:07:41] And so that's our that's our our big

[01:07:44] tradition is kind of ponying up the money to try and go to this big castle in the Rockies and go skiing and

[01:07:50] And they love it. They go see the whole place up and then as far as movies goes

[01:07:55] I I'm definitely a wonderful life and bishops wife. Those are my

[01:08:00] The original bishops right classic classic. Well, when's you get did you get married in December?

[01:08:06] Yeah, we got married December 21st. Oh nice December 15th. There you go

[01:08:10] Nice, there you go. Yeah, Kevin. This has been an absolute blast every guest we have on we do ask

[01:08:17] we love to bring joy around here if there's a charity of your choice that we can highlight and

[01:08:23] Put a spotlight on and give some money to personally and encourage others to as well

[01:08:27] I will actually a little story with this one too every year on our show we

[01:08:34] Have a contest to it's actually it's all around Vancouver

[01:08:38] It's all the shows all productions and shows have a contest as you can donate the most to the local

[01:08:43] greater Vancouver food bank and

[01:08:45] Our show our little tiny low-budget cheap show has won

[01:08:52] Several times and donated the most to the food bank here in Vancouver and like everywhere in North America

[01:08:59] downtown's a disaster and

[01:09:01] so food is is it a premium and

[01:09:05] This past year was the first year that the show

[01:09:09] Wasn't able to do it because everybody was tight and it just didn't happen

[01:09:13] So I guess I would say if anybody wants to I mean it doesn't have to be the Greater Vancouver Food Bank

[01:09:19] But maybe everybody reaches out to their local food bank and and helps out

[01:09:23] I love that Greater Vancouver Food Bank or the food bank of your choice both wonderful at Kevin an absolute blast sir

[01:09:31] You're in the one-hour club over an hour. The stories were great. You were amazing so open and honest

[01:09:36] We thank you so much for doing this. We really appreciate it. You're very welcome guys

[01:09:41] You as well and until next time maybe the first to wish you a Merry Christmas

[01:09:47] Podcast is produced by Aaron Shay

[01:09:49] For more information on deck the homer you can go to deck the hallmark

[01:09:53] calm for information on the deck the hallmark family

[01:09:55] You can go to bramble jam plus dot-com deck the hallmark is presented by philo TV for a free trial of philo

[01:10:00] Go to philo dot TV slash DTH

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[01:10:13] Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show

[01:10:18] I mean you're listening to me. Hi

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[01:10:24] Happy day