Role playing
East Bay actor can be seen in variety of performances
At the end of this month, you’ll be able to see two different sides of East Bay actor Billy MacLellan as he plays two police sergeant roles in two completely different series airing on CBC TV.
MacLellan will appear as Sgt. Brady Holt in the reshowing of “Bellevue” on Sunday nights and as Sgt. Kyle O’Neill in “Caught” on Monday nights, when it begins running on Feb. 26 for five episodes.
MacLellan admits the look he has on “Caught,” which includes a 70s-style feathered haircut with sideburns, a handlebar moustache and glasses, isn’t one he’ll be maintaining.
“The last time I had hair like that I was in East Bay in Grade 6,” laughed the actor while doing a telephone interview.
MacLellan was also in a recent episode of “Star Trek Discovery.”
Based in both Los Angeles and Toronto, the actor has been working around the world. Presently up for several roles, each of which will begin in early March, MacLellan says he has no idea where he’ll be in 10 days time.
“When I first started out in this industry, I had some anxiety about how this industry works but now I accept there are so many gifts from living this type of experience,” he said.
The work has taken him to locations he probably would have never visited and has led to other opportunities.
While “Bellevue” has been cancelled on CBC, there is a chance it could be renewed in the U.S. where it is now airing on WGN America.
Because the show hasn’t aired yet, it’s tough to predict the future of “Caught.”
Based on a novel by Lisa Moore, it’s set in 1978 when the main character David Slaney (Allan Hawco) escapes from Dorchester prison to attempt one more deal with his former partner who left him in the lurch after a drug deal went wrong.
MacLellan plays the boss of Roy Patterson, performed by Paul Gross, one of MacLellan’s acting heroes.
“I was a little nervous at first but he was fun to be around,” said MacLellan. “I’m a huge fan of his.”
MacLellan has also acted in “Ice Blue,” “The Silence” which hasn’t been released yet, and “Away Home,” a film that finished in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Top 10 student films of the year.