ALL ABOARD!
Actor returns to the rails in Netflix thriller
Snowpiercer
Season 2 Jan. 26, Netflix
Garfield Wilson has been sworn to secrecy. He isn't allowed to divulge anything about the second season of Snowpiercer, the small-screen adaptation of director Bong Joon Ho's 2013 post-apocalyptic thriller set aboard a perpetual motion train rolling through a sub-zero world.
But the Vancouver-based actor will admit to being excited about a couple of things. The first is that he is returning in his role as Jackboot Kaffey. The second is that he got to meet Sean Bean, who turns up in season 2 playing the mysterious reclusive billionaire and, possibly, genius inventor Mr. Wilford.
“I'm a big fan of his work dating back to before Lord of the Rings, because he brings so much heat to every scene that he is in,” Wilson said.
“I can't say anything more about that, save that season 2 is going to be a real trip, as this storyline for this show is so complex, and it just gets more so this time around. When I first booked the role, I had no idea how this cool, modern-day apocalyptic Noah's Ark was going to expand on the initial Chris Evans film to become such a global phenomenon.”
A part of the paramilitary security force on the class-stratified train, Wilson's character is facing new demands on him in the onboard society as it faces all manner of internecine plots and twists.
The other place to look for Wilson this winter will be in The Astronauts, the Nickelodeon series about a crew of young astronauts trying to get back to Earth while their parents watch in panic. A longtime fan of all things Trekkie, Wilson says that working with director Jonathan Frakes was another high point in his career.
“Star Trek: The Next Generation was right in a key time for me, and I was all over that show's world, its approaches to tackling big moral dilemmas and so forth,” he said.
“I worked with Jonathan Frakes for two episodes (of The Astronauts) and, of all the amazing directors I've had the pleasure of working with, he is one of the best.”
A regular in Hollywood North productions for the past few decades, Wilson was born in Surrey, England, and moved with his family to Edmonton at the age of six.
The funk-loving teen first took to the performing stage as a singer, fronting an R&B cover band, and all indications were that music was going to be his career. A stint as Judas in a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar gave him his first theatrical break. With music and acting in his sights, he and his band moved to Vancouver.
Wilson's bio reads like a timeline of hit shows shot locally. From Dark Angel and Almost Human to Arrow, The Man in the High Castle and The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, the athletic, 6-foot-1 talent has played every kind of part and worked at avoiding typecasting.
In 2005, he branched out into another passion — personal fitness. He has competed in, and won pro cards, from FAME Fitness and WBFF (World Beauty, Fashion and Fitness) competitions.
But the role he is proudest of is that of being a father. His oldest daughter, Tru, transitioned at the age of nine, and supporting her led Wilson to becoming involved in LGBTQ+ issues. He also has a 15-year-old son, Jude, who is an actor, and a 12-year-old daughter, Jazzy. He is amicably divorced from his wife since 2018.
“When Tru transitioned at age nine from being our son to our daughter it was one of the most consequential and impactful journeys in my life,” Wilson said. “My ex-wife and I have been focused on providing a safe and loving sanctuary for all three of our kids. It's been really beneficial for Tru to discover herself and have a safe place for full expression of who she is.”
Navigating the journey wasn't something a parent can anticipate, Wilson says. But with great support, therapy and self-discovery, a community was established that came out the other side “with an incredible young woman who is my hero.”
“I would never be as brave, articulate and self-aware and confident in my truth as my daughter was when she was nine,” he said. “She has done TED Talks, met the prime minister, Prince William and Kate, and talked to them. That would be daunting for an adult, let alone a child who does it with such incredible charisma.”
Wilson's latest role is certainly one where he can draw upon his daughter's confidence among the powerful and famous. He is signed on to the upcoming American musical-comedy series Schmigadoon! The Apple TV+ series parodies the 1947 musical Brigadoon, in which travellers encounter a romantic village lost in the mists of time. In this version, a couple on a backwoods backpacking trip come upon a small town where all the citizens act as if their existence is in a 1940s musical.
Created by Despicable Me screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, Schmigadoon! was shot in Vancouver last fall.
“As someone who grew up with, and is a fan of, classics like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and all those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films, getting this gig was a dream,” Wilson said.
“But the last time I really did a musical was Dreamgirls at the Arts Club around 2013. Now I'm on set with all these Broadway A-listers like Kristin Chenoweth and Jane Krakowski as well as Cecily Strong, Keegan-michael Key, Alan Cumming — huge talents.”
Rest assured, Wilson upped the reps of his favourite modified deadlift and squat exercise preparing for this latest role, because “it's the one that exercises all those things you use in almost every daily movement, from picking up the groceries to sitting and standing.
“Your ass is your engine: Keep it tuned, or else.”
Season 2 is going to be a real trip, as this storyline for this show is so complex, and it just gets more so this time around.