Canuck stars trade Tinseltown life for northern exposure
The pull towards Hollywood is hard to resist for many Canadian film and TV stars.
But for some performers who have found success in the United States, the pull to return home can be just as strong.
Film and TV star Cobie Smulders, comic Will Sasso and showrunner and screenwriter Chris Haddock are among the Canucks who say they are happily returning north for various ventures.
Sasso stars in the summer CBCTV series Fool Canada, a hiddencamera comedy that pokes gentle fun at random Canadians. The Mad TV star said he was immediately interested when the CBC pitched him the show.
“Anytime I get to come home and work, it is special for me,” Sasso said. “Because I really want to be back here working as much as I can.
Sasso, whose big-screen credits include The Three Stooges, says he feels some responsibility to support his homeland’s film and TV industry.
“As a Canadian, I feel like we all have a stake in the business here,” Sasso said.
Smulders says that’s one of the reasons she’s trying to develop a comedy for Bell Media, starring her Canuck pal Paul Campbell of CTV’s Spun Out.
“I’m really, really excited to start shooting in Canada. Bringing a television show that’s made in Canada by Canadians is really, really exciting for me to do,” says Smulders, who would stay behind the camera as a producer if the comedy Beyond Repair gets the green light.
Production company Project 10 calls it the story of a charming out-of-work actor who is forced to grow up when he meets the nerdy son he never knew he had.
Smulders, who gained fame on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and now has a recurring role in the Avengers franchise, says she loves being able to hire Canadian “writers, crew members, actors, producers, directors.”
“I grew up in Canada and the first thing I did was go down to the States to find work because there wasn’t really anything that was either hiring me in Vancouver or just going on. So I’m really excited to provide a show that we can hire local talent.”
For Canadian screenwriter Chris Haddock, returning to Canada after working on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire in Brooklyn, N.Y., meant getting a chance to try out the lessons he learned in the U.S.
“That was the first opportunity in about 15, 20 years where I hadn’t been showrunning my own material and that gave me a really good look at the showrunner’s job from a distance,” says Haddock, whose celebrated Canadian TV titles include Da Vinci’s Inquest and Intelligence.
Haddock returns to CBC this fall with his new espionage drama The Romeo Section.