CANADIAN CONNECTION
Jay Baruchel honours roots
Jay Baruchel has been treading the line between success in Canada and the U.S. for so long, he might as well add “tightrope walker” to his resume.
Born in Ottawa and raised in Montreal, he’s starred in big projects like the How to Train Your Dragon films stateside, yet is happily tied to homegrown fare such as cult film Goon and, as ’90s kids will remember, the YTV/Nickelodeon spookfest Are You Afraid of the Dark?
His latest TV series, Man Seeking Woman, has similar dual citizenship — airing Wednesdays on FXX, it’s filmed in Toronto but set in Chicago. Baruchel spoke with Postmedia about the upcoming Goon sequel, his anxiety disorder and keeping his connection to Canada.
Q The surreal elements in Man Seeking Woman work on both a small scale and large one, like the giant robot battle in the Season 2 finale. What’s been your favourite segment so far?
A They’re all so bloody crazy. I’m also worried about what it says about me if I actually like one of them, because I’m usually consumed with victimhood in those situations. But I grew up watching stuff like Miami Vice and Hunter, and we did a sort of detective one where I was sitting there with a leather jacket and a pistol and I ate a cigarette. So in that one, I got to realize all my cops-and-robbers dreams.
Q Despite being in major projects in the States, you keep a low profile and stay connected to Canada. How important is that to you?
A I do think there’s a funny distinction we have in this country where this conversation doesn’t happen in other countries. But that’s Canada for you. We went from basically being mercantile producer for England to being one for the United States. And I think there’s sort of a caveat, an expectation that if you do well here, at a certain point you will inevitably leave. And any time I was in the States, in the back of my mind was ‘I just want to do well enough here so I can go back to Canada.’
Q That’s refreshing.
A Well, I just love it here. I was raised in a pretty patriotic family and my mother’s like sixth of eight kids who grew up on an army camp. Most of her sisters married soldiers. A lot of my uncles, my cousins, granddad are soldiers. My uncle’s a Mountie. It always left a sour taste in my mouth as a kid watching us take ownership of Canadian celebs down in the States. And then the only time I’d ever see them on the CBC or something was when work seemed to dry up for them down there. I thought the cultural implications of that were kind of s----y.
Q You’ve tweeted about having anxiety disorder. Why did you decide to open up about that?
A I think that anything that can rob the stigma around it is important. I try my best to keep my personal stuff personal, and my private stuff private. That being said, there’s nothing worse than having this stuff to deal with, and on top of it you have this sense of shame or embarrassment. It’s still for whatever reason a thing. You break your leg, you get a cast and it’s done. But we still don’t think that way about the brain. I thought maybe if they see someone like me — I’m not a death-row inmate or anything …
Any time I was in the States, in the back of my mind was ‘I just want to do well enough here so I can go back to Canada.’
Q That we know of!
A (Laughs.) So far so good. But maybe if some kid sees that, they’ll be like, ‘Maybe I’m not the only person who’s dealing with this nonsense.’
Q Goon: Last of the Enforcers is coming out on March 17, and it’s your first time directing a film. How did you deal with the high expectations for the sequel?
A It was basically the culmination of, on one hand, five years worth of work in the immediate but on the other hand it’s 32 years. (We knew) how much people liked the first one, how we caught magic. I don’t want to do anything to step on the legacy of something that a lot of people hold quite dear.