Night of a few stars
THE PARTY LINE Even Gemini nominees struggle to find the thrill, says Vinay Menon
he mission: Infiltrate
a Gemini party, interview celebrities and
write this damn story. The problem: Finding the celebrities.
This is the situation Wednesday night when I arrive at the Ultra Supper Club on Queen St., where The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is feting Gemini nominees.
I scan the crowd for familiar faces: Hey, isn’t that! . . . no. Wait, didn’t she star in? . . . no. Oh, over there, that’s! . . . no. Maybe it’s too early. So I stand at the bar, taking useless notes — “moody ambiance,” “music’s too loud,” “ open bar” — as impossibly gorgeous bartenders mix cocktails for the incoming revellers.
I’m soon approached by academy president Maria Topalovich. She has a cast on her left foot. How did you break it, I ask. She isn’t sure. God knows I’ve been hard on the Geminis over the years. So I make Topalovich an offer: She can come up with the one question I will ask celebrities on this fine evening. She shoots me a suspicious glance but poses an excellent, very brave question: “ Why do the Geminis matter?”
“ That’s an excellent, very brave question,” I say. “ So how would you answer?”
“ Let me think about it.” The hipster restaurant is a cavernous, dimly lit space, with candles flickering on every small table and glowing orbs dangling from the rafters. I do another tour, shuffling across the scuffed hardwood, past the bundled gossamer curtains.
I can’t find any celebrities. Media Profile publicist Tamara MacKeigan, one of the best in the business, is talking to my friend Andy Ryan, Globe and Mail television critic. “You’re covering this?” Ryan asks.
“ Yes,” I say, downcast.
“ Good luck.”
“ Shut up.” Tamara tugs on my jacket and kindly offers to accompany me on my next walk- through. She might, after all, recognize somebody I won’t. But this guided tour proves equally fruitless. A half-hour later, a sudden breakthrough: Tamara has spotted Cara Pifko, the petite actress nominated for her work on This Is Wonderland.
I shout Topalovich’s question into her ear: “ Why do the Geminis matter?” A slightly horrified expression clings to her delicate face; she looks like I’ve just casually asked for a lap dance.
“ Can you turn that off?” she says, nodding at my tape recorder. She needs a minute to think.
“ I’m not sure how it matters,” she finally says, smiling mischievously. “ The fact is it’s an
Thonour to be nominated and it attracts a lot of attention to, let’s say, something like This is Wonderland.”
Pifko gives me a few more soundbites before getting to the money quote: “ No, winning a Gemini will not change my life.” Over her shoulder, I spy actor Jeff Seymour, nominated for his leading role on The Eleventh Hour. The show is up for 15 awards when the Geminis are handed out this week over three nights, capped by Saturday’s gala. But maintaining a dubious Gemini tradition, The Eleventh Hour has been cancelled. Seymour hears The Question. Another eternal pause follows.
“ It is important to celebrate our accomplishments,” he says. “ It’s always nice to win things. But you really do win when you’re put in that group of five ( nominees).”
I will say this: The man is a brilliant actor. About 20 minutes later, I’m in the middle of the restaurant, taking more useless notes — “DJ’s frizzy hair suggests she was electrocuted!” — when I stumble upon Topalovich.
“ Hey, I still need your answer to your question,” I say.
“ Hmm. Let me think about it.” Minutes later, Ellen Dubin, nominated for a supporting role on The Collector, walks toward me with a wry grin.
“ You look lonely,” she says. I ask her The Question.
“ It shows recognition for my hard work over many long years,” she says. “ But it also kind of puts our faces on the map because we as Canadian actors, directors, producers are still a very humble lot.”
This, she explains, is why she went for “ Hollywood glamour” tonight — she’s stunning in a sleek black dress with a pink sash and pointy heels.
“ Do the Geminis mean something to viewers?” I ask, deviating from script.
“ I think it’s growing and it will eventually,” she says. “ But not yet.” But isn’t this the 20th anniversary? Dubin points me toward little Daniel Cook, the cherubic 8year- old who is nominated for best performance in a children’s series ( This Is Daniel Cook).
He’s sitting on a couch, flanked by adult handlers. I decide to tweak Topalovich’s question to make it more child-friendly. “Hello, Daniel. What do the Geminis mean to you?”
Daniel sits upright and does not pause.
“ It means me and the show are quite special,” he says. “ Winning doesn’t really matter to me because being nominated is pretty good but winning the award would be quite an exciting moment for me.”
This kid is destined to be a star.
Kristin Booth, a blonde knockout nominated for her guest role on ReGenesis, is chatting with Pifko when I interrupt with The Question.
“ I think the most important thing is that it makes people more aware of our industry,” says Booth, “ so that we can keep thriving and keep making really groundbreaking, unique amazing shows with the talent that we have so people don’t have to leave this country.” Good answer. But not as good as the one I get seconds later from Steve Markle, nominated for writing and co- producing a documentary, Camp Hollywood:
“ As a single man, the Gemini statue can go a long way for me. If the Gemini statue can’t get me laid then nothing can.”
I meet producer Christina Jennings, named in two categories — best TV movie ( Except the Dying) and best dramatic series ( ReGenesis). “ We have to celebrate what we do, even if a lot of Canadians unfortunately don’t watch what we do,” says Jennings, holding a glass of wine.
I see Topalovich and, once again, ask her The Question — her question. “You know what?” she says. “ Let me think about it.”
Okay.
It’s nearly 9 p. m. and I’m sitting alone at a table going over my notes. Jian Ghomeshi, a late arrival, strolls past. His show, CBC’s Play, is nominated though it’s no longer on the air.
“ Hey, why are you sitting here alone, you loser journalist?” Ghomeshi asks. I tell him what I’m doing and ask The Question.
“ They’re a good reminder that you had a great show that’s been cancelled,” he says. We both start laughing. The Geminis are a curious creature. If you’re nominated, it’s a great honour. If not, you begin to see conspiracies: How was Trailer Park Boys not cited for best comedy? Why isn’t Eric Peterson tapped for splendid work on Corner Gas? And so on.
I’m chatting with Ghomeshi in the smoking area when we run into John Clarke, who is nominated for best sound in a documentary — Ashley MacIssac: Me, Myself and the Devil. With the crowd thinning, Clarke will be the last to answer The Question.
“ My impression of the Geminis are that it’s industry recognition among my peers,” he says.
“ But do viewers care?”
“ I don’t think viewers have an idea what most of it is about, to be honest with you.”