Michael Eklund – Opening Doors

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  First is The Entrance, directed by Damon Vignale.  The Entrance is a drama about an angst ridden drug dealer that I play named Ryan James.  He is slated for death and attempts to repay his sins and regain his mortality with the aid of a police detective that he shares a past with.  What he doesn’t tell her is that he is trying to substitute her innocent life for his own doomed soul.  The character is the embodiment of an unethical, self-serving existence.  This film explores his life and death struggle for redemption while undergoing a terrifying ordeal.  What interested me about this story and the character was the fundamental fear we all have that someone is always watching you and judging you.  The Entrance will be out sometime next year after the festival circuit.  Next, is 88 Minutes directed by Jon Avnet.  88 Minutes is a thriller about a college professor who is moonlighting as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI.  I play a really interesting character named J.T. Ryker who is Al Pacino’s doorman, who may know more about the murder that are occurring than he is letting on.  It’s every actors dream to work with an actor like Al Pacino; it was an honor, I can now cross him off my list.  Also, Eight Days to Live, directed by Norman Bailey.  Eight Days to Live stars Kelly Rowan, best known for her role as Kirsten Cohen on the Fox series “The O.C.,” and will serve as an executive producer on the film.  This will air on both Lifetime and Canada’s CTV in the new year.  The movie is a true-life story about a family that spent more than a week in 2001 searching for their son who went missing in the rough interior of British Columbia after his car drifted off the highway down a steep embankment.  He was trapped without food or water for eight days.  I play an unsavory character named Weaver who is a gro-op proprietor who may have been the last person to have seen the boy.  I like to play a little of both, good guys on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, then bad guys on every other day of the week, it keeps things balanced.  Another project is Terminal City, directed by Rachel Talalay Lyne Stopkewich, Kari Skogland and Steve Surjik. Terminal City is about a woman diagnosed with breast cancer who takes over a failing reality show, turning it into a hit as her body and life begin to change.  I play a real lost character named Henry Lundquist.  Henry’s the PA, the Production Assistant on the reality show, he’s the cool fetch-it guy.  His parents abused him as a child as did the kids in the sandbox.  He, in turn, abused small animals and then later drugs.  In the end, he finds Nirvana working with Katie Sampson as she battles for her life.  Finally, there is Intelligence, directed by Steve Surjik.  Intelligence is a two hour movie by the creators of “Da Vinci’s Inquest,” which will spin off as a new series this spring.  Intelligence is about a spy scandal which erupts after a Vancouver drug smuggler acquires sensitive information about a local drug squad and tries to cut a deal for himself.  I play an undercover narcotics officer named Rene Desjardine, who is a part of the Vancouver city drug squad who is playing on both sides.  In Intelligence there are no good guys and bad guys, just people doing what they need to do to survive.

Q.  You recently just finished “Alice I Think.”  What can you tell us about the premise for the show and your character Marcus?

A.  When I was acting opposite Pacino I was doing double duty on my new CTV/Comedy Network sitcom called “Alice I Think,” based on novels written by Susan Juby, an extremely talented writer.  “Alice I Think” is a story about the misadventures of a teenage girl’s unconventional family and their odd collection of friends living in the northern town of Smithers, B.C.  The show follows the family as they encounter life’s ups and downs.  In a nutshell the character I play is named Marcus and he is the towns only cab driver, actually he owns the only cab in the whole town, although he usually can be too drunk to actually drive it.  He is a man/boy in his thirties who refuses to join the rest of society so he dates teenagers from the local high school, and on the side is a drummer in a band called the Hoar Hounds. It is important to know that this is a comedy, and that it is very exciting and new for Canadian TV to branch out into the comedy sitcom genre. It was crazy, and surreal at times, one day I am doing a crazy comedy show and the next day I am acting with Al Pacino.  It was a weird mix of realities for a while.

Q.  What drew you to wanting to be a part of this project?

A.  I remember that in the audition I had a lot of fun, the scripts were funny.  I would read these insanely funny scripts and would start to think  “How am I going to pull that off?”  I knew that this project was going to be a blast.  The creators of the show have created so many other great projects so I knew I was in good hands.  I also was curious about working in the sitcom format.  It was something I had never done before, which excited me.  Plus, I am always a supporter of working on projects adapted from good novels.  The Alice I Think books are very popular all over the world, so I knew it was a great opportunity to do something that would bring enjoyment to a lot of people.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on the film 88 Minutes?

A.  What I liked the most about working with on 88 Minutes was that I was given the freedom to do my thing.  The director was Jon Avent and he was one of those great directors that really lets you fly.  He is a confident film maker.  I created a character that was quite bold and unusual and it was really fun to play this character with such support from everyone.   The best thing I received from the experience was the reminder that we are all just people.  Al Pacino was just a regular guy doing his job, which really set the tone to allow us to play and explore our characters, which is rare sometimes.  We had fun together, if it ever crosses your mind while your doing a scene with Al Pacino that you are acting with Michael Corleone from The Godfather (which I have never seen) than you may be in trouble.  Because, you are not truly present in the work, and he will sniff that out.  But I will admit, it probably helped me that I have never seen the movie.  He was very kind and shared some encouraging words about my work that I will always remember. The over all experience was more than I could ever have asked for.

Q.  Why should viewers take the time to check out this film?

A.  C’mon, it’s got Al Pacino!  How can you go wrong?  It’s got sex, violence, action, mystery, and did I mention sex, everything that makes up great story telling.  Movies are created to entertain people, it is the reason I fell in love with movies.  It allowed me to escape from my reality for a couple of hours and experience different cultures, lifestyles, places, and people I saw in different films.  That is what this film will do for people.  This movie is really fun, it will keep you guessing until the very end.

Q.  How was getting to work with director Damon Vignle on the film “The Entrance?”

A.  I have waited a long time to find and work with such a visionary director like Damon Vignale.  The man truly has his own style and look to his work, which is exciting.  Damon is the guiding force behind the whole thing, he writes characters that are hypocritical; hypocritical like real people are.  The script was intense, we spent a lot of time just talking, just defining and getting on the same page about who my character was.  What he is thinking, and feeling in every given moment, which doesn’t happen that often.  He really makes you feel you are making this film together.  It was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had, he is truly one of our new great story tellers.

Q.  You have taken on such a diversity of roles.  How are you able to transform yourself into so many characters?

A.  I can’t remember who said it but, someone once said that “we are the sum of all the moments of our lives, anybody who sits down to create will use the clay of their own life, you can’t avoid that.”  I wish I could remember who said that.  Your work is only as good as how much of yourself you put into it, I don’t really get into my process that often.  For myself, it is kind of a love and hate relationship with the whole thing.  For me, as an actor/artist, I must have complete focus and concentration on what I am working on.  Nothing else exists.  Which, is sometimes very hard on myself and the loved ones around me.  I hope in time as I mature that I will find a way to co-exist with the world around me when I create.  It really depends on the character I am portraying.   If I had to use one word to describe how I work it would be “imagination.”  I put a lot of thinking time into each one of my character roles.  Then what happens is that I begin to see flashes or images appear and then I base my character or work around what I see.  But, in every role I play the most important element that must be present is myself.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I am always trying to find more work.  And it may seem like I have a lot of spare time, but this business is a 24 hour mind scramble, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else.  I am currently working with my wife on making an independent film that I am very excited about, before I started acting I studied art, so I am trying to paint more now a days.  I try to always find time to sit and have a coffee with good friends and chat.  We usually end up contemplating and psychoanalyzing life and art, which gets us no where.  My beautiful wife Megan Bennett is a novelist so she is also always very busy working as well, so we try to always find some spare time and make dinner together (actually she is the ones who makes dinner, she is a fabulous cook), sit and watch our favorite television shows, or go see a new movie that just came out.  I get very excited about the new movies that come out each week.  We consider ourselves professional movie goers.  We have a specific row and seat we always sit in.  We have figured out where the best seats in the theater are and where you get the best sound, I can’t tell you where they are because then we will have to fight you for them.  But, any spare time I have I try to spend it with my family.

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession? Are you into any particular book, sport, music group or activity?

A.  My latest obsession seems to be not to have any obsessions, multitasking is not my thing.  So, I have about five books that I have been meaning to read and a script idea in the works.  I’m not into sports and I use music to inspire myself so I guess I am really into finding new music to use in my life.  I wouldn’t call it an obsession but, some bands that I am listening to right now are Wilco, Coldplay, and a great group called Perpetual Dream Theory.  The last book I read, which I highly recommend, is called Mercy Killers written by Lisa Reardon.  I have so many things I want to do and I end up doing not much.  The closest thing I have to an obsession is keeping my house clean.

Q.  Now that it is 2006, what are you most looking forward to this year?

A.  All the projects that I did last year will come out in 2006, so that is very exciting.  To revisit those moments and experiences are always fun.  I have got some work coming up, so that always keeps me happy.  A road trip with my wife has been on my mind.  I just turned thirty so I am looking forward to see what my thirties have waiting for me, and see what that entails.  I was so excited and ready to leave my twenties.  I guess I am looking forward to all the possibilities and all the unexpected experiences that life brings.  I know that is a vague answer and kind of schmaltzy but, it’s true.  The wonders of life really fascinate me, the ups and downs that occur are what makes up life.  Hopefully more ups then downs.

Q.  What would you like to say to all of your fans and supporters?

A.  “All children, except one, grow up,” J.M. Barrie.  Keep the dream alive.