Shannon Lawson – A Stage Presence

By starrymag | January 7, 2014

Q) What are some of your most recent projects?

 

A) Recently, I had a lot of fun doing a co production between Australia and Canada that was a three-d animation cartoon and it was called A Very Merry Christmas. It was a very funny Christmas story. I played Mrs. Santa Clause in it and Colin Mocherie (from “Who’s Line is it Anyway”) played Mr. Santa Clause. I have been working on a new Canadian series “This is Wonderland” and it is in its second series and is all about basically what happens in Old City Hall in Toronto in Plea Bargain Court and court for those who are not capable of looking after themselves. It is very fast paced and very well written. It is written and produced by Bernie Zuckerman who has produced many wonderful hit television series here in Toronto, mostly hard hitting dramas. The writer, George F. Walker, who has had international fame with his plays, writes the majority of the script. What’s exciting is that I recently got to play a character who is in such a rage that she beats up her daughter’s boyfriend with a toilet plunger, which was kind of fun. I haven’t done a lot of American projects since it has been a little slow here because of the Canadian dollar and Americans not shooting here much. The ones that play over and over on Showtime that play over and over isScared Silent with Penelope Ann Miller and Reed Diamond. It was based on a true case in the United States about a police officer that has been accused of raping quite a few women. I’m also in a film that plays a lot on Showtime that I did two years ago that is with Samuel L. Jackson called No Good Deed and it is based on an old Philip Marlow novel. I did it a few years ago, but it is still making the rounds on television. I am also on a series here in Canada called “Bliss,” and the subject matter is on female erotica. I did an episode called “The Piano Tuner” and it was based on a short story by Catherine Gaultier about a blind piano tuner comes to my house and we strike up a romantic liaison together. I recently have been work shopping on a play about Yates and poetry on the radio.

 

Q) What has been the highlight of your career?

 

A) There was a beautiful film that I did called The War Between Us that was directed by Ann Wheeler and was about the incarceration of the Japanese during WW2 here on the West Coast in Canada, and it also happened in the United States. That was wonderful and I was nominated for “Best Actress” for that film here in Canada and we and we got international distribution on it. We won the Red Cross Monocle Award for Humanitarianism and we actually won the Cable Ace Award for “Best International Movie for Television.” That is a prestigious award in the United States. Another highlight was a Canadian series that I worked on, which I won a Gemini (which would be the equivalent to an Emmy in the United States) for “Best Supporting Actress in a Reoccurring Role in a Series.” Finally, there was a play that was done off Broadway, which was also done here. The late Al Waxman, who used to be one of the actors in “Cagney and Lacey” with Tyne Daily, directed me in it. It was a wonderful theatrical production here in Toronto and I played a young Jewish gal in the Holocaust in a concentration camp that eventually goes to New York to reunite with her family, around June of 1945. It was a wonderful production, even though it was very exhausting and it was called Shana Madel and I was nominated for “Best Actress in Theater” in Toronto for that.

 

Q) You have had a hand in film, television and theatre. Which do you prefer and why?

 

A) I used to be extremely comfortable in the theater and that was my home, but now (because I’m a single parent, my schedule and in terms of finances) I can’t say I have a preference. There are times when I prefer one over the other, but the wonderful thing about theater is that we get to embark on a journey on stage without all the starting and stopping. In film, what would be considered theater would be a two-minute take, which is really long. I’d have to say working with international actors on films is exciting, but having the experience on stage, where you sort of run with your character and over a period of two months, the character grows and every night there is a new discovery and a new journey and where you carry the audience along and that is exciting too. The two mediums are completely different so it is difficult to say preference I have. I like them equally. It’s kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

 

Q) You have worked with Kirsten Dunst on the movie Dick. What was it like working with such a talented actress?

 

A) I have to admit, Kirsten is amazingly talented. She was very young at that time, she was sixteen, and I went to her sixteenth birthday party. She would remember me. It wasn’t just Kirsten that made this film enjoyable, but I had too much fun doing that movie. The whole thing was a parody and was a send up of Watergate. Andrew Fleming was just a wonderful director because I think he trusted me, he cast me (he cast a lot of very funny Canadians in that [Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall]) and didn’t get in my way. Will Ferrell played Bernstein and Woodward. To see Will Ferrell do that was just too hilarious. He is one of my favorite comedians of all time. To work with Kirsten at that time was a lot of fun. She wasn’t as big a star at that time as she is now so there weren’t any paparazzi or hoopla surrounding it so it felt like just a family feeling movie. We all felt that we were doing this together and no one was more special than another person. We all went in and did our work and it was just really enjoyable. She was just as sweet and as talented as can be.

 

Q) Who would you most like to work with in the future?

 

A) Of course, I’ve got my international favorites. In terms of directors, I’d love to work with Atom Egoyan again. I worked with him on a television film about ten years ago and I just did one day on a film called Where the Truth Lies with him, Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. I’d love to work with Rob Robertson again. I’d love to work with Samuel L. Jackson again and again and again. I have my favorites like Emma Thompson because she has such a wonderful classical theatrical background. It would be a dream come true to work with Anthony Hopkins. I’d have to say Emma Thompson and I really really like Laura Linney. I think she is phenomenal. I just find something about her so classic and so wonderful and so far reaching. I really enjoy her.

 

Q) What was it winning such a prestigious award as a Gemini?

 

A) It was wonderful, and like I said, even though Canada is small, that because it is the equivalent to an Emmy it was wonderful to have my parents there. It was wonderful to be acknowledged by my peers. I don’t ask for awards, but I have to say when you win one, it feels really terrific. It’s like having a great big birthday present. It’s like getting the best birthday present of your life! It’s not about prestige, but it’s just a compilation of all of your work and it feels so nice! It’s something I can be proud of and my daughter can be proud of. She is 9 years old and she can look at the fact that her mother was not just a mom, but an artist and a worker. It was exciting and it was even more exciting to have my parents there because they put up with my shenanigans for many years and they were always worried about me going into the arts. It was a way for me to say, “Here this is not just for me, but this is for you too and all the hard work and for putting up with me and looking after my daughter when I went out of town.” It was just also a way of me saying thank you for acknowledging me and letting me participate in this wonderful profession and to make a living as an actress.

 

Q) What was it like on the set of the film Partners in Action?

 

A) That was very intense, but a labor of love. There was not a lot of money on that, but the director fought like crazy for me to do it. I wasn’t keen on doing it at first because I didn’t think my part was as I would have liked it, but finally he talked me into taking it. He liked my work a lot and let me sort of build a character and it became larger. Armand Assante was just such a professional and such a lovely man and very intense. He’s the kind of guy that it wouldn’t matter if he were doing a potential Oscar winning performance or an episode of “Mr. Rogers.” He still gives a thousand percent.

 

Q) Do you keep in touch with the people you have worked with in the past?

 

A) I keep in touch with quite a few people. I did The Salem Witch Trials and there was an actor in that that I just adored and his name is Jay O. Sanders. I haven’t talked to him in a while. He lives in New York and played in the movie The Day After Tomorrow. He is one of those wonderful supporting actors that you see in everything and look at and say, “Oh, I recognize that guy!” I keep in touch with Ann Wheeler who directed me in The War Between Us. I am always in touch with a lot of my actor friends in Canada and I try and make sure we are always connected to each other.

 

Q) What do you do in your spare time?

 

A) I’m a mom so I carry my daughter back and forth. I make her Halloween outfits and I just saw her Christmas concert. I have actually started writing children’s stories. That could take forever, but I am enjoying it. I have half of one done on the computer. Sometimes I work for a friend that owns a vintage clothing store and I’m very much involved in the area of the history of clothing. I’m not a bad seamstress. I am starting to explore the area of coaching and teaching because I think it is very important for experienced artists to help new who are entering into acting.

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

 

A) I would like to say please continue to believe in Canadian culture and art. I love working with Americans, but it is time we really created our own industry. We created the Canadian Film Institute here and I would like my fans and supporters to continue to be fans and supporters, but also to fight for the security of our culture in this country. It is so difficult as Canadians because we don’t have that many independent production houses as they do in Los Angeles. I would love to see fans and supporters lobby and fight for the artists in Canada and never give that up. I think that is part of our identity and if you don’t have a culture than you don’t have a country. I would beg our fans and supporters to keep lobbying and persevering and passing alongside the artists and demanding of the governments to try to get private corporations to continue to believe in us and never stop creating indigenous stories because that is the history of our country.