Canada has many talented actors, writers, producers, and other content creators. To help our industry grow, we would like to introduce you to some talented folks who have managed to capture that magic on screen.
This week we spoke with Vancouver actor, writer, producer, and director Mackenzie Gray.
Mackenzie has too many professional film and TV credits to list but some of those include Smallville, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Riverdale, Legion, Fargo, The Net, Man of Steel, …etc.
HNMAG: Do you remember your sixth birthday?
Mackenzie Gray: Absolutely! It’s burned in my memory forever. November 22nd, 1963. We had a half an hour for lunch and I was coming home from school. John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas at that time. My mother had the radio on and that was such shocking news, that was it for lunch. I went back to school and people were so distraught that they canceled school, so I was sent right back home. My birthday was canceled. I was going to have a party with all my friends and that turned into a much smaller event with my immediate family.
HNMAG: Have you ever been to the book depository building in Dallas?
Mackenzie Gray: I’ve been to Dallas but not there. I should make a pilgrimage.
HNMAG: You grew up and had a successful acting career in Toronto. Did you move to Vancouver for work?
Mackenzie Gray: I moved from Toronto to London for four years to work and study. I came back and worked in Toronto. I auditioned for a series shooting in Vancouver. I did a self-tape before it was a thing. I went to a studio that had one of the first digital cameras. I got an actress and I put her dirty in the frame. For each line of the audition, I did a different character. I had a small bag with hair, wardrobe, and make-up. I’d lock off the camera each time. I did fifteen characters in a minute and a half. Because the reader’s hair was ringlet and curls, it didn’t look like a jump cut, it just looked like I changed. Production said they had never seen anything like it. They gave the part I read for, to Tim Curry but hired me without ever meeting me in person for another part. That brought me to Vancouver for the first time.
HNMAG: What was the series called?
Mackenzie Gray: The Net. It was based on a Sandra Bullock film. I was the guy hunting her character down. I was number three on the call sheet. It was on for a year but I was under contract with Columbia Tri-Star for six years. I liked Vancouver, so I stayed. In 1998, they hired local actors for great parts.
HNMAG: You played Lex Luther in Smallville. You had significant roles in Legion, Man Of Steel, Stargate, Do you attend many Expos or Comic Cons?
Mackenzie Gray:I did a really fun one in the Yukon but not usually. Though I’m getting back on that circuit. My Little Pony, Supernatural and Lego Ninjago Cons are asking for me. More will follow I hope. Although It seems like they prefer to book American talent.”
HNMAG: I don’t get the industry stigma against Canadians.
Mackenzie Gray: It’s an old thing that some producers still have. They used to call us Frostbacks. Some productions love us like X-Files. Noah Hawley, the showrunner for Fargo and Legion, loves Canadian actors and crews. Hollywood would not exist without Canadians. They created it. Louis B. Mayer was from Montreal. Warner Brothers were from Toronto. Mack Sennett started the first comedy studio, Keystone Studio. He discovered Charlie Chaplin. Mary Pickford…
HNMAG: America’s Sweetheart
Mackenzie Gray: Yeah, the first real star, was from Toronto. So many Canadians started Hollywood. One local show told an actor who did a terrific job, that it’s been hard to find really good actors here. That actor was Ellie Harvey, the former president of the Union of BC Performers. She let them know that attitude would not help their show. They changed casting and now they use Canadians in every episode.
HNMAG: Have you worked on anything that was set in Vancouver?
Mackenzie Gray: Some Canadian indies are set here. I was in Da Vinci’s Inquest. That was set in Vancouver.
HNMAG: What is your most memorable experience on set?
Mackenzie Gray: Legion was mind-blowing. It broke every rule in television and now everyone copied it. None of us knew what was going on. It was meant to be unsettling. It had amazing actors and crew. Everyone was great on that show. I was sad that I wasn’t able to go with it when it moved to the States. Working with Terry Gillian was also a lifelong dream. I made a mistake in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus that he loved that turned into a happy accident. Tom Waits zaps me to stop me from telling the never-ending story. I was just supposed to stop my mouth and go silent, mid-sentence. On the first take, a fart of the rest of the word escaped. Terry yelled cut and said he didn’t want it to sound like a fart came out of my mouth. Then he thought about it and proposed that when Tom zaps me, my mouth turns into an anus. I got four more days for special shooting and rotoscoping. Terry invited me to the opening in Toronto at TIFF and he put me in the trailer because it was a cinematic first.
HNMAG: What is one of your pet peeves?
Mackenzie Gray: I’m sixty-six years old and I’ve been professionally acting since I was 18. I’ve never felt better about my skills as an actor than I do now. From all my experience, the people I worked with and learned from have given me so much. It’s frustrating that there is less interest in my services at my age. Opportunities have evaporated. So many of us have the same experience. We now know how to act but don’t get the chance.
HNMAG: You are also a director. Creating content might be the best option.
Mackenzie Gray: I made a film called Under the Bridge of Fear. It went to Cannes. I made another film and I received recognition for doing great period work. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead to ongoing work.
HNMAG: Were they shorts?
Mackenzie Gray: Yes but I also co-produced two feature films. One didn’t get off the ground but the other won all kinds of awards. I’m not averse to making my own work but I don’t have the ability anymore to keep putting down ten grand per picture.
HNMAG: What would it take to make more Canadian content?
Mackenzie Gray: We have tax credits but it’ll take a show to be a hit. The way the X-Files did. Good actors, moody, and a great look. It brought more production to Vancouver.
HNMAG: Maybe if that hit was also set here, then that would become a thing. Most blockbusters are remakes and sequels. Studios are too frightened to take a chance.
Mackenzie Gray: That’s the malaise of Hollywood. We don’t need another Fast and Furious. One of the producers of The Net, said that he and another producer came up with ten amazing scripts. They got ten A-list stars to sign on. Each one had a budget of ten million dollars. No studio wanted to take them on because they thought it would be too much work. They rather just promote one two hundred million dollar blockbuster than go back to the old ways of making more good movies and being patient for them to find an audience through word of mouth. Today it’s all about that opening weekend. Studio Bosses have no idea what a good movie is. They’ll learn the hard way when one of those big superhero blockbusters bombs.
Mackenzie Gray is a legend as a Vancouver actor. He loves to perform and has been doing it for over forty years. He has a lot of terrific stories to share about the industry. No matter what level you are at in your career, you can always strive for more success. We wish Mackenzie to reach those higher levels and never stop striving.