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Photos Courtesy of J Benson Photography

Musicals, Movies, and More – Interview with Garfield Wilson

It’s amazing where one’s life journey will take them. Mine, I’ve probably explained on here a few interviews ago, so let’s take a look at Garfield Wilson, and his journey. Currently a native in Vancouver, the greatest place ever for making films, where he works as an actor and has been on a multitude of productions. The most recent being Schmigadoon!, where his character Henry may be the Ice Man but he secretly dreams of being a doctor. I had a nice long conversation with him and he sure likes to talk. We discussed not only his role, but his past work, what he does to stand up for Black lives on social media, and the smoothness of being able to act during a pandemic.

 

HNMAG: So you originally started out making music, was it easy to transition from music to acting?

Garfield Wilson: Yeah, relatively easy. I started off in the choir and that always seamlessly transitions into musical theatre. In high school we always hinted at doing musical theatre by acting out certain parts of scenes that were from musical numbers that we were doing. Then in high school I did a production of Grease. All the artists I looked up to and all the things I grew up on, were musicals, like The Wiz, I was heavily into the Jackson 5, all the classics like Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and even Jesus Christ Superstar which I ended up doing right out of college, playing Judas which was insane. 

 

HNMAG: Now how did you get into acting for films?

Garfield Wilson: Film acting started organically when I moved from Edmonton to Vancouver in late 90’s. A high school friend of mine that had already moved to Vancouver and she knew that I came to Vancouver to be in music. There’s lots of productions in the States that come to Vancouver and they’re all diverse productions. They have a lot of African-Americans in their productions, and if you want to transition, you usually go into Extras work. So I looked in the Classified Section of the newspaper, and I found an agency. I liked their name, and I went to their office in Downtown Vancouver. I told them my story of wanting to get into background work because I had heard of productions coming into Vancouver. During the interview, the agent said she liked how I sounded and thought I could do better than background. So they signed me up for a couple of audition classes and from there, I met a casting director named Betty Chadwick who was casting all the hit shows back then (Black Angel, Stargate, Jeremiah with Luke Perry). I got booked for a lot of roles, a soldier, a medic, a police officer, just one-line roles here and there. Quite quickly I got my full membership and from there it was onto the long roads where I am today.

 

HNMAG: Aside from audition classes, did you train for any acting?

Garfield Wilson: Well, I didn’t do any training before that, and, funny enough, I had taken a 10-year break. My wife at the time and I were having children and acting was just so fleeting at the time. I was always into fitness and was always a sports guy, so she bluntly said, “If you’re going to spend that much time in the gym, you might as well get paid for it. Become a personal trainer” and I was like, “Oh my gosh, why didn’t I think about that?” I went back to school, got my certification as a personal trainer, and did that for 10 years. Then I started training some people who were in the film industry, like Chelah Horsdal, and a couple of other good actors who were represented by Natasha Trisko of Trisko Talent Management, one of the top agencies of Vancouver. At the time, she was just starting her agency and I trained her for two years, never telling her I was an actor at some point. Then, through being a personal trainer AND becoming quite popular, I was set out to be in this CBC Docuseries called Village on a Diet. 

 

HNMAG: What was it about and how was the experience?

Garfield Wilson: It was about traveling out to a remote part in Canada and the shooting would be for 3 months. When they offered me the contract, I knew it wasn’t a good one, so I asked Natasha to look at it because she was an agent. I also asked her if she could rep me and my buddy Mike Veinot who was going to be on the show with me. She told us to send everything we had ever done on film, and we would take it from there. I sent my resume, while Mike just sent his picture and his name. Natasha saw my resume and said “You’re an actor” and I claimed I wasn’t. 

 

HNMAG: But you got into acting eventually. How?

Garfield Wilson: After she negotiated my contract, she started offering me auditions and I said no for 2 years. Then around February 2012, there was a pilot audition and she sent me the sides. I had a break in the afternoon and I was going to go to my car, eat some lunch, take a nap, but then I figured since I had some time, I’d do the audition. I ended up landing a role on Fox’s Almost Human, as one of the androids (MX-43 ‘3’ ). That changed everything, that series regular role changed the quality of roles that I was being submitted for. I was no longer going for Paramedic #1 or 2, I was going for large principal roles and guest starring roles. But I had no craft whatsoever, I had raw talent so rather than bomb and have no skills in navigating the audition room, I went out on the Google route and found Deb Podowski who had an on-camera acting class that took 3 months. It changed the entire course of my acting career. I stayed in her class for 6-8 years and she changed my whole language in approach to acting and that class was so magical with the classmates that I had. Her instruction was as hardline as you can get, and very maternal at the same time so it was a really good scene study class and to harness the raw talent that I had.

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HNMAG: So it’s my understanding you did both stage and screen. What is the difference between the two?

Garfield Wilson: Stage is really raw and it’s where a lot of actors find the juice. It’s like high-flying on the trapeze without a net. You have a live audience, and you go from the beginning to the end of the stories. It’s an emotional journey that once you start, you don’t stop. In comparison to being on set, dependent on locations or when a set is ready as far as doing it in the studio, what’s available as far as camera or actors, you can shoot things well out of sequence, and do take after take after take. 

 

HNMAG: Now tell me about your role as Henry in Schmigadoon! Is he a character you feel you can relate with?

Garfield Wilson: I feel that Henry is indicative of that time capsule that Schmigadoon is in. Which is 1930s, 40s and 50s musicals like Brigadoon, Mary Poppins, and all of that. The thing about Schmigadoon! is that you have this couple that is in our time now that goes on a couples retreat because they’re having relationship issues. They get lost in the forest and end up in the magical town of Schmigadoon where everything is a musical and everything is from that time of 1930s-40s. In that time, there wasn’t a lot of racial diversities or opportunities for black people, and you had a limit of what you could do as expected in your life journey. Henry is definitely like that. You can tell by the way that he’s dressed, and the job he has in Schmigadoon, although the cast is quite diverse, Henry is indicative of what you’d see when you watch those films/shows. But with EVERYONE in Schmigadoon, they’re more than what they appear to be.

 

HNMAG: How does this role differ from other roles you’ve taken?

Garfield Wilson: I’ve been blessed to have been given a wide variety of roles. As far as how Henry is so much like any role ever played, I can’t tell you that ANY role is similar to one or the other. I’ve been really blessed in that regard.

 

HNMAG: Speaking of roles, what were some of your favourite roles in acting?

Garfield Wilson: One in particular, the guest star role I had in the television series Ice, Femi who was a Jamaican wannabe gangster stealing diamonds and running his own organized crime unit. That was incredible because that was the first time I got to play a character that is from my heritage. I actually called my Dad to say a few of the lines so I could get my accent right (laughs). Then the movie, Love You To Death, playing a doctor (Dr. Price) who changes the course of this young woman’s life. That story comes from a documentary that came out a few years ago called Mommy Dearest, Mommy Dead which is a REALLY tragic story that was incredibly done in this movie. Then my role in Come To Daddy alongside Elijah Wood in this dark thriller comedy that was sort of an independent style of a film directed by Ant Timpson from New Zealand and THAT was where I was playing Sheriff Ronald Plum from the Southern States. 

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HNMAG: Is it interesting to be doing a role that’s similar to your past experience in music?

Garfield Wilson: It was great to dive into a musical again, and not be on stage. To go to the elaborate set for Schmigadoon! alongside Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, and Alan Cummings, Fred Armisen, Dove Cameron, the list goes on and on. Then being directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and working closely with Cinco Paul. That was just a different experience entirely. But the emotional weight that comes from singing really good songs that are an intricate part of the storytelling of that series, it doesn’t differ from performing Jesus Christ Superstar or Hair. If you’ve got a great story then the musical tells it in such a poignant way and you can’t helped but be moved. Even performing that music hits you in all the right places.

 

HNMAG: So you got along with everyone? 

Garfield Wilson: (laughs) Yes, YES! I pride myself with saying I get along with all my castmates whenever I’m on a show.

 

HNMAG: Especially amidst a pandemic?

Garfield Wilson: You know, I think that was the third show I did coming into the pandemic. I came back to finish up the series The Astronauts, and before that I did a very quick supporting role on a Hallmark murder mystery. Then I did Schmigadoon!. By the time we started, everything was set up. There were red zones for actors where they had to wear masks or face coverings. There were also yellow zones and green zones, everyone was tested 3 times a week, and they’ve changed EVERYTHING from how you do crafty and how you have your lunch. Everybody is spread out, doing social distancing, wonderful thing is that there are COVID personnel who are making sure everyone is following the protocols, calling out people who don’t wear their facemarks properly, hand sanitizing and all of that. I felt incredibly safe on the sets.

 

HNMAG: You’re also an advocate for equality. What have you done in your journey to make sure equality is strong in the industry?

Garfield Wilson: The UBCP union here in BC has done a great job in advocating for equality and making sure that voices are heard. I was on a couple of panels to talk about that, and to educate because the film industry is very old and there are a lot of old-school types who have been around over 30 years. A LOT has changed in the last 10-15 years in regards to equality and diversity in the roles that are offered or being played by people of colour, and for gender as well. After things like the Me Too Movement and the horrific George Floyd slaying, people are more aware. We still have a long way to go, but I believe we’re heading in the right direction. During lockdown when we weren’t going anywhere, I used my platforms to educate and converse. People were not only hurting, we were in a global pandemic and people were trying to work while homeschooling their kids. The stress and anxiety was at an obscene level and what I tried to do, and continue to do is call people out when there is ignorant or rhetoric behaviour or narratives. There are some people that have a point of view that I would define them as trolls. They’re there to spread negativity and there’s no point in having conversations with those people. But if you do have curiosity and want to enlighten yourself, I’m happy to talk to you.

 

HNMAG: Have you ever thought of making your own films?

Garfield Wilson: Oh my gosh! In the last few years, YEAH. Once I get to a point in my career, yes. Like the people I admire, Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Sandra Bullock. Even Brad Pitt, people who have their own production companies and tell some stories I feel passionate about and need to be told. I don’t necessarily have to be in front of the camera, I would love to create opportunities for talented artists, writers, and directors that just need a break. If I have the power to do that, I would love to discover some incredibly talented young people that are looking to tell stories.

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Garfield Wilson continues to do what he does best, acting, keeping fit, singing, and helping people out on his platforms. Check out a few of them here, to check out what he’s up to!

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