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StarTV Interview Transcript
With Terry David Mulligan, June 1999
CKR: You know, as a kid growing up, you're looking out into the world, you're seeing, well, I can't really see myself behind a desk, I can't really see myself doing a regular nine to five job.
TDM: What should we know about your family and you as a kid growing up? Were you in trouble like other kids, how was school for you?
CKR: Wow, that's relaly personal. I was like every other kid. I was absolutely normal. There, can we move on?
TDM: Sure.
CKR: Over the last six years, I mean, there's been huge, and I've been fortunate and there's been huge ups and downs, and it's learning to take, okay, there are moments of inspiration that you really completely behind it and you're serving, you know, say, Bruce Mcdonald in a piece. And other times you're working and it's bad and you're struggling like a bastard through some thing that you're just - it's tough. So it's, you know, and I always thought it was gonna go just real smooth and everything was gonna be just super super cool the whole time, and it's not.
Bruce Mcdonald: He is somebody that the camera really loves. He has, I think, what a true kind of movie star has, it's a kind of undefined presence. It's just, he's got it.
CKR: You get more attention, and you feel like there's a certain type of pressure that you, or idea that you have to live up to, which is sometimes very wrong.
That recovery is a process that I still work through today, so I mean, it's, it's tough, in regard of going, oh yeah, okay, well I'll just lock in and think about that for awhile, and if I think or lock in too hard, then I'm (sound effect), I'm gone.
TDM: And you have to work at not drinking, at not being back there?
CKR: Yeah, I have to on it, and I didn't realise I did because I'd been working so hard I was able to avoid it, uh, the process. And only just in the last four months I've taken that on as a part of me being - you know, 'cause I thought, well, okay, I've just made a choice and through circumstance, I won't participate in that, but it became so dicey over the last little while that I went, I really need to focus on that almost as much as I had been on my, the work. Because it was getting cloudy.
I think I would have self-destructed if I hadn't, if I kept avoiding it. 'Cause I was avoiding it, 'cause I knew it would work, I knew somewhere it would work, but I wasn't sure why.
TDM: How are you in love scenes?
CKR: I'm not in, I don't get to do that many. I don't know what that's all about. Uh... two maybe? I'm good at it, I think.
TDM: Really?
CKR: Oh yeah, fuck - oop (laughs), "oh yeah, f- ".
Like in Last Night, there was a lot of laying on top of other women, and, and, and... not *other* women, not like I'm a woman, but - that made no sense. On other women, you know, and you have to - it's a bit tricky 'cause you're trying to respect what's, you know, them, and the scene, and the, stuff, and you know. If I get excited, I apologise, if I don't get excited, I apologise.
TDM: Do you think you're on the edge of something?
CKR: NO.
TDM: You think the world will just forget about you tomorrow if you didn't -
CKR: Uh... if I didn't do these interviews?
I've been working on trying not to be dissatisfied. That's, to try to be, to... feel as fortunate as I've been allowed to have some of the things that I wanted, and appreciate it while it's going on and appreciate the moment, like working on The Last Stop.
You move through time, and, you know, you're getting that kind of "need the kid" feeling, you go, I need that sort settle- there's a certain kind of settling down that comes with time that you didn't think was gonna come up, and you know, like you didn't think you were actually gonna like classical music on the radio when you're driving, but you do. And you like the jazz station, and you start sort of going, hmm, maybe I should find a little cabin somewhere. (Laughs) You know, that kind of thing.
Open Mike Transcript Feb 5th, 1999
Mike: What can I say about our next guest that hasn't been said. He stars in Due South, Hard Core Logo, Double Happiness and he won a Genie last night for his performance in the movie Last Night. Now... (cheering from audience) hang on a second... I want everyone to be really, really nice to him because he's very, very nervous and he loves me right now cuz he didn't think we were going to have time for him. Please welcome Callum Keith Rennie.
(Callum comes onto the stage carrying a water bottle, and gives Mike Bullard's hand a shake and then Callum leans in so Mike can whisper in his ear, he then goes to his seat, and he greets the other guest with the hollywood kiss on both cheeks and takes his seat. He's wearing a black suit with the jacket open, and a blue shirt with the top undone. Sorry no glasses this time guys! ;) And who were the people in the back ground screaming, I'd like to know who were the lucky people who saw him in person!!! Also, through out the interview he is jiggling his legs up and down nervously, chewing his gum, shifting in his chair repeatedly, playing with his thumb along the arm rest of the leather chair, and quite frequently he's thumbing his eyebrow and his nose.)
Mike:Callum Keith Rennie, ladies and gentlemen. Now I never know what to, never know what to call you. Callum? (Pronounced Call-um.) Keith?
CKR: Callum (pronounced Cal-um.)
Mike: Callum.
CKR: Callum.
Mike: See, I got them all wrong. So it's Callum.
CKR: Yeah.
Mike: Alright. Well, what a pleasure it is to have you here and, ah, we're very excited because I know you left last night (Callum thumbs his eye brow), without your Genie and they sent it to us today. There it is. (Callum then laughs/scoffs embarrassedly as Mike pulls out the Big Genie, and Callum smiles at it, eye's fixed on it for a moment.)
CKR: Thank you.
Mike: And we here at the show are going to treasure it always and treat it the same way you would have.
CKR: What, as a bottle opener? (He mutters this, and smiles.)
Mike: Your Genie. They sent it to us today. That's a beautiful thing. It's heavy. It's very heavy. Now, Paul Gross was here in September and he was your co-star on Due South so I'd like to tell you that this is your first appearance on the show, but it's not. Would you like to see your first appearance on the show?
CKR: Uh, yes please. (Slightly hesitant, smiles and looks out at the audience, and lifts his eyebrows for a second.)
Mike: Alright, let's take a look at this.
---They play the clip from PG's appearance on Open Mike, Sept. 98---
PG: Callum is my co-star on the show, by the way. It's a hologram representation of him (Paul unrolls a piece of paper and props it up on the seat next to him) and you can actually...if you can get a close-up of this (a cartoon doodle of Callum)...you can address questions to him. Are you okay, Cal?
CKR: I've been working out since then.
Mike: You've been working out since then?
CKR: Building up, yeah.
Mike: Good, good, good. Now you rarely do perform in public anymore, Callum, but you started on stage, I guess.
CKR: Um, I started in Edmonton doing a radio show, ah, for some friends who put together a live show every Saturday. It was like a half hour and they asked me to listen to the show and I said, "Geez, this is really horrible" and they said, "Do you want to come down and participate" and I went, (eeeeehhum) "Okay" so every Friday we would, you know, sit in a bar, write this sort of half hour live, do all the sounds and do the whole bit and uh...
Mike: You don't think that sitting in a bar, writing it, may have contributed to it being terrible?
CKR: No, umm (looking down, pause, then looks up smiling at mike and at the same time thumbs his nose and then opens that hand out as to exclaim) it got better, let's say. Okay? Um, so...which led on to doing some plays in the Fringe Festival.
Mike: Right, so from then you went on to the Fringe Festival. Tell me about your first experience in a play? I heard it was very funny.
CKR: Um, so it was a couple of the same people who did the radio show with me and I had never been on the stage before. You know, I was 25 years old...(He then leans really far back into his chair) sort of feels a bit like this. (audience laughs, he then looks around the crowd quickly, does a stretched out smile, almost a grimace, and opens his eyes really wide quickly, almost like how a person would try to wake themselves up, then leans forward) So, you know, we rehearsed the play for three months... get out there, you know... uh, lights come up, I'm sitting down and I have the first line of the play and I can't remember what it is. And the co... the, you know, other person who's in the scene with me is starting to pace around, pace around, pace around. And so I... I'll just smoke a cigarette. So I light a cigarette. It'll come to me. I'm sure it'll come to me. Ten minutes goes by. The cigarette goes out. And *snaps fingers*oh, that's it. "What?" Then we start.
Mike: Now then, you ah, you ah won the Genie last night for Last Night and I saw your performance. I thought it was marvellous. The thing I think I enjoyed most was this was this guy's last night on earth as it was everybody else's, I guess and you decided that you wanted to have all kinds of different sex with different people
CKR:(Mutters very quietly,) yeah, (smiles, looks down and plays with the arm rest.)
Mike:and I don't know if anyone told you this but there was one particular scene that really stuck out in my mind. I thought it was hilarious.
CKR: Which would that be? (He mutters this really quietly too.)
Mike: That would be you calling your grade eight French teacher.
CKR: Oh yeah, that was kinda funny. (He also say this quietly.)
Mike: And telling her you wanted to consummate the relationship. I thought that was one of the most amusing things I've seen on film. It was a great, great piece.
CKR: And Genevieve [Bujold] was great.
Mike: And Genevieve was great, yes. Now somebody told me today, I don't know if Genevieve knows this from the film, but you have a tattoo of a Champion spark plug?
CKR: Yeah.
Mike: Where's that?
CKR: It's on my ___ (He says this all seriously and leans back into his chair, if your too young you probably don't want to read this, so skip this and go on to CKR's next sentence cause CTV beeped this part....... but on the close captions it read cock.)
CKR: Do ya wanna see it. (He gets up, and is going for to pull down his pants)
Mike: No. (He sits back down, and smile's mischievously, and then covers his mouth with his hand, and you can see him smiling. The audience is really going at it for a few seconds...)
Mike: I ah, uh, I ah... (Mike's laughing, and as usual he's bobbing his head up and down like he usually does.)
CKR: It's actually right here. It's right here, right here.. (and he begins to pat his right shoulder.)
Mike: You know what I find difficult to believe? You know what I find difficult to believe? I guess I missed that in the Globe and Mail story on you today. I want to thank you very much for coming. Pop back again. And once again, congratulations.
CKR: Thank-you.
Mike: Callum Keith Rennie. We'll be right back with Kaybe.
Genie Award Ceromony Transcript Feb 4th, 1999
Acceptance Speech
Presenter: and the Genie goes too,...Callum Keith Rennie.
(Callum looks at the lady beside him named Liz, who is his *Manager*, gives her what has been called a mildly passionate kiss, begins to turn around and has an expression on his face some what like, oh great I gotta go do this, gets up walks down in his fabulous suit, goes by Don McKellar and gives his hand a little squeeze (remember this is happening all quick), as he gets up onto the stage, and gives a large over exaggerated tug on the collar of his shirt, takes the award and literally pluncks it down with a thud on to the podium, cause it's so heavy.
Callum: Um, I'm not very good at accepting compliments, (he brings his right thumb up to his eye brow and thumbs it) and, uh, this is a compliment. I'd like to thank um, (reaches into suit while speaking) excuse me for a moment, um Don McKellar,... Don McKellar (pulls out list), and ah, ......Don McKellar, (everyone laughs, and he begins to look down the whole time at the list on the podium, while speaking solemnly) for his acting, his writing , and his directing, and his stunts, (laugh) and uh, especially for his patience with me. Ah um, all the people at Rombas, Niv Finchman, Danny Irons (Iron, he pronounces hard, and he looks up slightly smiling), ah, friends and family, cast and crew, off the topic Peter Simpson for his understanding, and on the topic I'd like to thank my manager (slight pause) and my most extraordinary friend, uh ah, Liz. (And this is where he looks up, most likely to the lady he was sitting next too.) Thank You.
Host: ...Two of Canada's hottest young actors here to present our next award, are the star of Species, and the soon to be released Canadian film Dog Park, and a Best Supporting Actor Nominee, and one of the stars of Last Night, and Due South, and a Genie winner this evening, Natasha Henstridge, and tonight's Genie winner Callum Keith Rennie.
Natasha: Since the Genies were launched nineteen years ago, this award has been presented to such alustrious actors, such as Martha Henry, Helena Bonham Carter, Marie Tifo, and Margo Kidder.
Callum: (Quickly said while in a low deadpan voice) That's pretty impressive company, and now it's gonna be joined by one of these five...
