| Canadian actors Fred Ewanuick and Gabrielle Miller keep popping up in each other’s work. Both are in CTV’s runaway smash comedy hit Corner Gas. Ewanuick plays lovable doofus Hank Yarbo and Miller the buoyant coffee shop owner Lacey Burrows.
Both performers also appear in the Vancouver-set series Robson Arms. Ewanuick plays the heart-of-gold stoner Nick Papathanasiou and Miller the neurotic newlywed Bobbi Briggs.
Canadian viewers will additionally see Miller and Ewanuick onscreen together in the upcoming romantic comedy film Lovers and Other Strangers.
All this prompts one to ask, is there some package deal in place where neither performer can be hired without the other? Fred Ewanuick laughingly responds to the question saying, "I hope so because I anticipate she is going to work a lot in the future and it would be great if I could tag along."
Ewanuick’s assessment of Miller’s career prospects seems accurate. She’s a gorgeous lady, with great comedic timing and plenty of girl-next-door charm. But in extolling her virtues, he’s underplaying his own skill and likability as an actor. It’s all part of the trademark humility that has allowed Ewanuick to take his successes and burgeoning popularity in stride.
He’s genuinely grateful for just being able to make a living as an actor in his own country. "This is ideal," Ewanuick says. "If I am 50, sitting on the porch and still doing this, working in Canada, I would be in heaven. That would be absolutely perfect."
While the performer has become accustomed to spending about a third of each year in Saskatchewan shooting Corner Gas, the Robson Arms filming experience has become an absolute treat for the Vancouver resident. Living five minutes from the apartment building set, Ewanuick says, "I can walk to work. The place we shoot at is like an old retirement home. The back yard is this huge park where we all have lunch together."
Ewanuick instantly clicked with all of his co-stars in both seasons one and two. "It doesn’t feel like a job. It almost doesn’t feel fair to be involved in a situation so good," he says.
The Robson Arms cast’s enjoyment of their work is apparent onscreen. Last year’s season one garnered much critical acclaim, and set a new standard for just how good a made-in-Canada ensemble show can be. For Ewanuick, one of the highlights was being able to do an episode with legendary Canadian actress and former Superman star Margot Kidder.
"She was great. She was my first ever make-out and bed scene. She could tell I was pretty nervous, so she was having some fun with me. She was saying stuff like, ‘Granny’s going to get some!’"
Ewanuick reveals that his good guy Robson Arms character, Nick Papathanasiou, will go through a bit of a shift in the upcoming second season. "He has become slightly more bitter and disillusioned. He has definitely lost his naiveté. He has woken up to the real world, and it’s not as pretty as he thought it was."
No air date has been set for season two of Robson Arms, but fans can expect it sometime this fall, with actors Leslie Nielsen and Peter DeLuise joining an already talented and diverse cast.
Ewanuick admits to being caught off guard by all the praise that has been heaped on the show, saying with his usual humility, "I am personally always surprised when people like something I have done." |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.