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My editors are
fantastic. They encourage me, they give me helpful
suggestions, AND they do not hesitate to stand up for
me when an angry Richard Gere fan e-mails to make
critical comments on something I have written. “We
don’t know her,” they say. They do however, enjoy it
when I tell stories about terribly embarrassing
moments. Here goes....
We were at the theatre. Two scary movie veterans (Sean and John) and myself. It was their turn to pick the film. They, having absolutely no respect for my wussiness factor decided to pick the most frightening looking thing available; a new David Cronenberg film called Existenz. As I sat in the darkening theatre, Sean (horror vet #1) turned and asked “Scared Jen?” “SCARED? ME?” I replied in a voice you might expect to emanate from an aerobics instructor on 26 cups of coffee. “Of course not. It’s only a movie.” As I had a carefully planned out technique for surviving scary movies, ( a. closing my eyes when the ominous music starts; and b. leaving the theatre for 15 or 20 Mountain Dew refills) I was not too concerned. Until the movie started that is, and I found that I didn’t want to shut my eyes as there was this incredible actor on screen named Callum Keith Rennie who was so handsome he was obviously some sort of special effect, and that I couldn’t leave the theatre without leaving my shoes behind as they had become permanently bonded to the floor in one of the most permanent adhesives known to man: Movie Floor Crud. These factors led to 90 of the most terrifying minutes of my life. (Not to mention leading me to one of the most irritating cinema-goers habits: attempting to LOUDLY assist the characters on screen. I think at one point I yelled out “DON’T TRUST HIM!!” at the top of my lungs managing to embarrass the two uber-cool people I was with. This was quite a feat considering that these two people think nothing of performing Klingon mating rituals in public places.) After the movie was over John (horror vet #2) leaned over and said “How’d you like the movie Jen?” “Whurg,” I replied as my brain was not concerned with pesky tasks like forming complete sentences at that time. It seemed to be busy with trying to get my heart beating again. “You weren’t SCARED were you?” asked John. “NO,” I answered demonstrating the brain’s amazing ability to tap dance around the truth of a situation in order to preserve one’s dignity. I jittered my way home, and once inside, while maintaining a 50 foot distance from my computer games, (Existenz joke) began to look up the lovely Callum and his career.
You know how they say it takes twice as much energy to swing and miss as it does to swing and hit? The same can be said for the amount of nerve necessary to phone someone and have them answer, and phone someone and getting their machine.( “This is Callum. I’m not....ummm...Call me Back”) I did finally get him on the phone, only to discover that he is just as magnetic as he appears to be on film. It comes naturally to this deadpan actor.
When I put the word out in my little village that I would be speaking with Callum, mounds of videotapes showed up on my doorstep. In amongst the hours and hours of DaVinci’s Inquest, Twitch City, and movies that arrived I found an early interview where he stated that Due South was a good experience for his personal growth. I asked him to clarify. “I never had to be a team player before,” he said. “I was used to showing up, doing my thing, and leaving. I couldn’t do that here. The atmosphere, and the bond I formed with everyone was intense.”
If he wasn’t acting, Callum says he would be “A cat burglar. A good one. A sneaky one. Hmmmm....Maybe a golfer? I think I would just have to be doing whatever I developed a passion for.” When I asked him about his biggest influences, it seemed to throw him. He paused, then answered “My brothers. My brothers are my family. My manager is a great friend. Professionally, Marlon Brando is fantastic. Billy Crudup is great. There was a certain sweetness to “Jesus’ Son” that I loved.” When I wondered about what kept him in Canada he said that “it’s a self limitation. I really like the idea of supporting my roots.” Fans are eagerly awaiting Rennie’s next collaboration with Canadian director/actor/writer Don McKellar. “We’re hitting around ideas,” said Callum “but nothing’s set yet.” I asked him what his fans generally say when they first meet him. “Asshole,” Callum replied. (Again, only kidding.) “Generally they just seem to be able to place my face but not my name. Sort of the ‘haven’t I seen you someplace before?’ thing. Although, I did go in to pick up my golf clubs the other day and the guy behind the counter said ‘I saw you having sex on TV last night. I can’t remember what I was watching though.’ I asked him if there were a lot of sex scenes, and he said ‘I don’t know. I fell asleep after half an hour.’” What makes Callum so intriguing though is his contradictory public and private persona. In all of his roles, he is a ball of soft light, not overt, but fiery enough that you can’t take your eyes off him. As Ray (Due South), or Craig (Last Night), or even his beaten-down Jerry (For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down) there is an all encompassing bravery that leads his audience to believe that he fears absolutely nothing. Yet, in person he seems almost shy. And, much to my surprise, this fiercely gentle actor gets star struck. “I’ve only been star struck twice,” said Callum. “Once on a plane, I asked Bobby Hull for his autograph. And the other on one of Christopher Walken’s film sets. The director brought me over to meet him, and I mumbled something, and it all ended very quickly.”
The Atlantic Film Festival is coming up fast down here in my neck of the woods. I am hoping that we will manage to get a chance to screen Callum’s Flower and Garnet, so that I will be able to cement my status as an admirer of this man by being first in line. I am volunteering at the fest though, so I’m hoping that if any fellow theatre goers out there make it to the show before me they will do me two favours: 1) Save me a seat for the next screening. I missed Last Night on the big screen, I’m NOT missing this. 2) Please keep your eyes open for a pair of black Converse sneakers. They are probably still welded to the floor. Questions from the Fans 1) How do you approach
your roles? 2) What was the first
album you ever owned? 3)What are you
reading? 4)Who are you
listening to? 5)What’s been
your favourite movie role? 6) How’s Alberta? (His
dog) 7)What did you think
when you read the script for “Memento?” What’s been your
toughest role so far? Were you nervous about
appearing on The X-Files?
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This man, despite being a
fairly independent actor has an absolutely HUGE fan
base, headed up by a devoted webmaster named Sarah.
(Her wealth of information on Callum can be found at
We talked about Due South,
and I asked how he landed the role of Ray Kowalski.
“I didn’t actually have to audition,” Callum said.
“I just had to meet with Paul Haggis (series
creator). I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to do the
show, so we did a coin toss to see if I’d join the
cast. I lost, so I asked if we could do it again
‘cause I realized just how badly I wanted to do it.”
Callum says on the onset environment that “it was
great fun. It’s one of the best television
environments I’ve ever worked on. It was a real
hands on type of atmosphere. There was total
hilarity and retardedness every day.” He then
explained the effect that the role had taken on his
career. “It affected it positively. My profile
suddenly became much higher. I went from no one
knowing me, to walking through a Belgian airport, or
playing tennis in South Africa, and having people
know my name.” Unlike his Due South
counterparts, Callum doesn’t have a particular
favourite episode. “I watch any of them, and
critique my performance. Like the first one I did, I
think ‘ooo, I’m a little bit tight there.’ Then I
watch a later one and think ‘I’m starting to find my
legs.’ Each one brings back memories of the day for
me, what we had for lunch, what the weather was
like...” 
I asked him what sort of
roles he’d like to be playing. “I’d like smaller
roles where I get paid more.” (He was kidding. I
think. Sometimes he is so buried in his sarcasm it’s
hard to tell.) He went on to tell me about his
newest project Flower and Garnet. “I’m very
proud of it,” said Callum. “ I play a dad who is
really detached from his kids. I love roles like
that, I can do them simply and honestly.”
My time speaking with Callum
left me with an inescapable conclusion. This
gentleman is much more 3-D than your average
performer. He adores golfing. (For some
incomprehensible reason. My particular style of
golfing is to grab a club of some sort, stride
directly to the ball, take a hearty swing, and then
check to see if the ball has moved from it’s
original location. If no, I take another swing. If
yes, I go find another ball because there is
absolutely no way that I will ever find the first
one. This would be an ideal spectator version of
golf, save for the fact that everyone watching would
be killed within minutes.) He loves Basquiat’s
paintings, calling them “both beautiful and
political.” He was so open with every topic we
touched on that I hung up the phone feeling as
though I’d known him for years.