Actor Lorne Cardinal holds up a treat that his dog Jake, quickly jumps to eat. The actor most recognized for his role playing Davis Quinton in the long-running TV series Corner Gas, attracts a few curious glances from onlookers at Newport Beach as he and Jake play at the water’s edge.
The Squamish Chief caught up with Cardinal, likely the most famous of Squamish locals, for a walk and a chat about what he is up to these days, what it’s like being an aboriginal Canadian actor and how Squamish is changing.
Q: The last time you were in The Chief office, you were on the press junket for Corner Gas: The Movie. How did that all go for you?
A: It went really well. I think that was the last one. I don’t think Brent [Butt] is interested in making any more, though there were rumblings of an animation project. That would be cool, and that way I would be thin and pretty forever!
Q: Do you get recognized a lot in Squamish for being Davis from Corner Gas?
A: Yeah, I do. Some guys will always say ‘Davis!’ If they like that, great. That is why I do it – to entertain people and if people have an affinity for that, good. I like it. It means I did my job right.
Q: What would be your ideal role?
A: I would love to do Richard III and play the King. Either film or live. He is a pretty awesome, diverse character. He’s very open about what he is going to do and what he wants.
‘I am going to make the king hate his brother, watch me!’ and then he does it. ‘I am going to court this woman, whose husband I have just killed,’ and then he does it.
Q: You have said it is a struggle in the film and TV industry for Canadian actors, can you elaborate?
A: It is a struggle for Canadian actors to be involved in Canadian productions. The West Coast is particularly hard because it is such a big industry, but it is all American projects.
American TV series come up with American feature films, so they get all the big budgets and all the producers want to ride on that gravy train because it is so lucrative, but to get anything Canadian made is very difficult.
There are a very small number of roles for a very large number of actors.
When you throw being aboriginal into the mix then it gets even smaller so I am trying to always get people to think beyond me being aboriginal. I don’t always have to be the ‘street guy.’
Q: I think readers would be shocked to hear that is still happening to you.
A: It is prevalent. It is so ingrained in the thinking it is hard for people to break out of it. They don’t think of me as a human being – a male within this age range. They see me and go ‘oh, he’s a native guy.’ Well, I could be a cop who is native, I could be a doctor, I could be a Wall Street dude. There are native people involved in those industries… And it is aboriginal stories being told by non-aboriginal people. Native people get used as a backdrop.
Q: So, what is it going to take to change that?
A: The solution is to keep producing more [First Nations] filmmakers, more writers and producers and then find some way to wrench some development money out of people who want to invest in a good story.
Q: You have had a lot of success, but do you ever get tired of that fight and want to do something else?
A: Only when I am not working. <
They control your destiny, they control a lot of the money on the reserve level, they decide how much goes into education, social programs, and they decide what you need.
They don’t come and ask, they tell – it is very paternalistic that way. It has been that way for decades.
You have people from outside telling you how to live your life on the inside. And the fact that there is an inside and outside is a problem.
Q: What advice do you have for a young actor who looks up to you about trying to make it in your business?
A: Get training. Same advice I was given. Save your money and diversify. You have to diversify in this business. You can’t rely on just one thing.
My nephew, Hunter Cardinal, just graduated from the University of Alberta, from the same acting program I went to (Cardinal was the first aboriginal actor to graduate from the program in 1993).
I steered him in that direction. Now he is out, has moved to Toronto and is pursuing his dream to be a working actor.
Q: On another note, what do you think of all the growth and changes in Squamish since you moved here eight years ago?
A: It is pretty crazy growth. I just don’t want it to turn into another bedroom community. It is good for developers, I guess. Hopefully [the city] is planning further ahead.
I understand you need the tax base to be a successful municipality, but… the last thing we need is more super-malls.
I hope the new people embrace it as home. It is Squamish, it has its own identity.
I hope people plug into the community and bring stuff to make it a more vibrant community, which would be great.
Q: What is your favourite spot in Squamish?
A: I like going on the Wonderland trail and just to go walking by the river.
Q: You have a few projects coming up including a short film Gods Acre that will be showing at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Can you tell us a bit about it?
A: That was a fun one. It is this great story about environmental warming. When Kelton [Stepanowich] offered it to me I was quite taken by the project.
The waters are rising and [my character Frank] is refusing to move because he’s from there, his family is buried there, he’s of the land.
He’s fighting it tooth and nail.
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