Link: Kelly McCormack talks Zeph’s badass evolution in Killjoys Season 4
“This role is quite simply a dream come true. Constantly and constantly. Every time I read an episode. I read an episode last week where I started crying. How am I so lucky? This is crazy. These writers get my voice really well. When you’re in it and you’re acting and you’re doing it, you don’t really know what’s being captured and you don’t really appreciate that everyone is then watching the dailies and the network is watching.†Continue reading.
Pippin Foster has been on quite the ride during his short time on Killjoys. First introduced last season as a young man with a mouth who can get anything you need from the black market, Pippin has of late become somewhat of a hero. And perhaps even a romantic one at that, if you take into account the goo-goo eyes he and Zeph have been sharing.
Now Pip is a fulltime member of Team Awesome Force and we couldn’t be happier. Neither can Atticus Mitchell, the actor who plays Pip with aplomb. We spoke to Mitchell—who has most recently starred in Young Drunk Punk and Second Jen—during a break in filming Season 4 to talk about the character and his music career, which you can follow on Spotify.
What’s it been like being part of Killjoys?
Atticus Mitchell: It’s been a breeze. There are always trials and tribulations with any project but for me, this has been a very strange, really easy go. I literally live 10 minutes away [from set] so my commute is set. I wake up 15 minutes before I have to be here. Everybody is fantastic, the scripts are always tight. We move fast and as long as we know everything it’s all hunky dory.
Pippin made an immediate impact on Dutch, Johnny and D’avin. He’s loud, brash and memorable. How did you get the role?
AM: I auditioned and got it. [Laughs.] Pretty much everybody in my age range went for it. With a show like this they’re introducing characters almost daily, so you have friends going out for the same show all the time. This was my first-ever audition for Killjoys and it happened to work out. It was just a guest-star role and then it turned into more.
At what point did they pull you aside and tell you this role would be expanded?
AM: If it says ‘guest star’ on the audition, that’s what you plan for. There were maybe two weeks of my life that I was dedicated to the series. They wrote another episode that I was in and I was like, ‘Great to be back!’ Then they wrote me into two scenes in the last episode of Season 3, which then turned into—on the morning of my last day—’Hey, are you free the rest of the day?’ I said, ‘Why?’ And they said, ‘Well, we have this ship sequence with a whole bunch of people looking over a monitor and deciding what to do. We’d like you to be in all those scenes.’ I was like, ‘OK, cool, yeah, I’m background.’ ‘No, we’ve written your lines.’ And here we are in Season 4.
Do you view Pippin as a hero?
AM: I think I saw him as not necessarily a hero, but a good guy. The good guy in their own story. He’s been raised privileged and runs around with a lot of bad people and enjoys his life. Then he got swept up into something that is about way more than him. That has transitioned him into this kind of hero role. If he thinks he’s the good guy in the story then he’s the good guy in the story.
What’s it like being part of the Killjoys family?
AM: It’s tough coming into a new show as a guest star and trying to find a place where you feel comfortable. It’s rare that a group will open their arms like this group has which is really nice. I’ve been on shows where new people come and go and you don’t really have time to get to know them. Here it’s necessary for everyone to feel welcome.
What are you doing when you’re not acting?
AM: I’m actually a composer. I make music on my piano.
For television and film or just for yourself?
AM: That could be a step I take but I’ve literally just started last year. I put out my first album of just seven songs of me playing the piano. That’s what I’m able to focus on outside of this.
After a Leg outside of Canada in Indonesia, The Amazing Race Canada jetted back to the home country for a bit of smalltown entertainment in Stratford, Ontario, and one whopper of a surprise at the end of it.
I was given the chance to watch production on this Leg of the Race roll out—you can read some of that here—and it was a fascinating peek into how it is put together both outside and inside the editing suite. Leanne and Mar, who were tops last week, were the first to depart for Stratford. Martina and Phil were feeling particularly good (and they certainly should have) for coming in 6th place despite being U-Turned.
The 16,000 km flight from Jakarta to Toronto took its toll on a couple of teams. The clue instructed pairs to drive to where the Chevy Equinox had been built. Mar and Leanne, Nancy and Mel, Zainab and Monica and Courtney and Adam—rather than going to Ingersoll, Ont., west of Toronto—incorrectly picked Oshawa, Ont., as the destination and wasted more than an hour going the wrong way. I can’t help but feel that affected morale a bit the next day. Taylor and Courtney were the first to arrive in Ingersoll. But, of course, the CAMI assembly plant was closed for the day, delaying the first challenge of the Leg until dawn.
The Route Info decreed each team would watch a silent demonstration and assemble one Equinox door. Because of safety concerns within the plant, I and the rest of my media colleagues weren’t allowed to observe this, so we waited in Stratford. Word came back that the teams were having a much harder time completing this task than producers thought and were falling behind. (A peek behind the curtain: producers have a binder for each city that contains key Leg information, summations of the Detours and Road Blocks and how long each challenge should take for a faster team or a slower one.)
Kwame and Dillon were triumphant and departed for Stratford, home of the Stratford Festival and its Festival Theatre. Adam and Courtney were next to finish, followed by Martina and Phil and Courtney and Taylor. I was scratching my head at this point because I knew Martina and Phil were the first to take on the Road Block duel. Turns out that was because Kwame and Dillon got lost and fell to 4th place. Zainab and Monica were firmly in last leaving the assembly plant. However, their fortunes reversed when Mar and Leanne made a wrong turn and the cheerleaders fell into the final spot.
Teams were tasked with donning period costumes and learning a pretty intricate combat sequence. This was all about learning the moves and playing up the dramatics, something nurse Courtney failed to do during her first few attempts. (Behind the curtain: Phil was even slower in person during his first attempt. We sat in the Festival Theatre and observed the first several teams duel before leaving to follow the leading teams to the next challenge.)
Courtney and Taylor were the first to arrive at Stratford’s City Hall, a.k.a. Queen of the Square, and were surprised to see Jon Montgomery there, on the mat with Stratford’s mayor standing beside him. They were so shocked they’d left their backpacks and had to retrieve them. (Behind the curtain: we were mashed up against a wall watching Taylor and Courtney’s arrival; watch the video above.) The siblings were informed that they were the first to arrive and had won a trip for two to London. Zainab and Monica were the last to arrive but learned the Leg wasn’t over and they were still Racing.
(Behind the curtain: every team was informed, upon arrival on the mat, that the Leg was continuing to Toronto. Of course, the producers saved that reveal for the end, which added to the drama of the moment.) Look for my behind-the-scenes look at the Toronto Leg of The Amazing Race Canada next Monday.
Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:
Taylor and Courtney (won a trip for two to London)
Adam and Courtney
Martina and Phil
Dillon and Kwame
Nancy and Mel
Leanne and Mar
Zainab and Monica (Leg continues)
The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. MT on CTV.
Link: Ed the Sock wants to disrupt television — again
“We are stepping in to fill a void. It wasn’t too long ago that we were making cable TV shows with cardboard boxes. We don’t look at something and see a lack of resources and say it’s impossible. We say this is going to be fun. That’s the heart of the network. We want to be a part of the Canadian media industry. Not apart from it.†Continue reading.
From Sesame Workshop and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, the new animated series Esme & Roy, the first new animated series from the makers of Sesame Street in more than a decade, premieres Saturday, August 18 at 7:10 a.m. on Treehouse. The series follows a young girl, Esme, and her best monster friend, Roy, on their adventures as the best monster babysitters in Monsterdale. Aimed at children ages four to six, it offers a creative new approach to teaching “learning through play†and mindfulness strategies.
With loveable characters who spark strong emotional connections among preschoolers and parents alike, Esme & Roy invites children into a colourful world where even the littlest monsters can overcome big challenges together. Across 26 episodes, Esme and Roy will use the power of play to help younger monsters through familiar situations like trying new foods and feeling scared during loud thunderstorms. Little viewers will look up to their new favourite monster-sitters as positive role models, learning how to manage strong emotions with simple mindfulness practices alongside Esme and Roy’s charges. Infectious humour, imaginative design, and expressive Canadian voice talent including Millie Davis (Wonder, Odd Squad) and Patrick McKenna (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania: The Series), bring the world of Esme & Roy to vibrant life.
Esme & Roy underscores how vitally important play is to early childhood development. Whether they’re pretending to be veterinarians to model how to hold a pet gently, or sticking to a shopping list by turning a trip to the grocery store into a “Supermarket Match†game show, the monster-sitters help their little friends learn a range of lessons while they have fun. When children play together, they are physically, cognitively, and socially engaged. Motivated by their own curiosity and interest, they learn to collaborate, self-regulate, communicate, and empathize with others during play sessions. As modeled in Esme & Roy, “learning through play†allows children to develop these critical life skills in a safe environment.
Children are most ready for this kind of engaged, productive playtime when they can manage challenging feelings like worry and frustration. Esme & Roy offers easy-to-adopt strategies that can help even very young children regulate their emotions. Tactics include: taking slow belly breaths, which provide a pause for children to be reflective instead of reactive; self-talk that uses positive statements to remind kids of their strength and capability; giving oneself a soothing hug; and using a “glitter jar†to calm the body and mind, shaking a sparkly snow globe-like jar and taking deep breaths while watching the glitter swirl and slowly fall.
Created by TV veterans Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg (Peg + Cat, Team Umizoomi, Wonder Pets! and Shimmer and Shine), Esme & Roy is co-produced with Sesame Workshop in partnership with Corus Entertainment’s animation studio Nelvana, with illustrations inspired by renowned artist Dankerleroux.
