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For the readers who may
not have seen the show [Sanctuary], tell us about the character that you play.
I play Declan
Macrae who is head of the UK Sanctuary, which is kind of where it all started. Gregory Magnus founded
the Sanctuary Network in London, and we know that is where the Sanctuary Network started... then the North America Sanctuary
came after that. So Declan is in charge of the original homebase Sanctuary. He's a good friend of the North
American Sanctuary, and he joins them on missions... and is very high ranking in the Network. How did you get involved on the show? Well,
I came to live in Canada in 2008 and I was out auditioning - I've done a couple of things... I've done a Robin Hood
movie [Beyond Sherwood Forest] and Smallville, and it just came up. It was just for one episode at the time, they said there was a chance
of it recurring. I thought I did a pretty good job with the read, and I got invited to be in one episode - we kind of
did one more in re-shooting and Martin Wood came up to me and said "Yeah, I'm
liking this character... do you ride a motorbike?". This is what was going to happen in episode four you see...
and the rest is history. Since you've been playing your character for a while now, do they allow
you to be creative with your character - or get more involved in the creation of your character? It's
kind of a yes and no answer to that, and I'm certainly not in terms of storyline... although they are very very open to
suggestions. Often things will be written in a script and I'd say "I'm not entirely sure if Declan would
be like this", and we'd change things on that day, but the overall storyline comes from the brilliantly talented
story department. But yes in terms of I'm given total freedom as an actor to create my own back-story, that's
something personal to me as an actor when it comes to any role - that's something I would automatically do. I had a chat
with Martin and Damian [Kindler] early on about how they saw the character and I kind of brought my own back-story to the
realm, and just take on board what was written in the script.
Tell me about the
time you spend on set with the rest of the cast of Sanctuary. It's one of those places that you almost
feel guilty taking a paycheck, it's a wonderful environment to work in and to relax in. Everyone will say this, it sounds
cliché - it's like a family. From first thing in the morning people will greet each other with a hug and
a smile, and at night we'll do the same as we are finishing for the day. As for in-between times, everyone gets
along so well. One thing that Martin said to me, and everyone else when you come in,
there's no egos allowed in Sanctuary. If there's an actor or director that wants to come in with an ego... they're
not welcome. And I think making those rules, it makes everyone relax even more because everyone is treated equally.
We have a lot of fun; there's a lot of practical jokes going on as well. On
my very first morning I was shooting my very first episode with Chris Heyerdahl - we did the first rehearsal of the scene and we got made up and he waited until the first take of the scene... when the
actual camera was rolling... he actually had to come over and greet me and welcome me. Before that he got a huge handful of
moisturizer and he come over to me and he made my hand all wet with the moisturizer just to see what I would do. I remember
thinking "He's got really wet hands" [laughs] and then I turned to shake Robin Dunne's hand, who starred in the scene as well... I kind of looked down at my hand when it was all done, and Chris Heyerdahl
came over and said "are you used to shaking hands with people with extremely wet hands?". It kind of set the
tone for me - of how I've seen it since then. So it's a great place to work.  I reached out to
your followers on Twitter to see if they had any questions. So the rest of the interview will be from your fans.
@linesfade wanted to know how many episodes you were going to be in this season. By the
end of the season I've done five. You've seen three, and I have two more. And will be there be any based on
Declan? There's not, like last week was very much a Ryan episode... but what
I would say is that the two that I'm doing, I have a very big part in and I really get to... I don't know what I can
and what I can't say... but yeah, I play as sizeable role, but they're not specifically about my character. @doyouspeakwhale asked: If you could
have dinner with any three people (past or present), who would they be and why?
So it's
a dead or alive kind of thing? Goodness me, I don't know - I guess Jesus Christ would be a good one. I would
have to pick people that shaped the world, and I think the first three people that spring to mind would be Jesus Christ, Nelson
Mandela... and maybe John F. Kennedy. There you go, that would be a good dinner party - if there's no wine then
Jesus could help out. @xiratania wanted to know: The male cast members have been known to
show gratuitous amounts of skin, can we expect any such exposure from Declan? [laughs]
Well, anything is possible if it's written in the script. I'm not at liberty to answer questions about what
may come up in the future, but I'll do anything for art. Maybe one day... maybe one day. @doyouspeakwhale asks: In 'Veritas',
Declan said that Will had 'no idea of the political landscape' he's dealing with. Since 'Veritas',
has Declan's opinion changed in Will's ability to be a potential Head of Sanctuary household? Yeah,
it was a big episode for Declan in season two - it really established me in the Network, and it was a Declan episode.
Yeah, it did show that Declan was maybe a lot more inclined with the larger sort of workings of the Sanctuary Network and
the politics. And I think Declan was probably, he was probably talking about Will's naiveness and just knowing what
was right in your heart could change or be a problem when dealing with a large Network. It was just about the fact that
Will probably didn't realize that --- this is a complicated one --- [laughs] I would say that his opinion probably has
changed, but that is because Will has witnessed what went on with the Sanctuary Network leaders... and then following the
big storyline that ended season two. There was kind of a mutiny with one of the Network leaders - I think Will having
seen what happened in 'Veritas'... Will is just like everyone else, he has grown to understand how the Network works. @JennSchefler asks: If Declan could
have a bumper sticker on the back of his car, what would it say? It would say "UK". Absolutely,
he's very proud of his British heritage. @liliofthevaley asks: If Declan could have any abnormality, which one
would it be?
Um, I think it would have to be something kind of telekinetic or mind
over matter. Declan is a bit of a tough guy, he doesn't need to be able to turn into a werewolf... not to disrespect
anyone else who does. [laughs] Watching sci-fi films as a kid, I was into Star Wars and stuff like that - the whole
thing about the "force", that kind of thing was always fascinating to me. I think when Luke Skywalker goes
to meet Yoda to do his training, and Yoda lifts the X-Wing Fighter out of swamp with the "force"... I always remembered
that moment in the film as a kid. I think that kind of mind over matter power is probably the most fascinating to me.
@JennScheffler
asks: Declan is head the UK Sanctuary and if there was a new Scottish Sanctuary opening, what famous person would you choose
to head it up?
[laughs] Um, well Scottland is part of the UK...
so I'm in charge, mate. But we'd let them have their own. You know, Billy Connolly is in town... in Vancouver
this week; I'm hoping to go the show on Friday. I've been a Billy Connolly fan since I was a kid, I think he
would be amazing in Sanctuary. Also, Robbie Coltrane (from Harry Potter) - an
absolutely incredible comedy actor. I don't know why I chose two comedians. @doyouspeakwhale asks: You only got
a few moments on screen with Ashley, how do you think her death affected Declan? (if at all)
Yeah,
definitely. It's been alluded in a previous script that he had a lot to thank Magnus for, so I think he obviously
felt - I mean Declan is very much established as a good guy and he would do anything in his power to protect his Sanctuary
colleagues and the innocent. It would have showed him that what he was doing in his life was right. We worked
a couple of days together - I've seen her several times since... and she's a great girl. It was a shame we didn't
have more episodes because I enjoyed watching her character in the season before I came in. But she's doing great
things now; she's involved in the latest big thing in sci-fi right now, Riese. Last Twitter question from @JennScheffler: If you could
take the characters from Sanctuary and place them in another show, which one would you choose? I would... [laughs] gosh. My head just always goes to comedy - I always think of what it would
be like in a reality TV show like The Apprentice. Maybe The Apprentice would be quite fun. [laughs] Yeah, put them in reality TV; it would be great fun... put them
in the Big Brother house. What else can we catch you in besides
Sanctuary?
Earlier this year I did an episode of Human Target, along with Chris Heyerdahl and Kavan Smith... both of which were previously on Sanctuary.
I understand that it went out, someone Tweeted about it earlier... so I think it might have gone out. What I'm really focusing on at the moment; I work as a film editor as well and I'm working on a documentary
at the moment. It's this big CBC, it's this massive health drive that the CBC in Canada is heading up for Canadians.
It's kind of trying to make Canada healthy again, there's a town who has the biggest obesity problem in Canada...
so they try to kick-start their health drive. It sounds a lot like what Jamie Oliver is doing on TV here in America
with Food Revolution. Yeah,
it's very similar. It's probably more of a reality TV documentary crossover than that. But yeah, it certainly
has elements that are similar. There's a lot of drama - that's the sort of thing I like to get involved in.
I'm also developing a couple of scripts; my next major goal in life
is that I want to direct drama and I'm hopefully going to try and shadow someone on one of the shows. And at the
moment I'm developing a couple of scripts with some friends, which I'm hoping to shoot a short film sometime over
the winter... which I will direct. Which will be the first thing I've directed since I was at the university.
It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time.
I'm
also out auditioning for an animation project, I just put together a show-reel of animation voices... which is something I've
always loved doing. I do a lot of voice work, I have been for years, but mainly narration and commercials. I love
playing my voice; ever since I was a kid we used to have a tape recorder and we would make a lot of things and edit it together
by taking two tape recorders. So I'm hoping to get involved with some animation, if you go to my website... there's a lot of links where you can listen to my demo reel. So I've
got loads - I've got more than I can do in the days I have ahead of me. I like to keep busy.
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