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Cardinal, Featured

Cardinal: Behind-the-scenes with Sienna Films’ Jennifer Kawaja

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Are you enjoying Blackfly Season, faithful Cardinal fans? Will Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) and John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) keep Terri (Alex Paxton-Beesley) safe Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, or will Ray Northwind (Bruce Ramsay) track her down?

We’ve certainly loved the new season so far and have Julia Sereny and Jennifer Kawaja of Sienna Films to thank. The production company founders are not only responsible for executive-producing the Cardinal franchise, but the Global/CBS drama Ransom, Global’s excellent military drama Combat Hospital, web series in Riftworld Chronicles and the feature films New Waterford Girl and How She Move.

We spoke to Jennifer Kawaja last summer on the set of Blackfly Season about how the series came to be, the excitement of filming on location and working with stars Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse.

Give me the origin story. How did Cardinal end up a Sienna Films production?
Jennifer Kawaja: CTV optioned the project and they went looking for producers to work with them. We fell in love with Giles Blunt’s books and his writing and it really felt like it was in our wheelhouse in the sense that it is Canadian, Canada playing Canada, on location—we love the specificity of the little things that happen when you’re on location shooting something—so we really tried to get the project. Once we did get it, we developed it and then [Season 1 showrunner] Aubrey Nealon came on board and wrote two scripts. That’s when CTV greenlit it.

The seasons attracted us as well. Each book is set in a different season. We love how Giles uses the physical environment in his storytelling.

Does being inside a warehouse that’s been converted into a set turn you off?
No. We did that with Combat Hospital in Etobicoke, Ont. That was fun to do. We love creating really specific worlds. Trying to get the feel of what Giles wrote and the feel of the place is important.

What are the challenges, if any, of going from Aubrey in Season 1 to Sarah Dodd as showrunner in Season 2 to Patrick Tarr in Season 3? 
It has been hard. The ice and the snow and the cold gives you a certain feeling right away. The change of season to summer, a completely different story that is much more case-heavy than the relationship between Delorme and Cardinal … but then we saw the dailies and we were excited. It’s Karine Vanasse and Billy Campbell as Delorme and Cardinal and even if the investigation into him isn’t there, there is still that chemistry. There’s simpatico between them and you just want to watch.

Is it important, as a producer, to be on-set during filming?
We’re pretty hands-on producers and always have been. We worked with [director] Podz and Aubrey very closely on Season 1. I really believe that, when you don’t have the budgets that the American shows have, every decision that you make has an effect on the show. You’re trying to create something without the money of a U.S. project so to make the right decision we feel the need to be here and be part of the team.

What can you say about Billy Campbell as John Cardinal?
CTV was very involved in that decision and was definitely encouraging in that way. We feel so lucky with Billy and Karine. Not only are they total pros and beautiful, amazing people—we’ve kept them in minus-40 weather with not enough clothing on and in the middle of bugs—they have never complained. They’ve always been game. It has been an incredible privilege. They have also connected with these characters. I think there is a part of Cardinal that is really Billy. And it’s the same with Karine and Delorme. Yes, they’re incredible actors but I feel they’ve really brought part of themselves to the roles.

Cardinal: Blackfly Season airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

 

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Cardinal

Link: Sarah Dodd finds her niche on CTV crime drama

From Jeremy Shepherd of North Shore News:

Link: Sarah Dodd finds her niche on CTV crime drama
“All around us were index cards with plots twist and character moments and visual moments and all six episodes eventually up on those walls. The other offices were inhabited by mainly psychiatrists so we can only imagine what they were thinking. . . . We looked like A Beautiful Mind in there.” Continue reading.

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Cardinal, Featured

Cardinal: Alex Paxton-Beesley on Red’s mysterious journey

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I’m a big fan of Alex Paxton-Beesley. Not only did she portray kick-butt Mennonite housewife Anna Funk in CBC’s awesome Pure but she’s the spunky Freddie Pink on Murdoch Mysteries.

Now Paxton-Beesley is featured in Cardinal: Blackfly Season in another memorable role as Red. At least, that’s what she’s called on account of her red hair. In truth, we don’t know her real name yet because Red was discovered in an Algonquin Bay bar suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Det. John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and Det. Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) spent last week’s first episode of Blackfly Season investigating who Red is, who shot her and what ties she has to a headless body found hanging in a cave.

We spoke to Paxton-Beesley about the role and Red’s journey as we head into Thursday’s new episode.

It’s been fascinating to see how Giles Blunt’s books have been translated to the screen.
Alex Paxton-Beelsey: Yes. I’ve read the first three books and the adaptations have been so interesting. They’ve done such a good job of visualizing what those stories are.

How did you get the role of Red? Did you audition in the traditional way or did the producers have you in mind?
It was mostly traditional in that I only auditioned for it once because I think their original interpretation for the character was different. I had worked with [director] Jeff [Renfroe] and almost worked with the producers before on another project that didn’t end up going forward. We all knew each other in the way that everyone does in the Canadian television industry. I went in and auditioned and it was really fun. I didn’t get a full script and the audition came so quickly that I didn’t get to read the whole book so I had to fill in a lot of those gaps myself. Sometimes that’s frustrating but because this was so well-written it was fun to put my imagination in there.

It was pretty fascinating, and creepy, to see your portrayal of Red when she’s discovered. She’s been lobotomized by the bullet and has this childlike innocence about her. Then, during the surgery to remove the bullet, she starts to sing. That was a little disturbing.
The Internet can be a terrible place, but also a font of information. There are some pretty incredible videos on YouTube of awake brain surgery that are just stunning. The is one in particular of this opera singer—you stay awake during some of these surgeries because they need to know if they are affecting something—and he starts singing … and then forgets all of the words. [We think we found the video she’s talking about.] It’s devastating and fascinating. Those scenes, in particular, were really interesting because those were my benchmarks. I got to assign meaning to all of these things that were randomly coming out of her brain. I talked to [showrunner] Sarah [Dodd] and Jeff about it and had conversations about what that could be.

It reminded me of that Heritage Minute…
Yes! ‘Dr. Penfield, I smell burnt toast!’

Yes! I wondered if perhaps you ad-libbed that line during a take or two.
That was definitely a reference. I’m pretty sure I said that between takes but that nobody got it. It’s like, ‘Come on guys, it’s Canadian history!’

There is a reference in this week’s episode that I want to ask about. A nurse walks into Red’s room and Red is looking out the window, recalling something. Can you comment on that scene?
I think that’s something that I would rather leave ambiguous. It’s something left open to interpretation and will be a part of how you read Red as a character.

What was it like working with Billy Campbell?
I love him so much. He and Karine are the most delightful people to work with. Billy is just fantastic. This was a real dream. The first season of Cardinal is one of my favourite TV shows of all time and one of the best things Canada has ever made and I never dreamed I’d get to be a part of it. So, to not only be a part of Season 2 but to show up and have Billy be the most ridiculous, hilarious person and Karine also be the most ridiculous person … they are both so funny and so strange.

This world of Algonquin Bay is a twisted one. We have biker gangs and strange voodoo and an interesting fellow named Ray Northwind, played by Bruce Ramsay.
Bruce plays him so gentle it makes him even more horrifying. The lightest touch of power has the deepest weight.

What can fans expect from this season of Cardinal?
I think Red kind of mirrors the fan experience this season. What she knows and doesn’t know and that feeling of being lost and really trying to be found. I hope people like it. I’m really proud of what we made. It’s beautiful and I’m so glad it’s a Canadian show.

Cardinal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

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Cardinal

Links: Cardinal: Blackfly Season

From Bill Brioux of The Canadian Press:

Link: Billy Campbell on season 2 of CTV’s ‘Cardinal,’ feeling ‘spiritually Canadian’
The life of an actor isn’t always glamorous. Take Billy Campbell, for example. The lanky Virginian sits in a rundown mess hall on a remote and abandoned helicopter airfield. It’s late spring, cold, and raining hard. To kill time between shooting scenes on the CTV series “Cardinal,” he kills mosquitoes. Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Season 2 of Cardinal is solid, but lacks searing sensibility
This season of Cardinal is still a solid crime drama and wonderful to watch at the start, but some mercurial ingredient used in the first season is missing. It’s a pity and the series is recommended this time with caution. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Cardinal’s Billy Campbell says there will be personal ramifications in Season 2
“What they do have in common is that they are both very thorough, and even a little obsessive I think. They also both feel a lot, though they aren’t really very easily able to express their feelings.” Continue reading. 

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: Canadian TV crime drama Cardinal returns to its elements
“There’s a lot going on under the surface and that’s really kind of what I like about him. . . . Last season, the ice was kind of a nice metaphor for Cardinal the person, that there was this layer of ice on top of what would be a lot going on underneath. And I just thought, ‘Here’s something that I haven’t had a chance to do and I think I can do it.’ ” Continue reading.

From Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette:

Link: Karine Vanasse relishes her return to CTV’s ‘real and raw’ Cardinal
“I feel like in Season 1 we got to know who Cardinal was and we got to know who Delorme really was on a more human level towards the end of the season. I think we start Season 2 knowing more about who she really is. I think that in Season 1 people might at first have been wondering if she was just a driven police officer wanting to get higher in the ranks.” Continue reading. 

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Karine Vanasse talks Cardinal Season 2
“I like the fact that we have six episodes [so] that you can go in-depth with the characters. You don’t have that much dialogue. It makes a difference that the camera takes the time to get reactions from the characters, so even if words aren’t being said, you get to go in-depth [as a viewer], and as an actor you get to explore those characters.” Continue reading. 

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Cardinal’s Karine Vanasse on why Delorme is still questioning Cardinal in Season 2
“As we saw in Season 1, she loves her job and she loves to focus on her work. In regards to her journey in Season 2 and as far as Cardinal goes, there’s a level of trust that exists now. At the same time, he keeps a certain distance with her. For her, finding her place next to him is a little hard at first, and it is a little confusing for her to understand.” Continue reading. 

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