Actor Luke Kirby made such an impression on TV writer and producer Tassie Cameron two decades ago that even though she worked with him on just a single episode of the Canadian drama “The Eleventh Hour” she never forgot him.
asserted
she → make → him
“He was so smart and so funny and just a great collaborator, and it stayed with me,” Cameron said recently.
asserted
Cameron → stay → me
So when she and the team at “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” were looking for a Canadian actor to replace departing star Aden Young, Kirby was at the top of their list.
asserted
Kirby → look → list
And rather than contacting casting directors and talent representatives, Cameron reached out to Kirby directly.
asserted
Cameron → contact → Kirby
“In the letter, I said that we were calling the character Detective Kirby, assuming we would not get him, but trying to say to him that he was the inspiration for this new character.
asserted
he → say → character
“Then of course we had to change the name when he agreed, but that was our best problem to have.
asserted
that → have → name
So yes, if you haven’t already gotten the gist, Kirby is a get — and not just because he’s part of a select group of Canadians who have won Emmy Awards for acting, in his case for brilliantly portraying comedian Lenny Bruce in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
asserted
who → get → Maisel
He has been making an impression onscreen for the last quarter-century, whether in Canadian films like “Mambo Italiano” and “Take This Waltz,” Canadian TV series like “Slings & Arrows” and “Cra$h & Burn,” or American ones like “Rectify” and “The Deuce.”
asserted
He → make → Rectify
Now he has stepped into the relatively unfamiliar territory of a police procedural, starring as Det.-Sgt. John Darcy.
asserted
he → step → Darcy
His first two episodes debut Oct. 1 on Citytv and Citytv Plus.
asserted
episodes → debut → Citytv
It is tempting to paint this in a patriotic light, particularly in the middle of a Canada-U.S. trade war: the Canadian star made good coming home to lend his fame to a made-in-Canada production.
asserted
star → paint → production
But for the Hamilton-born, Guelph-raised Kirby, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., it was more about the work than the location.
asserted
it → bear → location
“I was in Atlanta working on a film and I was looking for the next thing to do.
asserted
I → work → thing
I was looking for something to put the hours into.
asserted
I → look → hours
It had been kind of a slow year after doing a show where the bottom fell out very abruptly,” he said, referring to the Netflix ballet dramedy “Étoile,” which lasted just eight episodes.
asserted
which → do → episodes
After receiving Cameron’s “really lovely email,” Kirby watched some of “Law & Order Toronto,” and said, “I could see how a person would want to keep going back to that well, and I said let’s fill up the dance card and go for it.”
uncertain
’s → receive → it
Kirby’s first inkling that there might be a performer inside of him came when he was around seven years old.
“I loved to play make-believe,” Kirby, 48, told the Star.
uncertain
Kirby → come → Star
As a kid who avidly consumed movies and television, “I was so enchanted by the moving image or any kind of story that I just thought that would be a good place to live.
asserted
that → consume → story
“But I didn’t pursue it then.
asserted
I → pursue → it
”
It wasn’t until Grade 9 that he had his first real brush with acting and he wasn’t even the one onstage.
asserted
he → have → acting
When his high school drama club put on “Frankenstein,” he said, “I controlled the smoke machine and the black light.
asserted
I → put → machine
There was a hatch that I let the guy who played the monster (out of) and I just loved it.”
asserted
I → be → it
Later that year, he hit the stage himself in Tad Mosel’s “Impromptu” as part of a student drama festival.
asserted
he → hit → festival
Then one of his teachers steered him to a weeklong summer program called Theatre Ontario.
asserted
one → steer → program
“They had all these artists, real actors and directors and teachers who worked with us as if we were at theatre school,” Kirby said.
asserted
Kirby → have → school
“We were treated like serious people.
asserted
We → treat → people
Kirby eventually graduated from the real National Theatre School in Montreal, assuming that a career on the stage beckoned, until he started getting screen roles very quickly.
asserted
he → graduate → roles
“I really liked the transience of it,” he said.
asserted
he → like → it
“I liked the excitement of it and it definitely made me less stressed about rent, and also it’s a really worthy pursuit.”
asserted
it → like → rent
Kirby played a famous Hollywood actor who comes to the New Burbage Festival (a satirical stand-in for the Stratford Festival) to tackle “Hamlet,” overcoming his own self-doubt and others’ skepticism to give a transcendent performance.
asserted
who → play → performance
Just a few weeks before we talked, Kirby had returned to his “Slings & Arrows” roots, joining other original cast members onstage at, yes, the Stratford Festival for a read-through of the first two episodes of a proposed TV prequel called “The Amateurs.”
asserted
Kirby → talk → prequel
It took some serious wrangling on the part of “Law & Order Toronto” producers to allow Kirby time off from shooting and he was grateful — as were Mark McKinney, Bob Martin and Susan Coyne, the actors/writers/producers who created “Slings & Arrows” and “The Amateurs.”
asserted
who → take → Slings
“I think they had to move heaven and earth to give him some time to come,” said Coyne.
asserted
Coyne → think → time
None of the three could remember exactly how Kirby got onto their radar when they hired him for “Slings and Arrows,” but they all agreed he was lovely to work with.
uncertain
he → remember → Slings
“We had a bit of a turbulent first season because of budget cuts before we began shooting … and Luke was always very funny and reduced the burden on set,” Martin said.
asserted
Martin → have → set
“We’re just lucky we had him before he got to be a huge star,” added Coyne.
asserted
Coyne → ’re → him
Another “Slings & Arrows” alumnus, director Sarah Polley, co-starred with Kirby in the 2003 romantic comedy “Luck.”
asserted
alumnus → co → comedy
“He’s completely devoted to what he does, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously and he’s deeply kind,” said Polley, who later cast Kirby in her 2011 film “Take This Waltz.”
asserted
who → ’ → Waltz
“He’s got a real humility about him, and a real self-awareness and sense of humour about himself.
asserted
He → get → himself
And that’s hard to find in a really good actor.
asserted
that → ’ → actor
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
