On the Richard Crouse Show for August 9, 2020 we meet Jay Baruchel. He’s been acting since the age of twelve and has appeared in everything from “Knocked Up” and “Tropic Thunder” to “The Trotsky” and “She’s Out of My League” to the action-fantasy “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “This Is the End.” He’s probably best known as the voice of Hiccup in the wildly successful “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise but he says, despite all the success in front of the camera, what he really wants to do is direct.
Two years ago he wrote and directed the sports comedy “Goon: Last of the Enforcers.” Now he appears both in front of and behind the camera in “Random Acts of Violence,” a genre film that asks serious questions about how we relate to violence in art.
Based on a 2008 Image Comic, “Random Acts of Violence” begins with comic book writer Todd (Jesse Williams) suffering a case of writer’s block. His series, a grisly and successful adaptation of a real-life serial killer dubbed Slasherman, is coming to an end and he doesn’t know how to wind it down.
On a press tour from Toronto to New York to promote the final issue, Jesse and friends, visit the scene of the Slasherman’s crimes. As the group fall victim to a series of heinous copycat crimes the film asks, “What are the real consequences when life (and death) begin to imitate art?”
I talk about that with Jay in this interview but we started by reminiscing about the “beforetime” when we could go to the movies. I asked him what movie memories stand out for him when he thinks back to the theatre experience.
Then, we meet Mike Scott, the founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of The Waterboys. He is a restless creative spirit, known for radical changes in music style throughout what he refers to as his “allegedly unorthodox” career. The music on his solo albums and with The Waterboys explores a number of different styles, including folk, Celtic and rock and roll, fusing them together to create a sound that is not only catchy but unique.
The press release for his newest record “Good Luck, Seeker,” says the songs are populated by unrepentant freaks, soul legends, outlaw film stars and 20th Century mystics, drawing inspiration from the Stones, Kate Bush, Sly and Kendrick as well as Mike Scott’s very own musical past.
It’s a genre busting effort with epic songs like the dramatic, spoken word tune “My Wanderings In The Weary Land” to the earworm of the extremely catchy single “The Soul Singer.”
In this interview we talk about the construct of time, the power of the Clash and why he liked a record by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich enough to spend 8 and sixpence, or about 50 cents on it…
I began the interview by asking Mike Scott why he’s never made the same record twice.
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Ethan Hawke, director Brad Bird, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, Eric Roberts, Brian Henson, Jonathan Goldsmith a.k.a. “The most interesting man in the world,” and best selling author Linwood Barclay.
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Check out episode twenty-six of Richard’s web series, “In Isolation With…” It’s the talk show where we make a connection without actually making contact! Today, broadcasting directly from Isolation Studios (a.k.a. my home office) we meet Jay Baruchel. He’s been acting since the age of twelve and has appeared in everything from “Knocked Up” and “Tropic Thunder” to “The Trotsky” and “She’s Out of My League” to the action-fantasy “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “This Is the End.” He’s probably best known as the voice of Hiccup in the wildly successful “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise but he says, despite all the success in front of the camera, what he really wants to do is direct.
“I was really lucky in that my parents would give me a kind of film or music 101,” he says in the interview. “Whenever they would tell me something they would explain why it matters. Why they care about it. What the landscape that it came out in was like and then, of course ,then they would get into sort of inside jokes. They also showed me “Monty Python the Holy Grail” and pause after every punch line and be like, ‘Do you understand why that’s funny?’ This is called dry humor. Literally. Verbatim. This is called dry humour. Then dad bought me “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” on VHS for my ninth birthday. And that started my collection that I’m still crippled by because I still buy physical media. But I’ve never stopped. Somewhere in there I realized that as much as I adore writing stories, I realized that movies were the thing.”
Two years ago he wrote and directed the sports comedy “Goon: Last of the Enforcers.” Now he appears both in front of and behind the camera in “Random Acts of Violence,” a genre film that asks serious questions about how we relate to violence in art.
Based on a 2008 Image Comic, “Random Acts of Violence” begins with comic book writer Todd (Jesse Williams) suffering a case of writer’s block. His series, a grisly and successful adaptation of a real-life serial killer dubbed Slasherman, is coming to an end and he doesn’t know how to wind it down.
On a press tour from Toronto to New York to promote the final issue, Jesse and friends, visit the scene of the Slasherman’s crimes. As the group fall victim to a series of heinous copycat crimes the film asks, “What are the real consequences when life (and death) begin to imitate art?”
I talk about that with Jay in this interview but we started by reminiscing about the “beforetime” when we could go to the movies. I asked him what movie memories stand out for him when he thinks back to the theatre experience…
NOTE: The language in this interview is NOT suitable for all age. NSFW!
Watch the whole thing HERE on YouTube or HERE on ctvnews.ca!
Most seventeen year olds are concerned with school, sports and finding a date for the prom. Not Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel). In “The Trotsky,” a new comedy starring “How to Train Your Dragon’s” lead voice, he is convinced he’s the reincarnation of revolutionary Leon Trotsky and tries to unionize the students of Montreal West High School. “The teachers have a union,” he says. “I think we deserve the same.”
Leon Bronstein’s (which was Trotsky’s given name) journey from privileged rich kid to budding Bolshevik begins when he organizes a hunger strike at his father’s (Saul Rubinek) clothing factory. In retaliation Dad pulls Leon out of boarding school, slashes his allowance and exiles him to a public school. There he finds his calling (and falls for an older woman played by Emily Hampshire). Taking the term “student union” a bit too seriously Leon rails against his new school’s tyrannical hierarchy—notably Principal Berkhoff (an ominous Colm Feore)—and goes to absurd lengths to fulfill his pre-ordained destiny by changing the world or at least his small corner of it.
This Canadian commie comedy is chock full of funny lines, nice performances and echoes of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (with a hint of Warren Beatty’s “Reds”). Actor turned director-and-writer Jacob Tierney shows a firm hand behind the camera and has crafted a movie that is a cut above the standard teen caper. It’s more inventive, funnier, grittier (the movie’s best line, spoken by Jessica Paré can’t be reprinted here) than most teen fare, and while Tierney can take credit for much of the film’s success it is Baruchel who really impresses as the burgeoning revolutionary.
In what looks to be Baruchel’s breakout year—he has four films on the slate for 2010 including “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” opposite Nic Cage—The Trotsky is a delightfully idiosyncratic performance. Leon may be a little left of center, both personally and politically, but Baruchel humanizes him. It’s a riff on the gawky geek role he patented in “Tropic Thunder” and “Knocked Up,” but this time he adds so much charm (and a good dollop of slapstick) to the performance it’s hard not to root for his and Leon’s mad mission.
“The Trotsky” works because of its clever script and optimistic outlook, but it sparkles because of Baruchel’s performance.
Given Colm Feore’s habit of playing historical figures — he’s starred as everyone from Pierre Trudeau and Glenn Gould to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel on screens big and small — you’d imagine in a movie about the reincarnation of a Soviet politician called The Trotsky, he must be playing the legendary Bolshevik.
“I looked at Trotsky and he had hair, so that was out,” Feore laughs.
In fact, in the film the actor plays the authoritarian principal of Montreal’s (fictional) Jacques Parizeau English School who tries to prevent Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) — a student who believes he is the reincarnation of revolutionary Leon Trotsky — from unionizing the school’s students.
“I was between episodes of 24 so I hadn’t shaved,” he says, “and I thought, ‘Why don’t I just keep not shaving? I’ll present myself to (director) Jacob (Tierney) and say, ‘Would this work for you? I think this would this give us a certain Lenin-esque feel.’ I thought, ‘I’ll go Lenin, he’ll go Trotsky and it will be eerie.’”
Feore — who sprinkles his conversation with words like “supercilious” and self depreciating comments — has more than a passing resemblance to the Russian revolutionary.
“We had this huge Lenin poster behind Jay’s head at one point,” he says. “Jacob framed the shot so that when I turn away I’m perfectly framed in the poster.”
The actor, who jumps back and forth between big budget films like the upcoming Thor, TV work and small films to fill in the gaps was taken by the script the moment he read it.
“To me it seemed very springy,” he says. “It has a bouncy intelligence to it. Particularly since it came from young people. Right now I am surrounded by young people. I have my kids and I think, ‘What would flatter them in reflection?’ If they see themselves as smart and able to change their world, this is a message I would like to be able to send. There is something heroically quixotic about the way Jay’s character forces his way down his path.”
The movie has earned comparisons to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and other American teen comedies, but Feore says it “probably couldn’t have been made anywhere else. The Canadian-ness of this film is our genius for subversion while playing it straight. It’s not tongue-in-cheek. … I like that the gags are layered in and it works on a second viewing. There are political statements under the political statements.”
Despite having the kind of breakout Hollywood success most actors could only dream of — starring in the critically lauded She’s Out of My League, the number-one hit How to Train Your Dragon and headlining Disney’s upcoming Sorcerer’s Apprentice — the patriotic Canadian (he has a maple leaf tattooed over his heart) hasn’t taken up digs in Los Angeles or New York. In fact, he still lives in Montreal where his latest movie was shot.
“It was genius,” he says of making The Trotsky in his hometown. “If I go away to make movies it means I have to say goodbye to my mom, my cat, my friends, my bed, all that stuff, so to be able to go to my house every night and flip channels with my roommates and pet the cat was crazy.”
In the comedy, directed by actor-turned-director Jacob Tierney, he plays the budding Bolshevik Leon Bronstein, a 17-year-old who believes he is the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
“When I talked to Jacob about this I told him I was scared to play a character 10 years younger than me,” he says. “I was trying to leave that behind, but then I came to the Ferris conclusion. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is my favourite movie of all time and I realized that Leon kind of is Ferris in regards to the way he affects change in other people’s lives and goes to war against his principal.”
Baruchel may have used Ferris Bueller as a muse, but to fully round out the character he cobbled together a “bunch of subtle tiles in the mosaic that make up this weird guy.”
First he looked back at himself. “In high school you just care about everything so much,” he said. “I was incredibly impassioned and prone to crying and punching stuff and throwing fits and getting really angry, so I had to channel that.”
Then he added in some physical comedy. “I had this overriding idea that because he’s such an odd bird, there was room for some physical comedy and that’s why I walk out of every scene like a cartoon character.”
More than anything, however, he says he’s thrilled to portray a side of Montreal that rarely gets seen on screen.
“If you watch English movies from the rest of Canada, you’d never know that there are Anglos in Montreal,” he says. “If you watch French movies from Quebec, you’d never know there are Anglos in Montreal. So either way we’re forgotten, but we’re back! Anglo Montrealers are back everyone! We’re coming at ya!”
Montreal native Jay Baruchel is arguably one of the hottest new breakout actors in Hollywood. If you’ve seen How To Train Your Dragon, Million Dollar Baby, Tropic Thunder, She’s Out of My League, Knocked Up, Almost Famous or Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, you’ve seen Baruchel’s work. And when I had the chance to meet him today, it was refreshing to see that he remains an incredibly modest, no-frills person despite having achieved a significant amount of fame. In fact, today for his CBC interview with George Stroumboulopoulous on The Hour, he walked from his hotel to the studio. Kindly, he took a moment out to pose for a picture with me and I am extremely honoured. It is no secret that Baruchel is well on his way to becoming the next Tom Hanks of his generation. He’s awkward, funny, personable yet headstrong.
For this evening’s Scotiabank Theatre premiere of latest comedy The Trotsky, he did a round of press after a hectic promotional itinerary which saw him visit MuchMusic Headquarters and CBC prior to arriving at his premiere. Running late, he didn’t get a chance to introduce the film with his fellow cast members, but he did pop by afterwards to field some questions post-screening.
Baruchel boldly wore a Montreal Canadiens T-shirt knowing very well what type of reaction it would draw from Toronto Maple Leaf fans. And we all know how passionate Torontonians are about their Hockey. The cat lover went on to explain that he drew inspiration from cartoons for his quirky, eccentric character Leon, who is convinced he is the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. His brilliant sense of movement exiting some scenes drew praise from Toronto’s most renowned Film Critic Richard Crouse, who hosted this evening’s Q&A. Believe it or not, Baruchel idolizes Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame and as an afterthought one can see that influence in his animated mannerisms. When asked about his fame from an audience member, he indicated that he is proudly Canadian, planning to continue residing in Montreal as he always has. He assured us that he will continue to support and make Canadian films and let the world know about the wonderful films being made in our country.
Also in attendace at tonight’s screening was acclaimed theatre actor Colm Feore, last seen in films like Chicago and Good Cop Bon Cop. He plays Baruchel’s archnemesis Principal Berkhoff. In addition, father-son producer/director duo Kevin and Jacob Tierney fielded audience questions also, stating that they had purposely played up the Canadian aspect of this film, chalkful of local references. In ways, Kevin felt this was a big “fuck you” to Americans who normally expect Canadians to understand their local references in their films. “I don’t know where the hell New Jersey is and I have no idea where Ashbury Park is! I do love Bruce Springsteen though!”, he proclaimed. The audience approved loudly.
Veteran television actor Saul Rubinek who plays Leon’s father David, also answered some questions, revealing that when he was younger he also played a young man obsessed with Trotsky also and was determined to be a part of this film once he had learned of it.
Alliance Films’ The Trotsky hits theatres Friday, May 14, 2010. Visit its official website for more details. For those who are curious, Baruchel will also be appearing tomorrow morning on Alternative-Rock station The Edge 102.1 for one more interview.
On the Richard Crouse Show for August 9, 2020 we meet Jay Baruchel. He’s been acting since the age of twelve and has appeared in everything from “Knocked Up” and “Tropic Thunder” to “The Trotsky” and “She’s Out of My League” to the action-fantasy “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “This Is the End.” He’s probably best known as the voice of Hiccup in the wildly successful “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise but he says, despite all the success in front of the camera, what he really wants to do is direct.
