You made your reputation playing in romantic kinds of movies. Is that your natural preference? I do have a romantic side, and I suppose I am drawn to those kinds of stories, too. I enjoy stories that explore the nature of human relationships and especially what makes people want to be together and how they manage to stay together. Love is such a precious and beautiful thing but it seems so hard to for people to sustain their love and appreciation for each other. I’m just fascinated by films that offer insights into that process. What do you think your various roles in films have taught you about life? Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to be as honest and present as possible. That applies to both acting and to my own life. We sometimes have an overly idealistic or romanticized view of the world and then when you try to experience that kind of life you’re often disappointed. I’ve taken a much more realistic outlook on things and how people behave because it’s better if you can operate with no illusions. Human nature is very flawed and complicated, I find. Your background is quite interesting in that you were originally preparing for a life as a figure skater prior to getting into acting? I trained for years as a figure skater and I spent a lot of time competing in all the local and national championships in Canada. But then I discovered that I really wasn’t interested in being part of that environment. How did you first know that you wanted to devote your life to acting? It was Shakespeare that did it for me. I did a lot of children’s theatre in Canada but it was doing Shakespeare plays when I was 12 and attending an acting summer camp that I truly knew that acting was something I wanted to do with my life. The problem was that I had no idea how to go about it. I was very lucky thought that my high school drama teacher, Linda Maskell-Pereira kept encouraging me and believed in me. Without her support, I never would have pursued acting as a profession. She was the one who convinced me that I should really go into acting studies in university. What did she say to persuade you? It was almost an accident. On the day I had to file my university applications I bumped into her in the hallway (in
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high school) and we started talking. I hadn’t seen her in months. When I told her that I was applying to enter a cultural studies program she was surprised that I hadn’t tried to get into acting studies because she knew how much I loved doing theatre. But I told her that I didn’t even know that you could go to college and get a degree in theatre. She said, “Don’t be ridiculous, of course you can!” After our conversation, I spent the next hour wandering around school and finally I decided to go back to the guidance office and I crossed out cultural studies and filled in theatre instead. It really was the moment that change my life! You tend to stay out of the limelight even though you’ve been part of some very big films including the Sherlock Holmes movies and other big studio films. Is that your nature? (Laughs) Maybe it’s my Canadian side showing. I like the sense of community and feeling I have from being in Toronto. I’ve lived in the same house for many years and I like to bicycle around town and live a very quiet life for the most part. Being in Toronto allows me to relax in between movies and you feel very far away from the film business. I’ve never been interested in attracting attention to myself when I’m not working and so far that’s worked out pretty well. You’re also a major advocate for eco-friendly causes. Are you very eco-conscious in your private life? I ride a bicycle whenever I can and I try to live very responsibly when it comes to the environment. You choose to live in Toronto rather than L.A. Is that hard? No. I’m used to flying back and forth but I could never manage to live in L.A. except when I’m there for meetings or working on a project. I travel a lot when I’m working on films and I feel so much more at home and grounded in Toronto. I prefer living there because I’m very close to my family...I also have a lot of friends in Toronto. L.A. can be a very lonely place. I don’t know why exactly, but everything revolves around the film industry and people are always talking about business. When I go back home to Toronto I can just forget about work and be myself. by Jan Janssen