Peter MacNeill

Actor - Moonshine television series

Peter MacNeill is the 2023 recipient of the Earle Grey Award presented by the Canadian Screen Awards. It is the lifetime achievement award presented to a Canadian individual for their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry. He is a Canadian icon best know for his acting roles in Call Me Fitz, Good Witch, Captain Power and the Soldier of Fortune, This Life, PSI Factor, Katts and Dog, The Hanging Garden (a Genie Award winning role) plus so much more! We can now add CBC’s Moonshine to the extensive list as the show heads into its 3rd season.

We caught up with Peter to talk about what’s been happening since we featured him in 2020. We asked Peter how is it working with Sheri Elwood. He said, “Thinking back to pre ‘Fitz’, I had never met Sheri Elwood, and I am pretty sure meeting her the first time was through an audition process. I knew straight away I had met a kindred spirit, and that being hired by her for ‘Call Me Fitz’ was going to be a very special happening in my life!

We clicked right away ... Having trust in someone goes a long way to becoming a solid working relationship and that trust blossomed between us.”

The last time we spoke with Peter was in 2020 while he was working on The Good Witch, (in its 10th season at that time) when the pandemic was on everyone’s mind. So how did you audition for Moonshine? Peter said, “We wondered how the film and TV business would go forward and I got a call from Sheri asking if I was up for a Zoom call with her and the Director, Scott Smith, to discuss a project. On that call they asked some curious questions like ‘Could I grow a decent mustache?’, ‘How busy was I?’ and ‘Could I travel?’. The next call was from Sheri asking ‘Hey, Pete. Do you want to come to Nova Scotia’?”

During the lockdown, how did the cast travel to Nova Scotia? “The travel process was complicated during Covid. We needed permission to cross Provincial borders at Quebec, New Brunswick, and only certain people were allowed into Nova Scotia! All our vaccinations had to be in place with the paperwork sent to authorities in each prov- ince and as soon as we arrived we had to go into quarantine for 14 days. The production company had a system for testing and assigning zones where only certain people were allowed in order to avoid contamination and they figured out the level of protective gear we all needed to wear. It was a huge undertaking that needed everyone’s cooperation completely - the production company worked miracles. And we were back working in our chosen profession!!” he said.

We asked Peter what it was like when they got there, to which he said, “There we were - my wife Maggi and I - in beautiful Nova Scotia every summer working on a show that I really love! And I did not have to grow a mustache after all - they provided one for me that they could better control! I knew all along what the look of the character was going to be. And what could be better than taking off your character at the end of the day and go sit on the small beach near our house to hang with the locals for a chat and a swim! I was a very happy actor working with a cast that are incredibly talented, with Directors who were so tuned into the cast and the writing - which always pushed us to be better and to reach for aspects of ourselves, in some cases untried, until Sheri and her merry band of writers put pen to paper.”

Corrine Koslo’s character is Peter’s wife in Moonshine. We asked him how it was to work with her. “Well, I just thank my lucky stars I had her to play off. She’s a wonderful actor, so accomplished!”

“We stayed in a renovated farmhouse that looked out over St. Margaret’s Bay, just a few miles outside Hubbards, Nova Scotia. Moonshine had a great story to tell - one that all the locals appreciated. They were very happy we were there telling it, because the story and its history was theirs.“ But happiness can’t always go on forever. As Peter says, “We get the news that the third season was the best yet, (airs in 2023) and then we got news that CBC will not be picking up the show next summer. I hope Moonshine will be rescued somehow and that CBC will change their minds or that another company will reach out.

Until then I will wait to get a call from Sheri Elwood asking me to go - anywhere!”

So what does Peter do when he’s not acting? He says, “In the meantime, I continue on with my new passion which is painting the scenes in places I visit and enjoying our Millbrook home with its very large and challenging garden!” www.petermacneill.com

We are so happy for Peter to receive the 2023 Earle Grey Award. He says, “Thanks for mentioning the Earle Grey Award. I am so grateful to the Academy and my peers for this honor!” Well deserved, Peter! We can’t wait to see what’s next for you!