9 minute read
Jonny Harris
Actor, comedian, writer, producer
By Jay Cooper Contributor, Graphic Designer, & Musican
Jonny Harris
Murdoch Mysteries, still standing and more
Jonny Harris is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in the television series Murdoch Mysteries, Still Standing and Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, as well as the films Young Triffie, Moving Day, and Grown Up Movie Star. He has been nominated for multiple Canadian Screen Awards and has won 3 for best writing, 2 for best host and a couple for best factual show.
ATOTK (Jay Cooper): Hey Jonny, thank you for the invite to the cottage. You guys are enjoying beautiful summer weather. JONNY: We are, I can’t believe how hot it’s been. Going for a swim in the lake is like swimming in bath water. Also, I was checking out ATOTK magazines, which are just great. I really enjoyed the articles on off road trails, as I have been doing some off road riding around here over the last few summers.
ATOTK: Kaitlin Kozell, your fiancé is so lovely and wow, what a talent. Lucky man and congratulations on the engagement. JONNY: Thank you very much and yeah she is very talented, very gifted.
ATOTK: Have you ever been mistaken for Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day? JONNY: (he laughs) You know I’ve gotten that a couple of times so it’s funny you say that. When Green Day were really big back in the 90’s I would get that but you know, I’ll take it.
Jonny, Fiance Kaitlin Kozell & Macy
ATOTK: What do you love so much about the Kawarthas? JONNY: You know I’ve been very fortunate to explore the area since Kaitlin and I started seeing each other. Her family has 2 cottages. Her grandparents, whom are both Slovenian, were looking for cottage property back in the sixties Jonny, fiancé Kaitlin Kozell and their dog Macy and bought a place on Coon Lake for less than 2 grand. Then some land came up for sale on Big Cedar, where we are now. It’s so cool to go out and explore the area and do some offroad riding with Kaitlin’s brother. I have these back road map books that show you all these interesting old roads and trails, neat little discoveries. It’s a beautiful area to explore.
ATOTK: You were raised in Newfoundland and is that the way I should say it? JONNY: Yes, if you hit ‘New’ and ‘Land’ you can’t go wrong. ‘Found’ gets buried - I would spell it like this: Newfndland - if that makes sense. Odd pronunciation - like my hometown, Pouch Cove is pronounced ‘Pooch’.
ATOTK: What sparked you to get into the business? JONNY: I got into theatre in high school. Towards the end, my grades were dropping off and I wasn’t interested in much else, but I started getting into more theatre and Improv. Memorial University has a smaller campus in Corner Brook (Sir Wilfred Grenfell College) that had a theatre school, and my parents were aware of me not being interested in much else besides smoking cigarettes and riding dirt bikes - I wasn’t showing too much promise (he laughs). I sometimes joke that my parents were the first in history to suggest theatre school to their child. I went there for 4 years. Just a great program.
ATOTK: After that you’ve done so many things I can’t quite piece it all together. JONNY: I worked in a lot of tourism-driven, summer theatre festivals around the island - a great education in Newfoundland history and culture - but in the off-season there wasn’t much work. I did a one man show called “Out of the Bog” and was doing some writing for This Hour has 22 Minutes. Then Mary Walsh created a show called Hatching Matching and Dispatching.
ATOTK: I loved that show. It was a mix between Trailer Park Boys and Schitt’s Creek to me. JONNY: Yeah, I absolutely see that (he laughs). Thank you for that, we had a lot of fun with that project. People who loved it really loved it. Maybe for some it was a lot to take, or too risqué or cheeky (he laughs).
ATOTK: Then you had a reputation of a very funny actor/comedian to build on. JONNY: Yeah, so then I got work with CBC with
George Crabtree, Murdoch Mysteries
Madly Off in all Directions and The Debaters, Halifax Comedy Festival, Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs. Then I made the move to Toronto and got really lucky. I had a meeting with Mary Walsh’s agent. He took me on and within a month I had an audition for Murdoch Mysteries and landed the role of George Crabtree, which turned out to be life changing.
ATOTK: Should I refer to you as a writer, producer, actor, comedian and host or wrong order? JONNY: No, I don’t think there is any specific order I’m just happy to be a part of all those titles. As far as acting goes, to be a stand up comedian and yet be cast in a period piece drama like Murdoch is uncommon. I mean, if I had of come to Toronto and signed with a comedy agency I don’t know if I would have ever got that gig. I was surprised that they were two separate worlds where you had the comedians and then the actors. Comedians don’t always get auditions for dramatic projects, so I’m very lucky with the way it all worked out. I like to get goofy in Murdoch Mysteries but they write a lot of dramatic scenes for me and I just love doing that. With Stilling Standing I get to write and be a comedian surrounded by an amazing team, so I am very lucky to be able to do both.
ATOTK: You’ve been nominated and won some very impressive awards. JONNY: I’ve been nominated for Murdoch, they were called Geminis back then, now Canadian Screen Awards. Still Standing has won a bunch of CSAs awards. I did not win best host this year, although nominated, that went to the guy from Amazing Race Canada. But we won best writing again this year which was great.
ATOTK: What’s a day on the set for Murdoch Mysteries and Still Standing like? JONNY: Murdoch, I have a much more narrow responsibility as I play George Crabtree which I’ve been doing for awhile now so I’m long past the point where actors question themselves about it. I used to worry about if I was playing George properly, I would wonder ‘is this guy smart or dumb because at various times he seems to be both’ (laughs). Eventually you just stop thinking about it and play him the way you have. And it’s nice that that’s your sole responsibility. You’re only responsible for your acting. Someone else is responsible for your face, hair, wardrobe, dialogue and then the director tells you how things should move and flow.
ATOTK: I would believe less controlled with Still Standing? JONNY: With Still Standing we have an excellent team who research towns and select them, then story producers that will go to the town and talk to the residents, bring it back and the producers will talk about it. Then myself and the writers come in, go over the town, they’ve already chosen who we’re going to talk to, the angle we’re going to take, what part of the history to focus on. So we go on the road and it’s shoot all day and write all
Jonny at the cottage on Big Cedar Lake
night. We do a couple interviews a day and an event, then the crew take some beauty shots of the town while me and the writers sit down in the evening and start writing some funny bits to compliment the day. It’s a huge effort as the stand up comedy show is 45 minutes for a town and only about 7 minutes of that make it into the show. It breaks my heart every time when so many of the great stories and jokes end up on the editing floor, but that’s just the nature of the beast so to speak.
ATOTK: How has COVID-19 affected you? JONNY: Well it’s been months of wait and see. I feel I’m very fortunate as I have Kaitlin and our dog, so I sort of look at it as some down time, which I usually don’t get a lot of. We were supposed to do a couple of episodes of Still Standing in July but CBC didn’t think that was a wise idea to hit the road. So first up is Murdoch starting in August, then Still Standing then back and forth between the two. As an actor it will be interesting getting back on set during Covid protocols because you’re always getting physically touched by everybody.
Your wardrobe touched, makeup touched up, hair etc. Will the actors have to be six feet apart? Will Murdoch live in a kiss-less world from here on in? (laughs) I don’t know.
ATOTK: Best Gig Ever? JONNY: That is so difficult. Hard to pick a favourite but the longest stand up set I did for Still Standing was on Fogo Island, NL which lasted about 57 minutes. It was our first episode in Newfoundland and the audience was fantastic, great room, great energy and the show went off really well.
ATOTK: Worst Gig Ever? JONNY: I was doing a gig for a men’s organization, which I won’t name, and it went terrible. Picture 300 guys that had a lot to drink and what they normally did every year was have a lodge dinner then get on these chartered buses and go to a strip club. So the wives didn’t like that so they decided to hire a comedian instead. I have all these men wanting to see strippers and I show up telling goofy jokes about my cat. 10 minutes in, it was going very badly and a dinner roll comes flying by my head (he laughs). I was supposed to do 2 sets and I get back to my waiting room and a guy comes in and says ‘we don’t want the 2nd set’. So yeah that would be the worst (laughs). When stuff like that happens I just think ‘cry all the way to the bank and deposit the check’ (he laughs).
ATOTK: Anything else you’re into in your spare time? JOHNNY: Yeah, motorbikes, which I’ve mentioned, and guitars are probably the main two. I’ve been playing a lot of guitar lately. I started taking these intermediate online lessons. It’s funny, the guy is teaching major scales and I’m thinking ‘this is a waste of time I am way past this’. Then he plays the scale with a slightly different fingering that I had never used - suddenly I’m like a kindergarten student that picked up a guitar for the first time (he laughs).
ATOTK: Last words for your public? JONNY: Well, I think we all have to be patient and see how things go, but we will start shooting Murdoch in August and Still Standing season six is already done and we go back on the road for season 7 in the fall. But, Jay, we have to get out on the bikes together before that so you can show me some good Kawarthas riding roads I’m not aware of yet..
ATOTK: Done deal my friend, thank you and stay safe.
Jonny with his motorcycle
