Rising BY
Star
C A R LY
PETERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DENNYS ILIC
A typical day on set for Winnipeg-born actor Aleks Paunovic might look a little bloody - okay, a lot bloody - playing the role of Julius in SyFy’s new vampire hunter series Van Helsing. Tall and brooding, it’s not hard to see why this former amateur boxer might be an easy fit for the “bad guy” roles, but his lengthy film and TV resume proves otherwise. Paunovic’s roles have ranged from TV appearances on Arctic Air, Battlestar Galactica, The 100, and Supernatural, to Disney’s kidcentric comedy Zapped, along with upcoming, big-screen features such as War for Planet of The Apes and Kindergarten Cop 2 - a sequel to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s infamous 1990 action-comedy. “I love comedy. I wish I could do more. It’s quite refreshing,” enthuses the 46-year-old actor, who just finished shooting scenes with legendary comedic actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Caroline Rhea for Del Shores’ A Very Sordid Wedding being filmed in Winnipeg. The sequel to the underground hit Sordid Lives, sees Paunovic playing Hardy, Rhea’s “lust partner,” in a film about the impact of same-sex marriage in a conservative Texas town. “[Caroline] recommended me to [Del] because we did a Christmas movie about three years ago and we just hit it off. She is one of the most genuine and funniest people I have ever met,” he says of the Canadian actress. “I talked to my TV show [Van Helsing] producers in Vancouver and they wrote me out of a few episodes because they knew I really wanted to do this movie.” As an added bonus, the project brought Paunovic back to Winnipeg where he grew up
boxing and playing in a rock band – which, in fact, is what got him his first acting role. While on stage, he got asked to audition for the HBO movie Heads. Being a guy who “likes to try everything once” he auditioned and ended up booking the role. Realizing the creativity film offered him, he decided to quit the band and embark on an acting career. That career now has Paunovic not only bouncing around between make-out sessions with Caroline Rhea and ravaging humans for food, but also travelling nationally and internationally to promote his Canadian “chiller” Numb, an indie film directed by Jason R. Goode. Shot in Vernon, B.C., the film centers around a couple in financial distress who find GPS coordinates that supposedly lead to a fortune in stolen gold. Desperate for the money, they team up with two hitchhikers to enter a remote winter wilderness to recover the loot. Paunovic’s character, Lee, is an ex-con who’s found a more spiritual path after being released from prison. But when the circumstances don’t go his way, he returns to his animal instincts with brutal results. Paunovic says Goode, who is a good friend to the actor, gave him the freedom to find out who Lee was to him and how the character could play to the audience, even when he was doing terrible things. “I usually try and find the humanity of each character I play, even if it’s a bad guy. I have to find out what grounds him and convey his struggle so the character can connect with the audience, and so they can have some
compassion for him,” he explains, adding the film is truly about human struggle and how greed can change people. “When presented with a situation like the characters had, you have to ask yourself ‘what would you do?’” Paunovic not only played the role of Lee but also had a hand in shaping the script, as well as working on the casting and character development for the film. “It was nice to be more than just an actor,” he states, adding he’d like to do more producing and directing in the future. “We had such an amazing cast and crew that put this film together. I was seriously honoured to be part of it.” The film opened to much audience approval - from premieres as far away as Korea to Whistler, B.C. - and recently received 12 Leo Award nominations (Paunovic nabbed one himself for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Motion Picture). Paunovic even got to host a screening of Numb in his hometown - a humbling experience, according to the actor. “Winnipeg was the city that changed my life. I hadn’t been back in years and it was so amazing to be surrounded by family, friends, and fans. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it anywhere else,” he says. Fans can see more of Paunovic on both small and big screens this year with the upcoming release of Blackway (opposite Anthony Hopkins), War for the Planet of the Apes, and Kindergarten Cop 2.
SUMMER 2016 | STYLE MANITOBA | 17