Article by Anne Brodie
MONSTERS & CRITICS

June 29, 2010

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Canadian actor Michael Riley has a full dance card this summer. The DVD of "St. Urbain’s Horseman," an original Canadian film based on Mordecai Richler’s award winning epic is in the stores June 29.

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Riley plays the slightly mysterious and all-powerful Dr. Tom in the CBC Television series "Being Erica" which is seen around the world.

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In August, Riley will appear as an average Joe boyfriend in the Belgian surrealist thriller "Mr. Nobody" with Jared Leto and Sarah Polley.

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These three roles are about as different from each other as is possible, and Riley shines in each. Riley has an unusual way to testing the truth of his characters. He takes them to the street. He actually assumes them, through wardrobe, makeup, accent, delivery, and carriage, whatever he can, to see if the public buys what he’s selling.

And that’s what he did with Harry Stein. He made himself nearly unrecognisable as the weasly, hunchbacked con artist he played in the film adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s award winning story “St. Urbain’s Horseman” and put him to the test.

 

Michael Riley - I had a second set of teeth I used and I dressed him the way I thought he should be dressed and went to a British pub in Montreal where we were shooting. I patronised the place quite often as Harry and got to know the bartender and the patrons.

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I figured if I could make him work there, I would feel more confident when it came to shooting. It’s far less risky to take test a character out in the world rather than
commit him to film and realise its a mistake and it’s not working and have people say 'Hey, did you see that? He’s 'acting'.'

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One day I took Harry out to McGill University where there was a statue of
Queen Victoria. I was looking at it and behind me I heard a British accent and I
thought 'Uh oh, I’ll be found out.'

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A man was staring longingly at the Queen and told me he was English and he really missed home, but he loved Montreal. We talked about how she looked and I knew he accepted me as Harry. I knew it was working.

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Monsters and Critics – Did you go back to the bar and reveal yourself as Michael?

MR - These people had helped me so much in finding Harry. They had assisted me without knowing. I didn’t want to go back. What would that point have been? I didn’t want them to feel I’d lied to them, but I often wonder if any of them saw the series on television and remembered Harry.

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I’ve done that for years. I once played a man who’d been brain damaged and I spoke the way he did and carried myself like him, and found out some very useful things.

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Doing this helps you find the character, but the way the world treats him. Some people were very impatient like when he was ordering a meal in a restaurant and speaking slowly while others went out of their way to be helpful. It tells you a lot about what the character is, the way the world treats him.

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M&C - Harry is a blackmailer, thief and liar and he gets Jacob Hersch, the protagonist involved in a seamy sex scandal. Did you have to find redeeming qualities in Harry for your portrayal?

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MR - No, it’s not my job to judge a character, that’s for the audience to decide how they feel about him.

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M&C – Your TV series Being Erica’s proved to be a phenomenon. It’s been renewed for a third season in very slim times. What makes it so successful?

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MR - It’s unusual in its form, it plays like a novel, and the characters can expand and develop. I wouldn’t be happy playing a character that was locked into a type. When I watch Barney Miller I expect to see Barney Miller. I would be very unhappy in a confined role.

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A procedural show is about the story, not about character development. I love Law & Order, it engages me, but not because of the characters; it’s about the story. It is not the kind of show where you want to follow Michael Moriarity home after work. I’m grateful, as an actor, to work on a show that allows for complexity like Being Erica.

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M&C – The upcoming film Mr. Nobody by Belgian surrealist filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael is one of the most intriguing films this summer. Have you seen it? And if so can you explain it?

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MR - Yes I’ve seen it and I love it. I don’t know whether I can explain it. I loved working on it with Jaco who is a true artist; it’s like a huge canvas and he paints in broad strokes. I’m not a lead character but I was very happy to be a brushstroke in the corner of his canvas.