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This series had its genesis when I began 麻豆传媒映画area location shoots last summer to get over a long post-Olympics funk. Film and TV productions like This Means War, Mission Impossible 4, Fringe and the new AMC series The Killing showcase our city in similar fashion and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame. |
Wild is the word I'd use to describe Saturday's red carpet at the Leo Awards celebrating the best of聽BC-produced film and television: from one nominee going in and out of his character to another striking poses with his elastic face聽to another threatening to drop his pants to the entire cast of all-Canadian series Sanctuary making funny faces for the cameras. And immortal Sanctuary star Amanda Tapping聽owned all 100 metres of that carpet in her floor-length black dress and five-inch heels.
Since television built the town of Hollywood North it should be no surprise that Amanda Tapping is its Queen after more than a decade on the Stargate series and then co-creating Sanctuary with writer Damian Kindler and director Martin Wood, two other Stargate almuni who聽I photographed below watching Tapping walk towards them.聽Sanctuary came into the Leos with a whopping 17 nominations and the privilege of sauntering the red carpet in prime time (the last half-hour of the two-hour West Georgia Street spectacle).
The almost-block-long red carpet started at the corner of Burrard and West Georgia with Leo red carpet host and actress Gretal Montogmery, who happens to be the significant other of presenter Chad Willett. Having one of their own interview them on camera inspired Sanctuary's Robin Dunne to unbuckle his belt and threaten to drop his pants (captured and later tweeted in a Twitpic by his co-star Robert Lawrenson).聽Autograph hounds and fans managed to nab the local celebs on their way to the next stop where I stood with Rebecca Bollwitt, aka @Miss604, next to what passed for official photographers and reporters at the gala. Beyond us stood Shaw's Johanna Ward from The Express (a Leo nominee herself) in a gorgeous red crimson backless gown and behind us a random mix of photographers, hounds and people getting off at the bus stop in front of the hotel. Fun and so not Hollywood.
Still I was disappointed not to see Callum Keith Rennie, who later won the Leo for his multiple-personality detective on cancelled 麻豆传媒映画series Shattered, or Erin Karpluk, the nominated star of urban Toronto drama Being Erica. And I felt a big gap where Stargate Universe people had been after the show opted not to make submissions to the Leos following its abrupt before-Christmas cancellation.聽Fortunately, actors submit separately so Best Supporting Actress nominee聽Jennifer Spence (photographed below with her husband and fellow nominee Ben Ratner) represented the much-missed SGU, last year's winner for Best Drama series.
For once though, film had a聽big budget $10-million nominee called Gunless to compete for attention against all the big budget American and Canadian TV series produced in BC. Later聽 the Osoyoos-filmed movie won the big award for聽Best Feature and other prizes for its cinematography, stunt coordination and production design. Roughly halfway through the two-hour red carpet, its聽nominated best supporting actor Dustin Milligan took his turn to strut. He autographed dozens of way-back photos of himself on Beverly Hills 90210 and then showed off his Jim-Carrey-like rubber face mugging for the cameras and mock聽posing. I'd heard that Milligan and his pal Cory Monteith of Glee are rabid Canucks fans based in LA so I asked him if he'd seen Friday's game. Sadly no he answered, as he'd flown up to 麻豆传媒映画that night for the Leos.
Tyler Labine聽 another film nominee聽, who later won Best Actor for playing a聽backwoods聽unsophisticate in comic-horror feature Tucker & Dale vs Evil, didn't disappoint either: after noticing a marked resemblance聽 between himself and the lion he introduced us to his cousin Leo.
But the red carpet belonged to television. I met so many nominees and presenters I recognized and few that聽I didn't: like 麻豆传媒映画actor Carmen Moore of Albert-filmed Blackstone, who showed off this locally-designed native-inspired dress below. She later took home Best Lead Female in a series, trumping previous winners Erin Karpluk and Amanda Tapping, as well as her own nominated聽co-star.
Personally, I couldn't wait to see local acting chameleon Michael聽Eklund, who played a rock star at the Bayshore Hotel on Endgame looking for a polar bear he'd bought and an聽idiot-turned-savant on a great episode of Friday night hit Fringe . He thrilled us on the red carpet聽by going in and out of his聽Fringe character聽Milo for which he picked up a Leo as expected (I should have put money on that one).
Paul McGillion, who聽later won a Leo for his role in short drama A Fine Young Man, signed autographs and posed for photos with Stargate Atlantis fans on his way in.聽And presenter David Richmond-Peck proved recognizeable from a聽recent episode of Endgame and a crazy-guy stint on sci-fi series V. But I embarrassed myself聽outright with Richard Harman,聽known as Rosie Larsen's smarmy rich ex-boyfriend and an early suspect in The Killing. "I wish I had killed her," Harman joked after winning his own Leo for children's series The Haunting Hour, telling me that he and聽Rosie actresss Kate Findlay, now filming in Indonesia,聽had become good friends. Brandon Jay McLaren's hair (see below) made it much easier to recognize聽Rosie's teacher and mid-season suspect.聽And news of a second-season renewal for The Killing聽means we聽can look forward to a whole new set of聽麻豆传媒映画actor suspects on the rain-soaked series.
Once inside the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, I did聽live-tweet the awards for several hours until I was put in Twitter jail for too many tweets and the entire system broke down as the wildness of the red carpet escalated into backstage antics by winners like Tyler Labine.聽Early on, though, I chatted with聽Leo-winning stunt coordinator David Chue about how聽Human Target pulled off its series-ending stunts on the hotel roof above. And I聽met the team behind comedy couple Brent Butt and Nancy Robertson's Vancouver-shot sitcom Hiccups. It swept all five categories it was nominated in. After their big wins, I asked Robertson if she'd mind if I took a photo of her with her Leo because I'd never seen her in a frock. She laughed, agreeing that it wasn't the kind of thing her characters Wanda from Corner Gas聽or Millie from Hiccups would wear. I later spied her and three-time Leo winner Gabrielle Rose on their way to the washroom giggling like school girls. Robertson's husband and avid tweeter Brent Butt skipped the Leos to catch UFC, but he did make the Celebration Awards last week at Club 560. The so-called technical people smartly arranged to have their awards presented during periods of that night's聽Stanley Cup Final聽with Game Four broadcast throughout the ceremony on a big screen.
No one show dominated the TV drama categories like Hiccups ruled the comedy ones. After聽its slew of nominations I expected Sanctuary to take home Best Drama聽series but that went to American series Smallville instead (a fitting tribute to the young Superman series which filmed here for a decade). And Ryan Robbins won Sanctuary's only acting prize for his best supporting performance as a Lycan.聽Still from where I was,聽it looked like Sanctuary dominated the night in fun, with聽Damian Kindler and Robin Dunne even hosting the after party.
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