These days, if you see Billy Merasty on a Winnipeg street, you'll recognize him as Roger Laughingstick, the low-key genie DJ spinning platters important to the fictional Grouse Lake First Nation in the CTV comedy series. good acting.
In that context, it might be surprising to see him in a feature drama Aberdeen In the role of Alfred, the loyal two-soul friend of the title character (played by Gail Maurice).
In the film — which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year and is now screening elsewhere, including a run at Winnipeg's Cinema City Northgate, where the movie was filmed — Aberdeen is a woman who tries to navigate the government. bureaucracy in trying to claim their grandchildren from the foster care system.
Whenever possible, street-smart Alfred is there to cool Aberdeen's fire.
Marasti's portrayal also lightens the film's dark and brooding atmosphere with moments of lightness and humor.
Its co-directors, Ryan Cooper (who based the story on his own experiences on the streets of Winnipeg) and Eva Thomas say they relied on Merasty to lighten the play's overall heaviness.
“He brings light,” Thomas said. “She shines.”
Cooper credits Merasty with using his innate charm to balance the film.
“I wanted to create pockets of humor that would break up the trauma we all go through,” said Cooper, of the Peguis First Nation in Interlake, Manitoba.
From brochettes to hit TV shows
The first thing to know about Merosty is that, if you see him on a Winnipeg street, he's probably working. For the better part of 41 years, the Cree actor's home base has been Toronto, though he's quick to declare northern Manitoba as his birthplace.
“I was born and raised on the land in Brochet, Man., on the north end of Reindeer Lake,” Merasty, 64, said in a phone interview from his Toronto home. He was the ninth of 14 siblings.
“When I was 18 years old, I just finished high school and I dropped out and I came to Toronto, where I had two uncles, Uncle Tomson and Uncle Rene,” he said of famous playwright Tomson Highway and his brother. Dancer-choreographer Rene Heiwe.
In Toronto, he established himself as a theater actor and one-shot playwright Fireweedproduced in Toronto and Vancouver in 1992).
“Toronto has always been good to me,” Merasty said. “I tried three times to live in Winnipeg, but it never worked out for me. But I've worked in theater, film and TV in Winnipeg many times.”
He is especially grateful to have worked on the series in Manitoba good acting.
“It saved me. It saved my career,” Merasty said. “I was 61 when I was contacted, and by then I thought my career was basically over and I couldn't win any jobs through the audition process.”
He got the call to audition for Roger Laughingstick “after about eight years of frustration,” he said.
“And the first thing that popped into my head was: 'Oh no, not another role to lose.' I was in that place.”
Of course, he got the role, and good acting is made Top rated show on CTV's Comedy Channel.
“It's revived my career at a point when a lot of actors would have retired,” he added, adding that his stage experience comes in handy when taking on the wordy tendencies of Roger Laughingstick.
“In theater, when I started, you had to memorize two hours of work,” he said. “That experience lends itself to TV, especially a role like Roger, where he does a lot of monologues and says a lot of fancy titles and fancy band names.
“They can be tongue-twisters, and my Cree tongue can take a long time to get it,” he said with a laugh. “But it's a lot of fun.”
Aberdeen story 'complex and very angry'
Taking on the role of Alfred Aberdeen Various challenges presented themselves, but playing a two-spirit character was not one of them.
“I've always been openly gay in my career and in my life,” Merasty said.
He accepted Aberdeen The fool is far from fun good acting.
“It's very serious, very heavy and complicated and very angry,” Merasty said.
Merasty allows that the role may represent an aspect of co-director Cooper, who is also proudly two-spirited. Alfred's character “reflects the life experiences of a gay Aboriginal man in Winnipeg, and that came across in the script in a very deep and truthful writing,” Merasty said.
“It's rare that I jump into a skirt and high heels and makeup,” Merasty said. “But I understand the whole concept of being male and female, of two souls,” he said.
“And I would say that I've relied on both of these not only in my life, but also in my career, some roles that require me to go in full drag and other roles that are very much a man's world.
“I love playing with both.”
Merasty said he wanted to dedicate his character in the film to “that area of Winnipeg people who are two-spirited, who have to negotiate the streets of Winnipeg.”
“(They're) tough and inventive and really cool and friendly, and they've got a big heart because they know rejection,” he said. “It happens a lot on the streets of Winnipeg.”
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