National Post ePaper

Stray on point

NEW CBC TV COMEDY FEATURES CHARACTERS FROM KIM’S CONVENIENCE

Melissa Hank

Kim’s Convenience may have been suddenly cancelled in March, while its fifth season was still airing, but co-creator Kevin White have given fans the gift of a spinoff. Strays is centred on Shannon Ross, Nicole Power’s enthusiastic car-rental agency manager. In the new comedy Strays, Shannon embarks on a new career in Hamilton, leaving behind love interest Jung (Simu Liu). She’s now the executive director of the Hamilton East Animal Shelter, where she manages an eclectic staff.

Ahead of Strays’ debut this month on CBC and CBC Gem, Power spoke about how she landed the gig, potential crossovers with characters from Kim’s and the challenges of working with animals.

Q How did this spinoff come together?

A And at the end of season 3 of Kim’s Convenience, an opportunity was brought to me to help develop a series that would work as a companion piece to Kim’s. It would be Shannon in a different city, starting anew. And if it stood on its own two feet, we’d entertain the idea of crossover appearances of characters in the universe.

So I’ve had this long, slow burn to process it. And obviously that storyline of starting fresh would’ve given a nod to Shannon and Jung’s “will they or won’t they?” story, so it was also a secret from the public. I’ve just been living with it for so many years that I’m just excited for people to meet this cast of Strays. It’s an ensemble of incredible comedic actors that I can’t wait for people to get to experience.

Q How has the shift been from being a secondary character to being the lead?

A It was definitely a lot more of a workload, as far as my time on set — I was on set almost every day. And being the lead of the show, I knew that I had to bring a lot more groundedness and vulnerability to the character. She wasn’t the punchline and she wasn’t coming in to support the joke anymore. She was the central story.

Q There’s an old showbiz saying that you should never work with kids or animals, because they’re unpredictable and can be scene-stealers. How was your experience with the animals on set? A I was definitely a little bit concerned about that in the beginning. We were shooting season 1 in February 2021, so it was COVID and already you don’t have a ton of time for five takes of every scene because there are so many new measures, and we were adding animals into the mix.

But I’m a theatre actor at my core, that’s my background, so I really like challenging myself to be in the moment and present. I think that’s when the best comedy happens. And when you’re depending on an animal who doesn’t know what’s happening in the scene, you have to be completely on your toes. There’s got to be an amazing blooper reel somewhere of us all trying to navigate acting with animals. But they were amazing.

Q Do you have animals?

A I have a dog, he’s from a rescue called Charlie’s Angels in Costa Rica. We got him in 2018, so right before the pandemic.

Q Maybe he can guest star! A I was bringing in pictures of him, his head shot, and I was placing them on bulletin boards in the rescue shelter. We had two amazing animal trainers who worked with us to make sure that the animals felt really safe, and we felt really safe. A lot of the animals that were featured were adoptable, and I think like six or seven of our cats got adopted by crew members. We had free therapy with puppies at work every day.

Q Will there be crossovers with Kim’s Convenience, with characters from that show popping up?

A Never say never. It is Shannon, and Hamilton is just a drive away from Toronto (where Kim’s was set) and lots of young, hip people are moving up and moving out there. So who knows?

Q Finally, how do you look back at your time on Kim’s Convenience?

A Kim’s was an amazing five years of my life. I had been hustling since I moved from Newfoundland to be an actor. I did the restaurant circuit, I did a lot of theatre, but I couldn’t really crack the TV code. And then I saw the Kim’s Convenience play at The Best of Fringe (festival in Toronto).

Ins Choi (who wrote the play and co-created the TV series) is a good friend of mine. That character of Shannon Ross, described as a quirky girl from the East Coast, came into my mailbox one day and as soon as I read the sides, the character just connected with me so deeply. Then over five years, I got to explore her. I’m just honoured that I get to journey her into a new series.

ARTS & LIFE

en-ca

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nationalpost.pressreader.com/article/282471417002433

Postmedia