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A key plot point in hit rom-com The Proposal is a reminder that Canadians do not have free rein in the US, but that doesn't prevent them finding success in Hollywood, as FOCUS discovers.
Here's a question; what's the connection between Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, Mike Myers, Pamela Anderson and Jim Carrey?
They are all Canadian born, but have plied their trade with great success in the USA, a seemingly natural course for a budding actor in film and television, and one that many British and Australian actors have followed since movies began.
The difference is that, until relatively recently, the Brits have happily played outsiders, villainous cads from the mother country. Whereas Canadians have always integrated so much more naturally, the accent - barring the odd inflection - being close enough to pass off as American.
And yet in the gloss and froth of Anne Fletcher's mismatched romantic comedy
The Proposal the Canadian nationality of a hard nose book editor (Sandra Bullock) is crucial to the plot. When she realises her visa application has been denied and is to be deported she is aghast.
"It's not like I'm an immigrant or something," she says with incredulity, "I'm from Canada."
Oh, Canada. The horns of the dilemma she finds herself in must have been felt by many a film industry wannabe that came before her, surreptitiously crossing the border without the appropriate paperwork and hoping to find success before being found out.
Ambitious young actors like, for example, Bullock's co-star in The Proposal, Ryan Reynolds. So while for some watching the notion of a swift deportation beyond America’s northernmost border will come as a surprise to some watching the film, to Reynolds it absolutely was not.
"Oh you can be deported back to Canada for shockingly minor infractions," he smiles, "like a little bar fight. Next thing you know you're back in Saskatchewan, which I'm not from thank God. But it did concern me. When I first moved to Los Angeles I came down on a wing and a prayer in a way, I think I had about six weeks worth of money to make it there and that was just from doing a couple of episodes of The X-Files to finance that trip."
It is a little ironic that, in order to save money, high profile television shows such as The X-Files decamped to Vancouver, utilising local talent before and behind the camera. Despite of the prospect of such work happening closer to home, the lure of Hollywood as the centre of the English language film world remains a powerful one. Which is why Ryan Reynolds headed for the US a few years before his 2002 breakthrough in Van Wilder.
"I came down to LA to join The Groundlings," he continues, "which is an improv comedy group. I didn't get in, of course because I am not a part of The Groundlings. I just assumed that I could walk on stage and take over. They said hit the road Jack and I ended up getting an agent instead. They thankfully sent me out on a couple of readings and I ended up on a sitcom. Van Wilder came my way soon after that."
In the seven years since Reynolds has combined gritty action roles in Blade: Trinity, Smokin' Aces and X-Men Origins: Wolverine with The Amityville Horror and a handful of comedies including Just Friends and Definitely, Maybe.
Most recently he played a fairground lothario in the nostalgic Adventureland, a roguish character whose bad behaviour is allayed by Reynolds' inherent likeability. Which is a handy quality for any movie star to possess, being impossible to manufacture, but crucial if bitterness and envy is not to overtake your perception of a handsome and successful leading man who - to cap it all - married Scarlett Johansson last year.
Such matters remain personal and private, as they should, but Reynolds is happy to note that apart from anything else this happy union banishes any threat of deportation. "I remedied that didn't I?" he smiles. "Apart from health care being really expensive, it's awesome."
ANWAR BRETT
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