Ģż
Camille SullivanĢżdoesnāt audition for a lot of comedies. Ģż
āPeople generally come to me for heavy drama,ā the observes matter-of-factly over tea in Kitsilano.
āHeavy dramaā might actually be a bit of an understatement. Sullivanās two-decade-spanning filmography is populated by altogether gritty, meaty and gut-punching roles: a volatile drug addict on CBCās underrated crime drama Intelligence; a grieving woman who might or might not be murdered by her dead sisterās roommates in Ally Was Screaming; a dying social worker desperate to reunite with the biological mom who gave her up at birth in The Birdwatcher; a troubled cop fighting all kinds of demons on the Downtown Eastside in Victory Square; a frantic mom whose daughter goes missing in Geoff Redknappās stellar disappearing-man thriller, The Unseen.Ģż
Sheās scooped up multiple acting awards for her efforts: for The Birdwatcher and Ally Was Screaming; Leo Awards for Victory Square and Normal; and, on the national level, Gemini nominations for Intelligence and Shattered.
Next month, Sullivan will once again be seen flexing her dramatic muscles in a thoroughly unfunny role: as a mother whose child goes missing in The Disappearance, a six-part limited series from CTV and NBC Universal International that reunites Sullivan with her The Unseen co-star Aden Young (Rectify).
āI like to keep my life pretty plain and I like to keep my dramatic life really dramatic,ā notes the Ā鶹“«Ć½Ó³»actress.
The seeds for heavy drama were planted back in childhood, when Sullivan would devour films like Woody Allenās The Purple Rose of Cairo, Lars von Trierās Breaking the Waves and David Lynchās The Elephant Man via well-worn VHS tapes.
She attended a Toronto arts high school as a painting major, but found something resonant in theatre classes, and ultimately studied acting at the University of B.C. Painting and acting are surprisingly similar, according to Sullivan.
āWhen I paint, I primarily do portraits and thatās probably the same thing [as acting],ā she says. āYouāre looking at someoneās face. Youāre looking into their eyes. You find their story.ā
For Sullivan, the best characters are those that āhave something thatās off about them. I canāt come at something from a 100-per-cent place of confidence ā I donāt think Iāll ever get there ā but I can play a confident character if that character is secretly not confident at all,ā says Sullivan, who admits to bouts of imposter syndrome and stage fright. āIf thatās in there somewhere or thereās room to put that in there, then I can do that.ā
Francine on Intelligence fits this definition to a T. Intelligence ā which ran for two seasons on CBC and starred Ian Tracey as a Ā鶹“«Ć½Ó³»crime boss and Klea Scott as the director of a local organized crime unit ĀĀā recently . Francine (the ex-wife of Traceyās character) remains high on the list of Sullivanās favourite roles for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that it gifted her with the opportunity to work with famed showrunner Chris Haddock (whose other credits include the Da Vinci shows and The Romeo Section).
ĢżāOn my first day shooting the series, there was a big scene with Ian [Tracey] where Iām shouting and Iām freaking out, and I turn to Chris [Haddock] and say, āHow crazy do you want me to go?ā Heās like, āYou canāt go crazy enough,āā she recalls. Ģż
On Intelligence, Sullivan learned to ājust go for it. Itās scary to just go 100 per cent because some of the time youāre going to go too far, youāre going to look ridiculous. But that character gave me the ability to go far because half the time she was faking,ā says Sullivan. āIt gave me permission to do, for example, a big cry, and put it all out on the table, and if it doesnāt seem all-out true ā well, donāt worry, because itās not.ā
As for the upcoming Montreal-shot The Disappearance, Sullivan doesnāt mince words: āItās the heaviest Iāve ever done.ā
Sullivan plays Helen Murphy Sullivan, a mother whose child goes missing; Young plays the childās father ā a story point that is familiar to viewers who watched Young and Sullivan together in The Unseen.
āOur child goes missing again,ā she marvels, before calling Young a āwonderful, generous actor and so fun. He plays really dark stuff but on set, in between, weāre laughing. Itās not heavy times on set. And heās such a brilliant actor. Heās coming to the scenes from every direction.ā
In The Disappearance, āfamily secrets unfold. Itās a thriller. Itās exciting. Itās heavy, but a lot happens over those six episodes,ā says Sullivan. āIt has a drive forward.ā
ā¢ The DisappearanceĢżairs in September on CTV.
