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680news audio interview transcript
680news: So Corey, you’re playing the lead character in The Jazzman and he’s a musician and as he’s starting out he’s having a hard time. How did you relate to that?
Corey: Well, I think anyone who’s kind of involved in the arts, whether it would be music or theatre or visual art, you have to struggle. And I think a lot of people would be able to relate, not even in the arts, in anything that you have a passion for, whatever job you’re choosing to persue. It;s tough and I think especially when you decide to do something that’s a very subjective thing, like music or art or acting, it’s tough. So that’s what I kinda drew on, just the struggles, you have ups and dows, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster whenever you have an artistic carreer. You have to develop a thick skin and it’s not always gonna be as easy as you think in the beginning. And that’s kind of the lesson that John learns and I think that’s a lesson a lot of people learn, including myself.
680news: So you had a bit of a struggle before you got to be succesfull with series like Smallville and uh all the rest of it?
Corey: Right, yeah, you know actually, I have actually been very fortunate in the sence that I been able to have a fairly steady carreer in terms of a working actor. But you know, that being said, there’s always ups and downs, there’s always those roles that you’re dying to get and you know, they just don’t go your way and ... It’s like I said earlier, just a rollercoater and uh but I started quite young actually, I started off as a baby model if you can believe it when I was 6 months and I did that for a long time.
680news: What, for commercials and stuff?
Corey: For like Sears catalogues and things like that, my brother and I both did modelling and then I got into commercials and things like that when I was 7.
680news: Where was home?
Corey: Toronto.
680news: Yeah
Corey: Yeah, well, Ajax actually is home, so ... And it still is when I’m around, I do a lot of travelling now, went to Los Angeles and Vancouver and kinda try to do the traingle all arounf North America, but I still call Toronto, I’m proud to call Toronto home.
680news: And family, important to you?
Corey: Absolutely, it’s so important and another reason why, because I have a lot of people down in the States who were trying to convince me to live there fulltime, but I’m very family oriented and I’m so lucky to have such a supportive family and I miss them. So I go down there, you know Los Angeles when it’s busy and when it’s an opportune time, but I always come back home. Because that’s important to just stay grounded and to kinda have those people that have been there the whole time.
680news: That’s great, I’ve heard a lot of Canadian actors say that and they don’t seem to get into the huge trouble that a lot of young stars are getting into in La right now.
Corey: Absolutely, you know, I think there is a sense from a work perspective, Canadian, young Canadian actors, and this isn’t true, I mean, but for Canadians there is not really that star system. So, if you’re working, you know, child actor like I was in Toronto, you’re not walking around being mobbed by paparazzi and kinda being put that, having a pressure put on you being in that spotlight as much as it is when you’re a child actor on a Disney show in the States, let’s say. And LA is a busy place, more like a machine, and I like to think that Toronto and in Canada in general it’s more about nurturing, you know, the art, beside of it, not so much fame and fortune and all the flash and I think that’s why sometimes Canadians do very well down there. Because there is a real work ethic that kinda of instowed in us from a young age, so...
680news: Yeah, I think you’re right, that’s very true...
Corey: Yeah, that’s my perception anyway.
680news: How did you get your first big role and what was that first big role for you?
Corey: I have to say, my first, kind of breakout role, first leading role, was Goosebumps, which a lot of young Canadian actors did. But really the first one that kinda defined my carreer was Lassie. I played Timmy on the 90s verison of Lassie and that was my first opportunity to be a lead in a tv show and we shot 4 seasons over 2 years.
680news: Great experience
Corey: Amazing experience, you know, as an actor and I got to work with this dog and this iconoc character and I was only 12 years old. But the dog didn’t have a lot of dialogue so I carry a lot of the storyline a lot of the time and that was the biggest learning curve for me and I still, the focus is that I was able to learn, still benefits me this day. So that was definately a special one and what kinda got the ball rolling.
680news: Fantastic and what’s it like working on Smallville?
Corey: It was fantastic, it’s.. first of all, the show has been around, they’re going into their 8th season, so...
680news: I’ma big fan, I’ve been able to follow it through a lot of seasons and it’s great how much it has changed and grown.
Corey: It really has. I remember I actually auditioned way way back in the day when I was about 15 for the role of Clark, you know, Tom Welling’s role. And then getting to and I did a show the year after Smallville came out and I got to meet Tom and Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk and they all seemed so nice. And I don’t know if everyone knows, but I’m working with Laura Vandervoort, she’s my real life girlfriend. We’ve been dating for almost 3 years and of course she played supergirl on last year’s season, so, and I got to have a few scenes with her. And it was a coincidence, because I had auditioned on and off occasionaly for Smallville and then this role came up, I auditioned and I just got the role, so ... But it was so cool because the production value of that show and everyone is so nice and it’s superman, it’s just cool to be a part of something like that, so ...
680news: Really well produced series and she was really good
Corey: Oh, she did an amazing job and they were thrilled to get her. Not only, first of all, she was the only Canadian screentesting, Canadian girl got it, which is awesome. But also because she’s a second degree black belt and so good at doing her own stunts, that they were in heaven. They had her doing all these high flying, you know, stuff and, you know, she was ablet o do it all. And we’re both very physical, we both did a lot of martial arts growing up, so we’re always trying to do as many of our own stunts as possible.
680news: Where did you two meet?
Corey: We actually met through a mutual actor friend, we have worked together 3 times, this is the 3rd project other than Smallville and another show called Instant Star, that Laura was on for years and I did a little re-occuring role on that. But this is our first time that we’re working exclusively as 2 leads in the same thing. But we didn’t meet on the set, we met through a mutual actor friend. We are proud to say we’re not an on-set hoockup, because a lot of people say .. Oh you guys must have net on a set .. But no, we we’re friends actually for 5 years before we started dating and here we are almost 3 years later.
680news: Fantastic. Congratulations on that.
Corey: Thank you.
680news: And it’s rare that you know, would get to work with your significant other in this business.
Corey: Especially, you know, that we’ve done it 3 times in 3 years, it’s quite unique actually.
680news: Will you guys be back on Smallville?
Corey: Well, actually, I was only a guest star, so I was only on that 1 episode, and then Laura’s character, they finished the storyline for now, at least that’s my understanding..
680news: They left it open though
Corey: They left it open and of course I’m not the one to say, because I’m the last one to know these things, but I have a feeling she will return ar least for a couple of episodes.
680news: I have a feeling too. That sex appeal is pretty good
Corey: Absolutely yeah.
680news: Well, back to The Jazzman, now did you know much about Moe Koffman before you saw the script?
Corey: I definately knew the name, but I didn’t know much in the way of his music. So, it was kind of a surprise for me, Josh sent me early on a cover of the soundtrack and I’ve become a fan over the course of this. And also the whole musical aspect, I never played the drums before this. I never even picked up a set of sticks, so it was.. I had about a month, you know, kinda crash course get as good as I can be and what makes it so easy for me is that Josh is a drummer himself. So he was really able to simplify for me and I also took some lassons kind of on my own time, because I wanted to be up to speed as much as I could. Because it’s an important element of the story, but Josh also took the pressure off, he said, look it’s not all about the music, a big theme in the movie is music, but it also was about the acting and the story, so.. I said, ok, as long as we can do, you know, certain shots that make me look good and I felt I improved over the the course of the shooting. And we did some of the heavier drum scenes near the end, which was nice from Josh, to schedule it that way for me, so..
680news: That’s a big thing to take on, learning to play drums, wow
Corey: I have such a respect for drummers, you look at it and it looks so cool and I think, yeah, I can do that, and then you get on there and you realize they’re doing so much. Every limb is doing something different, and what a respect.. Not only for drummers, but in the whole jazz aspect, how complicated and how precise you have to be. It’s being cool and I’ve been surrounded by some really great musicians that are playing the supporting roles in this film and I’ve just been soaking it up.
680news: Fantastic. You think you’ll keep drumming now?
Corey: You know what, I rented a kit, it’s still in my basement and you know, I’m supposed to return it, because my lease is up, but I’m like, you know what, I’m thinking about it, so if I get my own place it would be driving my parents nuts if I kept them, but I’m thinking about, because it gets in you and now I listen to music differently. You know, songs that I used to like, I wasn’t even paying attention to the beat, now it’s suddenly all I hear, you know, the drum beat and all that. So it has definately changed the way I listen to music.
680news: That’s great. Now you are working with a great Canadian actor, Michael Ironside and he plays your uncle, I belive, in the film?
Corey: Actually, he plays my father in the film, he’s my father. I’ve seen him in all kinds of things, so, he’s a veteran actor and he’s very good at what he does and each time when you’re a young actor who gets the chance to work with a guy who’s been around as long as he has, you learn a lot and it’s just nice to work with a guy who’s so professional. We had a lot of, the father son relationship in this film is very important, and I couldn’t have asked for a better guy to work with, so..
680news: I know the movie is not based on, reallt based on the life of Moe Koffman, but are there any aspects of it that are sort of true to his life story?
Corey: Absolutely, I don’t know, this is a better question for Josh, but I do know that a lot of the elements of the story, everything from the fact that I’m a construction worker kind of struggling and the fact that Josh was a drummer and his father. Obviously, Michael Ironside’s character is I think more, the Moe Koffman figure. And I’ve heard that it’s a combination of Josh’s own father, Moe Koffman’s son and Moe Koffman. And I’m kind of being more Josh, to be honest, there’s a lot of elements of the character that I can ask Josh directly becauseI’m mopre or less playing him roughly, you know, it is a fictional story, but it has a lot of influence from Josh’s life growing up and being surrounded by musicians and being a musician himself.
680news: What’s next for you?
Corey: Actually, the next project I’m going to be working on is a show, a Canadian show, called Best Years. I just found out a few days ago, I’ll be a re-occuring character on that in the new coming season.
680news: Is it a drama or a comedy?
Corey: It’s a drama, actually, it’s a drama...
680news: CTV?
Corey: It’s CTV actually, runs on CTV and I believe the kind of, the N Network which is kind of like the teen Nickelodeon network in the States. And I know a few actors that worked on it and yeah , they’re starting up a second season at the end of August and I’m gonna be part of it.
680news: Excellent. Great to have work, isn’t it?
Corey: Oh absolutely, that’s my goal, you know, I just love what I do and if I can continue to work on a regular basis I’m a happy guy so ..
680news: Excellent, well I hope you do andI think you’re gonna have a great carreer.
Corey: Thank you very much. Hope so.
680news: Well, thanks Corey and good luck woth this film and all your future endevours.
Corey: Thank you very much.
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