Michael Ironside: Acting has to be a bit of a challenge

The Interview

Keeping It Real

Michael Ironside -The Harrowing – Group – Wolfclan Productions

1428 Elm: We saw your latest movie, The Harrowing which is due to be released on Dec. 25. Talk about unexpected twists and a complex plot line. What went through your mind when you read the script? Your character of Lt. Logan isn’t exactly enamored with detective Ryan Calhoun.

Michael Ironside: I worked with Jon Keeyes two or three times before. I pick projects based on whether they are a challenge or not. If it is a new writer or director, I want to meet them. You never really know someone until you work with them.

I’m never going to be a big star. I find one or maybe two big projects a year, that keeps my name viable. Jon wrote this and I thought it was interesting and very ambitious. We didn’t have a large amount of time for this project.

What I liked was the idea of what Ryan Calhoun’s (Matthew Tompkins) vision of me was, what is delusion and what is really going on. I had to play one version where I was supportive of his delusion and then in the hallway scene where I ask for his badge, I had to become an authority figure.

So, the trick was how do I keep that real? I think I was pretty successful.

1428 Elm: You were. Your disdain for Calhoun is very evident from the get go.

MI: I had to legitimize everything that happened in the apartment and make it real. The first scene we shot was when Matthew and I are in the hallway. There is a duality to that scene because I had to legitimize him as a cop.

A lot of things are going on. I had to support him. It was fun. Acting has to be a bit of a challenge. It was something I had never done before.

Authenticity was important. I had to lend authenticity to Calhoun’s delusion.