Interview with Another Wolfcop star Yannick Bisson
by Bobby Blakey
I have always been a big fan of all things werewolf and in 2014 the world was introduced to the liquor drinking, donut eating Wolfcop. I loved this film and watched it numerous times since its release so was obviously excited for the follow-up Another Wolfcop. I had the chance to speak with Murdoch Mysteries star Yannick Bisson about his villainous role in the film and what it was like on the set of this crazy film.
Bobby: How did you get involved with Another Wolfcop?
Yannick: A producer friend of mine, Bill Marks that I work on Casino Jack with Kevin Spacey, I stayed in communication with him over time and we had often talked about working together again. One day my phone rings and he tells me “I got this thing. Not sure it’s up your ally, but why don’t you take a look at it.” I said yes right away without even looking at the script based on his description and I just wanted to work with him again. He said, “Well read the script first” (laughs) and I did and was more than happy to work on this project.
Bobby: How hard is it stepping into a project like this that already has a cult following, but is also the type of thing that could go either way as opposed to something like a TV series or bigger budget film?
Yannick: I look at it performance by performance and knew that I would have a great time playing the role and working with this team of guys. You know you’ve got a Wolfcop that drinks and eats donuts, what could go wrong.
Bobby: Did you have to stick pretty close to the script here or did they allow you some freedom with the role?
Yannick: They told me to come out and play. I had an idea of the tone of the whole thing and we had some conversations, but it kind of formed in my mind pretty quickly as a kind of Tom Cruise / Tony Robbins cult leader, business man, arch villain type of guy. I did have to figure out how to not go to over the top and have it still be entertaining.
Bobby: A character like this is pretty far out there in a film that is as well, so how hard was it to not go too far over the top?
Yannick: That is the fine line my friend. I have always been a person in terms of the roles that I play to try and make it believable. In every single script and project that window is different. If it’s a zany horror comedy your window is a little bigger. I did what I thought would work and some of it even bigger then talked to the director Lowell if we should pull it back here. We worked together and struck a good balance.
Bobby: When you are on a set like this with so much gore and craziness with a werewolf cop walking around eating donuts does it become hard to get right into character or do you feed off of that to help get things going?
Yannick: We were jumping right in because in this type of situation it was just fun. That’s not to say shooting other things weren’t fun, but fostering the creativity in this type of environment it’s a little more fun. There are obviously time and money restraints that adds some technical pressure, but artistically it’s so much more fun because you have more room to play in terms of reality. It’s exciting, fun and different which is certainly one of the things that attracted me to the franchise.
Bobby: Films like these often times have big gag reels. How hard is it as an actor to keep it together when you are starring face to face with this person in werewolf make-up and trying to get through these takes?
Yannick: That is not always easy. I had this monologue that I had to do in this big arena and you are trying to keep a straight face while all these pyrotechnics are going off. There are times when you can do it and there are times where it would be really bad. That added pressure of not cracking up made it even worse. We had a ton of moments and I am sure there were a lot more on the days when I wasn’t there. There will probably be a pretty cool gag reel out of these films one of these days.
Bobby: You have been in the industry for a long time and worked with a lot of people, but when someone like Kevin Smith appears in a film does it ever still effect you as a fan outside of being an actor or are you just so used to it now it’s just another day of work?
Yannick: In this particular case and they said yes and shuffled their schedule around to make themselves available for the project then you know they are cool. There wasn’t really a lot of apprehension for me, but being in this industry for over 30 years the old saying of don’t meet your heroes has been true several times. I am a little leery of meeting the big guns sometimes because I don’t want to be disappointed, but you know on a whole side there have been times I have met people and been totally star struck struggling for a few minutes. Professionally though it really doesn’t affect me quite as much for some reason because I kind of gear and to do the best job possible.
Bobby: I thought you were a great villain for this new entry into the Wolfcop world. Do you have anything else coming up you can tell us about?
Yannick: Currently filming season 12 of the Murdoch Mysteries that’s on Ovation and Netflix. There are several other books we’ve optioned and things like that that I can’t fully reveal yet. There is going to be a pop liquor donuts coming too so look out for that.
Bobby: I am a huge fan of this series and loved you as Swallows. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me.
Yannick: Man, thank you very much for talking about the movie.
Be sure to check out Another Wolfcop when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on July 3rd from RLJE Films.