In the U.S., the television industry
celebrates its most talented contributors with the primetime Emmys; in the U.K., with the Bafta Television Awards. In Canada, The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT) celebrates the country’s greatest
achievements in television every year, with the annual Gemini Awards. Covering everything from technical categories and broadcast news, to comedies,
dramas as well as animated series, the awards are presented over three nights beginning with two industry
awards nights and culminate in the final broadcast gala.
This year,
Lifestyler attended the 26th annual awards broadcast in Toronto on Sept. 7, to take in the
often-underrated glamour of Canada’s television industry. Hosted and broadcast by the CBC, this years’ awards ceremony included performances from artists Deborah Cox, Kellylee
Evans, Jim Cuddy and City and Colour, with appearances by on-screen talents such as Jason Priestly, Rick
Mercer, the cast of Flashpoint — the CTV series that earned the most Gemini nominations this year with a
grand total of 17 nominations — and of course, host and comedic relief for the night, Russell
Peters.
On the red carpet, the
overcast weather and early fall chill didn’t faze attendees in the least. Presenters and nominees were in
good spirits, joking candidly amongst themselves as they made their way down the red carpet, stopping every
few feet for reporters and photographers alike. Canadian actor Tom Green invited celebrities for a quick
visit to The Tom Green Room, a setup just outside the actual awards ceremony featuring some expectedly less
professional interviews, and the typical “tom” foolery synonymous with the host himself. Green is, after all,
the same man who both interrupted the awards (a staged interruption) as well as the reporters’ press
conference (a not-so staged interruption) to have some material for his live online
broadcast.
Over the course of the
evening, a total of seven awards were handed out. This, in addition to the 113 awards that were previously
awarded on Aug. 30-31, covered categories including News and Sports, Documentary, Lifestyle, Reality, Drama,
Children’s or Youth, Comedy and Variety. The categories and winners at Wednesday night’s broadcast gala
include:
Best Performance
by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role
Peter Keleghan as
Ben Bellow in 18 to Life
Best
Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
Callum Keith Rennie as Ben Sullivan in Shattered
Best
Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role
Tracy Dawson as
Meghan in Call Me Fitz
Best
Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
Michelle Thrush as
Gail Stoney in Blackstone
Best Host or
Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast
James Duthie, host of
NHL
All-Star Fantasy Draft
Best Comedy
Program or Series
Rick Mercer
Report
Best Dramatic
Series
The
Borgias
“On behalf of the Academy,
I would like to offer my warmest congratulations to tonight’s winners, as well as all of this years Gemini
and Academy Special Award winners,” says Helga Stephenson, interim CEO of the ACCT. “Tonight’s sensational
show was the perfect tribute to the exceptional talent in this country.”
The night’s biggest
surprise was undoubtedly 18 to Life’s Peter Keleghan beating the likes of Call Me Fitz’s
Jason
Priestly and Living in Your Car’s John Ralston for best actor in a continuing leading
comedic role. The win was all the more surprising considering 18 to Life, was cancelled by CBC earlier this year.
“It’s kind of bittersweet
you know, it’s not the icing on the cake to win this. I was thinking that this might be the dirt on the
coffin,” says Keleghan of his win. “It’s over, it’s done — I’m glad some part of it was
celebrated.”
Other notable wins of the
night include Call Me Fitz actress Tracy Dawson, who actually began her work on the HBO Canada series as a writer.
“I had acted for 15 years
and was moving away from acting into writing, and one of the writers on the show Adriana Maggs said, ‘Tracy
should play this role,’ and I thought it would never happen and then lo and behold after many auditions and
rewriting the character to be more my age, and everything it happened,” says Dawson. “I can’t even believe
it. The fact that I got the part and it’s a great part and that I started in the writer's room and that
everybody took a chance on me.”
Blackstone
actress
Michelle Thrush also made the most of her moment, thanking Gordon Tootoosis, a Canadian aboriginal actor who
passed away this past year.
“Gordon started my whole
career, back 23 years ago when I began acting there wasn’t a lot of brown faces on television and Gordon was
one in a handful, and he urged me as a teenager to get into acting because he knew I enjoyed it so much,”
Thrush said in a press conference. “We were 10 days from going to camera when he passed away suddenly… and it
was a complete shock to all of our aboriginal film community as well as the rest of
Canada.”
To honour her mentor’s
memory, Thrush also commissioned a patterned red dress for the evening from the late Tootoosis’ daughter,
Disa Tootoosis.
From the red carpet to the
big stage, the night both sophisticated and modest at the same time. The Canadian television industry may not
mirror the glitz and over-the-top glam of Hollywood, but there’s no doubting that with as much talent as
Canadians actors have, that here in Canada — the stars shine just as brightly.
To view a complete
list of the night’s winners, visit geminiawards.ca •
Photo by Matthew
Morgan
