Friday, September 7, 2001
Actress has fun with "Our Hero" character
By STEPHANIE McGRATH -- AllPop
TORONTO -- Kale Stiglic stands on one of her high school's cafeteria
tables. Her foot is poised, in prime stomping position, over the salad
of her current crush, ready to slam down and grind the greens to moosh.
Will she do it? Will she chicken out?
 "Our Hero" characters Kale (Cara Pifko) and Gordon (Tory Cassis). |
Then her foot stamps down in the middle of her crush's (Frank's) salad,
and young Canadian girls watching her on TV squeal with delight.
If you haven't heard of Kale and the salad incident, it doesn't mean
you've missed the best gossip-inducing scene of the year in your
cafeteria. It only means you're not in tune with CBC's teen comedy/drama
"Our Hero".
Teenage Kale writes an edgy "zine", and each issue spawns the subject
matter of the weekly episodes. Kale deals with break-ups, crushes, STDs,
and even death, but the show still manages to find quirky, and often
very funny, ways to deal with the heavy subject matter.
Cara Pifko, who plays the wacky and adventurous Kale, thinks her
character's on-screen ability to carry through with her occasionally
embarrassing actions (like the salad-stomping incident) has struck a
chord with viewers.
"They [viewers] really identify with that moment where you're feeling
that need to freak out or scream or do something," says Cara. "And Kale
does."
Sitting in the coffee-shop set for "Our Hero" in the Toronto CBC
building, Cara, a graduate of the National Theatre School Of Canada,
sounds as wrapped up in Kale's world as the character does when
discussing her boyfriend of the moment or her plans for the next issue
of her zine. Casting directors for the series must have spotted a bit of
Kale's personality in Cara.
"When we were in auditions for this, my cat was dying and I was
incredibly distracted," she says. "At the time, that's where most of my
focus was ... the auditions. I just kind of came in and threw something
at them, and it turns out that's sort of the Kale energy."
There is a definite difference between the Kale energy and the Joey &
Dawson energy, or the energy found on most teen-oriented shows.
Cara says "Our Hero" has been compared to a "young 'Ally McBeal'" or a
"funny 'My So Called Life'", but she feels the element that separates
the Canadian series from soapy WB shows is the chances the writers take
with Kale, her friends, and their issues.
"I think we take larger risks," she says as she lists off past episodes
which found Kale struck by an STD and losing a close friend to cancer.
"Luckily, we have three producers on this show, and two of them are the
writers, as well. The people who are in charge are also the people whose
baby this is. And they're the ones who want this show to be edgy."
As a crew member motions to Cara that the cameras are about to roll on
another part of the set, she whispers one final message about the show.
"I've never been as proud of anything that I've ever seen or done on
television as I am of this show," she says. "I really think it's good
storytelling, and interesting to watch. I hope -- and I know from some
of the response we got last year -- that what I feel is also true for
people who are watching it. It's too good a show for people not to be
seeing."
(The second season of "Our Hero" airs Friday nights at 7:30, starting
Oct. 5.)
