Friday, August 31, 2001
'Zack' TV stars bond on-set
TORONTO -- "Ahhhh, beautiful maiden".
This is approximately the 15th time Robert Clark -- a.k.a. Zack Greenburg of YTV's "The Zack Files" -- has said this line to Katie Boland (a.k.a. Gwen Kilerby), and he'll probably say it 30 more times before it's ready to air.
"The Zack Files" could be described as a humorous and younger version of "The X-Files". The episode they're shooting today is called "Zack Zero", in which Zack finds him transported to the time and place of different artifacts he touches. So, the knight's helmet he has under his arm has found him wooing Gwen with chivalrous language.
Robert & Jake relax after lunch |
The lights are blindingly hot, and there's no air conditioner because it would make too much noise on camera.
On the edges of the set, located in the outskirts of Toronto, are two of Robert's best friends, on and off camera: Jake Epstein (a.k.a. Cam Dunleavey) and Michael Seater (Spencer Sharpe).
While the cameras are rolling, the 14 & 13-year-old actors are nothing but professional as they follow their director's decisions and agreeably deliver the same lines over and over. Then it's break time, and they rush off
in a group to hang out in one of their small but homey trailers.
Noah Giffin, who plays Zack's nemesis, Vernon, is already relaxing in his trailer. Unlike his snooty and sneering character, Noah is a bit shy and, according to him, very "jolly".
"You can ask the other guys too, they'd say, 'Yeah, he just never stops laughing'," says Noah when explaining the differences between himself and his character.
To anyone who just watched the morning's long and hot shoot, it might be hard to imagine the actors having a whole lot of fun on the set. But judging from the giggles coming from the trailer where Katie and the boys are
hanging out, and from Noah's comments, you could look at "The Zack Files" as a sort of summer camp -- with lots of work and very early mornings.
"I wouldn't want to do anything else," says Noah.
Aside from the prestige of having their names in the credits of a show that airs all over the world, the "Zack" stars get breaks with their best friends, mini basketball tournaments in the back lot, and ... yummy lunches.
"... playing basketball, breaks, lunch time, there's always a buffet at lunch, so I like lunch," says Robert during one of his breaks, as he lists the benefits of "Zack" life. "It's cool. [We] see each other on the weekends. I'll hang out with Mikey one week and Jake the next."
Robert, Katie, Jake, and Noah all say that the friendships they've made on set are one of the best parts of their job.
Robert & Katie On-set |
A couple of weeks ago, Jake says the boys made their way to Michael's cottage where they undertook a non-supernatural adventure.
"[We] went to the bikini competition," says Jake. "The girl who won was wearing nothing but stickers!"
So how does Katie, the only girl in the cast, feel about working with a group of 13-year-old boys and their bikini adventures?
"I respect Katie," says Jake. "She's in a group of like, teenage guys. Last year she kind of kept to herself. This year, we may have corrupted her or whatever, she's totally cool, she hangs
out with us."
"When we first started it was kind of weird because I was the only girl," Katie admits. "Now they're like my best friends. I really love the boys, they're kind of like my brothers."
Katie laughs at the thought that her feelings for the boys -- who she calls "very good looking guys" -- might be more than purely platonic. She thinks of them "solely as friends. You can't mix business and pleasure."
"After every take the director will say something that we can improve on, so I just constantly think about improving it," says Jake about his technique for keeping a scene fresh. "It does get tiring sometimes, but you've got to
keep on thinking that this could be the take that they use, and you don't want to look bad on TV."
But just because the actors are dedicated to acting now, doesn't mean it's their long-term goal. All of them have put their on-camera life in perspective.
"I'm not 100 per cent sure," says Robert when asked if he plans to act forever. "I really like basketball."
"I don't think so," says Jake to the same question. "I love acting, it's my hobby, I do it just about every day, but there's lots of other stuff I want to do. I've got to see what's out there."
Katie says she's quite sure the acting world is where she wants to be, but she does plan to try different things before committing herself to the camera forever.
"I want to go to university, obviously, because you can't just do one thing," she says. "I think I do want to be an actress, but I do want to go to university and maybe study English or psychology, those are basically my
interests. I'll take a break if I stop liking it [acting], 'cause there's no reason for me to do anything that I don't like."
After a few more runs at the "beautiful maiden" scene, it's time for lunch. Just as Robert promised, there's a huge buffet stocked with salads, meats, and desserts. Katie and Michael have run off to visit Katie's mom, while Robert and Jake sit at a table with some crew members and discuss the "boobs" Robert will be wearing in an episode titled "Zack Girl".
There are lots of inside jokes. Robert teases Jake about a children's show
he used to be on, while Jake talks about how funny Robert looks in his "Zack Girl" wig.
The actors may be sacrificing a summer or two and hours of "hanging out time" with their school friends, but they aren't too worried about it. In between costume changes, run-throughs, and shooting scenes,
are plenty of breaks and lunch spreads -- and best friends who are always ready to hang out.
