Plenty of Hollywood’s largest skills first called Canada home, and it’s no secret that we as Canadians are at all times rooting for our hometown celebs.
And whereas many people really feel a connection to those massive identify actors and musicians, there’s typically loads we’ll by no means know about them resulting from lengths many celebrities go to maintain their personal lives out of the press.
So, it’s thrilling when a Canadian A-lister pulls again the curtain and provides us a humorous or attention-grabbing truth from their life earlier than they made it massive.
In honour of Canada Day, and within the spirit of sharing, we’ve dug up some little-recognized facts from a few of our nation’s largest names in Hollywood.
1. Sandra Oh stood out by laying down
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Before her success on Grey’s Anatomy, Sandra Oh was simply one other younger face in an audition room. However, the Nepean, Ont., actor earned her first massive position and stood out from the crowd by laying down.
When Oh, 52, auditioned for the titular position in The Diary of Evelyn Lau, she requested director Sturla Gunnarsson for a second to centre herself — by laying flat on the ground for 5 minutes.
“I thought it was remarkable that at 19 she had the confidence — and audacity — to do that,” Gunnarsson mentioned of the younger actor, who was competing with over 1,000 different women for the half.
Oh would find yourself successful the position of Evelyn Lau, and would go on to attain a Gemini Award nomination.
2. Tommy Chong helped signal the Jackson 5
Chris Young / The Canadian Press
Today, most know Tommy Chong as one-half of the comedy stoner duo, Cheech and Chong — however earlier than that, Chong waxed musically with a few of Motown’s biggest skills.
The Edmonton-born actor was as soon as the guitarist and songwriter for the band Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers. The group was greatest recognized for his or her track Does Your Mama Know About Me, which was co-written by Chong, now 86.
In his 2009 guide Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Biography, Chong mentioned he met the Jackson 5 throughout a Chicago present in 1967. The Jackson siblings had but to be signed to Motown Records, however had been invited onto the label by Bobby Taylor.
Chong mentioned Joe Jackson, father of the Jackson 5 members, had him assessment the Jackson 5 contract with Motown Records. Chong inspired Jackson to have his sons signal the contract, thereby enjoying a small position in launching the Jackson 5 — and later the Prince of Pop, Michael Jackson — into superstardom.
3. Drake’s uncle performed bass for Prince
Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Drake could also be probably the greatest-recognized Canadian celebrities, however he’s not the one member of his household to own a particular musical expertise. Drake’s uncle, Larry Graham, performed bass for the band Sly and the Family Stone — and even labored extensively with Prince.
Graham and Prince collaborated on a number of events, and collectively produced the album GCS 2000 by the band Graham Central Station.
Graham Central Station, for which Graham performed the bass, opened for Prince on his “Welcome 2 America” tour in 2011.
Also a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Graham is commonly credited with the invention of the slapping technique on the electrical bass guitar.
4. Céline Dion received the Eurovision Song Contest… for Switzerland
Kevin Winter / Getty Images for The Recording Academy
In Canada, we don’t pay a lot consideration to the annual Eurovision Song Contest, however throughout the pond it’s a fairly large deal.
So, not solely was it big when Quebec’s personal Céline Dion received the competitors in 1988, beating out the runner up by only one level, however it helped propel the chanteuse to new heights in her profession.
The competitors entails varied European nations sending a musical act to carry out an authentic track, and good-pondering Switzerland selected Dion to carry out their submitted entry — a French-language energy ballad titled Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (Don’t Leave Without Me.)
Europeans who tuned in on the time bear in mind the 1988 competitors as some of the thrilling voting sequences in Eurovision historical past and Dion has mentioned she is grateful to have had the opportunity, because it launched tens of millions of viewers to her excellent vocals and fascinating stage presence.
5. Ryan Gosling was suspended from elementary faculty for throwing knives
Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP
Ryan Gosling would possibly come throughout as a cool, collected and laid-again actor, however it seems like his childhood was somewhat wild.
In 2011, he shared with Company journal that he was launched to the 1982 film First Blood when he was in Grade One and actually recognized with Sylvester Stallone’s character, John Rambo.
“When I first saw Rambo, that movie put a kind of spell on me and I actually thought I was Rambo,” he mentioned. “So much so that one day, I took a bunch of steak knives to school and threw them around at recess time because I thought we were in the movie.”
Gosling mentioned he realized his lesson after the harmful stunt — not solely was he suspended, however his mother advised him he wasn’t allowed to observe R-rated films anymore.
6. Ryan Reynolds failed drama class
Charles Krupa / The Associated Press
Ryan Reynolds could be one of many wittiest guys within the appearing biz, however he admits he wasn’t at all times such a winner — particularly in highschool.
In the previous, the Deadpool actor admitted to being suspended from his Vancouver highschool after he stole a trainer’s automobile. At one level, he additionally flunked math.
However, one in every of Reynold’s admissions proves that highschool achievements or failures aren’t essentially a determinant for a way your life will end up. Despite failing his highschool drama class, he went on to change into one in every of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars.
7. Keanu Reeves went from Speed to Winnipeg Shakespeare
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Hot off the heels of starring within the mega field workplace blockbuster Speed, Keanu Reeves made a surprising subsequent transfer — he hightailed it to Winnipeg to tackle the titular position in a stage manufacturing of Hamlet.
An up-and-coming actor on the time, Reeve’s efficiency within the Manitoba Theatre Centre’s 1995 manufacturing was an enormous draw for locals and the present offered out each night time of its run.
In a assessment of the present, Maclean’s theatre critic wrote “although he was out of his depth in the big swatches of text, Reeves proved adept in the comic scenes,” and that he “commands the stage with acrobatic finesse, leaping and rolling like a true action hero,” through the play’s motion scenes.
Apparently, the theatre was overrun with younger girls desirous to get Reeve’s autograph after every present, to which he obliged and patiently signed signatures each night.
8. Matthew Perry made up that humorous speech inflection as a child
Rich Fury / Invision / AP
The late Matthew Perry will ceaselessly be tied to Chandler Bing, the sarcastic however massive-hearted character he turned so well-known for taking part in on Friends.
His character’s distinctive speech patterns had been one thing Perry himself played around with since he was a kid – he and his buddies used to toy with emphasis after they had been in school, creating an altered means of talking that amused them to no finish.
“Could it be any colder?” or “Could you be any more annoying?” they’d ask one another – an emphasis that turned synonymous with Bing and bled into our on a regular basis language, to the purpose it’s now known as “Chandler-speak.”
“It was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life,” Perry wrote in his memoir about auditioning for the half. “It wasn’t that I thought I could play Chandler. I was Chandler.”
9. Rachel McAdams labored at McDonalds, however was a nasty worker
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Like many younger children, Rachel McAdams labored at McDonald’s as one in every of her first jobs, however the quick meals big isn’t more likely to need her again behind the counter any time quickly.
“(I worked there) for a good three years,” she advised Glamour journal. “I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day.”
She additionally mentioned she was a little bit of a germaphobe when she began working on the restaurant and her obsessive hand washing would hold clients ready.
“They were like, ‘Hey, the drive-thru’s backing up. Stop washing your hands!’”
Despite being a nasty worker, McAdams says she nonetheless loves McDonald’s meals.
10. Will Arnett is one in every of Conan O’Brien’s favourites
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Will Arnett is a brilliant humorous Canuck with a wealthy, baritone voice; two traits that make him an important particular person to interview, based on Conan O’Brien.
The late night time present host-turned-podcaster thinks the Arrested Development alum is so nice, in truth, that he’s listed him in his prime three visitors of all time.
Seems as if O’Brien may need a penchant for Canadian comedians, although — the opposite two prime visitors chosen by him and his writing employees embody the late Norm MacDonald and Half Baked funnyman Harland Williams.
11. Nina Dobrev is extraordinarily versatile… and had a shot on the Olympics
Gilbert Flores / Variety by way of Getty Images
A younger Nina Dobrev confronted a fork within the highway when mapping out her profession plans, having to resolve whether or not she needed to pursue a profession in Hollywood or double down on attempting to make the Olympics.
The Vampire Diaries star grew up honing her expertise within the gymnasium six days every week and had the Olympics in her sights, when she determined to comply with her dream of appearing, as an alternative; a selection she mentioned got here all the way down to longevity.
“It got to the point where I had to decide what I wanted to do: continue training for this and maybe go to the Olympics one day and make that my life until I’m 20 and then retire, or try to figure out acting, which is also very scary and unreliable and a lot of people don’t find success in it,” Dobrev mentioned in 2015.
To today, although, Dobrev has held onto a whole lot of what she realized on the mat and stays wildly versatile.
12. John Candy filmed Home Alone for nearly 24 hours straight
Patti Gower / Toronto Star by way of Getty Images
Every vacation season, John Candy is remembered because the fictional “Polka King of the Midwest,” Gus Polinski.
According to director Chris Columbus, the Toronto-born actor improvised most of his iconic cameo in Home Alone — and he had solely sooner or later to shoot his half. Columbus mentioned most of Candy’s strains weren’t within the script, and had been made-up by the comic within the early hours of the morning.
Candy, who appeared within the movie as a favour to screenwriter John Hughes, was reportedly paid solely US$414 for the cameo. Columbus mentioned Candy was bitter about the pay up till his demise in 1994.
13. Pamela Anderson’s CFL Jumbotron massive break
Doug Peters / EMPICS / AP
Before Pamela Anderson donned her iconic, purple Baywatch swimsuit, she obtained her begin at a B.C. Lions soccer sport in 1989.
Anderson, born in Ladysmith, B.C., attended a sport at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver with a gaggle of buddies when she was by chance broadcasted to the Jumbotron — and to viewers at residence. She was carrying a Labatt Blue T-shirt, allegedly prompting a flood of inquiries to the corporate, which might later use Anderson within the well-known ‘Blue Zone Girl’ marketing campaign.
From there, Anderson’s profession within the leisure world took off, making her some of the well-known faces of the Nineteen Nineties.
14. Michael Cera and the Pillsbury Doughboy
Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
Michael Cera has been repping the dry, Canadian sense of humour in Hollywood for many years now. But earlier than that, Cera, who was born in Brampton, Ont., starred in a creepy ’90s industrial for Pillsbury cookie dough.
In the advert, the would-be Superbad star molds a lump of cookie dough together with his arms, solely to have the raw dough evolve right into a crudely animated, desk-sized monster. The monster is defeated by the pot bellied Pillsbury mascot and is was cookies, which a younger Cera, naturally, chows down on.
Bonus: Cera was additionally the voice of Brother Bear within the first two seasons of the youngsters’s TV sequence Berenstain Bears in 2003.
15. Seth Rogen and Ceph Rogen
Valerie Macon / AFP by way of Getty Images
In 2018, the Vancouver Aquarium selected to honour hometown hero Seth Rogen with a really particular privilege: a Giant Pacific octopus named after the actor.
The aquarium’s cephalopod was appropriately named Ceph Rogan after the suggestion dominated a web based ballot, scoring greater than 90 per cent of the vote — and Rogen’s enthusiastic approval.
Ceph Rogen, the Vancouver Aquarium’s eight-armed resident.
Vancouver Aquarium
Though Rogen and the octopus had been hardly i-tentacle, Ceph Rogen was delivered to the aquarium as a part of the ability’s “cephalopod-in-residence” program, which rehabilitated octopuses for launch again into the wild earlier than sexual maturity, permitting them to repopulate.
