Growing up in a BC border town where we were prone to drunkenly (and illegally) sneaking into the US for a late-night Denny’s breakfast, I know first-hand how hard it is to monitor the world’s largest undefended border. And after the “millennium bomber” got nabbed with a trunkful of explosives just before New Year’s Eve 1999 — not to mention a brief spell in 2005 when armed “Minutemen” patrolled the parallel — it hit home how dramatic the job can be. I wasn’t alone.
Last January, CBC green-lit the guns-drawn drama The Border, which was pitched as “24, but with a conscience” and is nominated for nine Geminis at this Friday’s awards ceremony. Midway through its second season and re-upped for a third, The Border has recently enlisted Battlestar Galactica’s LA-born, Vancouver-raised ass-kicker Grace Park in its cast.
“‘There are two kinds of people in the world: Americans and foreigners,’” Park recalls being told by a US customs agent unimpressed with her dual US-Canadian citizenship. Such attitudes, she says, “make you very aware of the delineation between the two countries. Even though we are neighbours and we are considered equals and allies, you’ll get the third degree. Everyone is treated as a suspect.”
Park’s injected new excitement into The Border as Liz Carver, a “young, ambitious, straight-shooting” Department of Homeland Security liaison with the show’s faux federal agency, Immigration and Customs Security.
“It was fun to sink my teeth into things that were happening in the world at a different level than sweeping allegories,” she says in reference to Battlestar, which begins its final 10 episodes in January. “[The Border] had a very different flavour — it was a little more tangible and real, not so out-of-this-world. We weren’t dealing with timeless storylines but something hot off-the-presses.”
Indeed: Park’s first episode involved a polygamous cult that was smuggling teen brides across the border. Subsequent episodes revolve around blood diamonds, Arctic territorial disputes, military drug smuggling and human trafficking. As for Islamic terrorists, well, the times they are apparently a-changin’. When the series started in January, it did highlight terror-era issues — Syrian bombers, racial profiling, “extraordinary rendition.” This season kicked off with AWOL US soldiers seeking refugee status in Canada, but the show’s focus has broadened and will continue doing so to reflect Obama’s international impact.
“Just because we have a new president, it’s not like changing a channel,” Park says. “I think The Border will stay relevant and topical. Canada being the kind of country it is, we’re always going have people coming here, whether they’re trafficking drugs or people, or are corporate spies or illegal immigrants. It’s always going to attract both good and bad.”
THE BORDER AIRS MONDAYS, 9PM ON CBC; THE GEMINI AWARDS AIR NOV. 28, 8PM ON E! AND SHOWCASE.
Drama Diaspora
Grace Park, who also stars on A&E’s drug drama The Cleaner, isn’t the only former Battlestar star to score new work as the latter series winds down. Among her fellow Battlestar Canadians, Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) is starring on Joss Whedon’s highly-anticipated mid-season series Dollhouse, Tricia Helfer (Number Six) voices Black Cat on the Spectacular Spiderman cartoon and will show up on Chuck and Aaron Douglas (Chief) filmed The Bridge, a TV-movie based on Toronto’s controversial police union boss Craig Bromell.
As for the non-Canucks in the cast: Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) popped-up on Nip-Tuck and Law & Order while prepping a pilot by L & O creator Dick Wolf; English actor Jamie Bamber (Apollo) will headline Wolf’s new Law & Order: London spinoff. Mary McDonnell (President Roslin) did a Grey’s Anatomy arc, James Callis (Gaius Baltar) is shooting TV-movie
Merlin and the Book of Beasts and Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) was a starring voice in… Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
All these actors landing on their feet may seem unusual, but it happens to all critically acclaimed cult shows because they’re watched by the folks who actually make television. Just look at how dominant former cast members of, say, Whedon’s old series, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars or The Wire are on the current TV landscape — while Judd Apatow’s former Freaks & Geeks pretty much run Hollywood. So, yeah, it sucks when weak ratings kill quality series, but at least quality actors can survive.