Where to start.

The simple thought of me mentioning of her name – in my blog of all places – is going to make her cringe a little. She is very private and modest to a fault. She will tell me that she is an introvert and say she is uncomfortable with any attention but the truth is that even in the most overwhelming of scenarios that an actor can face – like posing with me in the above photo at a dress-up event – she holds court like a pro.

In September of 2009, I was attending my first Vancouver International Film Festival Party. Being new to VIFF and Vancouver, I was just getting my feet wet in the Vancouver film industry. The only person there that I knew pointed to a beautiful blonde actress across the room and said, “Lisa, do you want to work and be respected in the Vancouver film community? Look up to someone like Sonja Bennett.”

I was taken by how elegant she was – pregnant and smiling from ear to ear. I left the party feeling like I had someone to look up to and a goal to work towards; strive to be as good at my craft as Ms. Bennett.

Over the next five years, I would see Sonja at auditions, sometimes in the waiting room… and other times, just her name on call sheets.

During the Seed call backs, I sat next to her while waiting to go in. I was nervous. Not for my call back , but because she was there. I took a little comfort in the idea that she too seemed nervous. Clearly her nerves were for the audition and not because I was there. She smiled and in a moment of  silence, I blurted out, “Don’t be nervous. If you get a call back they already like what you did.”

I instantly wished I had kept my mouth shut as she was very experienced and clearly already knew that. But she was kind and laughed.

In February of 2014, I was in LA for pilot season when I got an audition (to be taped for Vancouver) for a Canadian Independent film: Preggoland. I read it and was very excited at how much it reminded me of Less Than Kind.

Funny, Dark, Honest, Enlightening. It wasn’t until I had finished reading it that I noticed it was written by Sonja Bennett. As most actors tend to do (they are lying if they tell you otherwise), I assumed she wrote the part I was auditioning for with a close friend in mind. She would be the lead and this was just a technicality to appease the union. Audition at least X amount of ladies but the part is already been offered. Ok. No stress. 5 years later, Sonja Bennett and my favorite young Canadian Director Jacob Tierney (Good Neighbors, The Trotsky) were possibly going to watch my tape. This for me was a win.  The phone call from the two of them a week later was a wonderful surprise. I had landed the part!

Over the next month, we filmed Preggoland and the experience of filming with Sonja Bennett turned out to be the easiest and most rewarding experience for me. She was open and present in every scene, every day and gave it 100% for 20 days straight while re-writing on the go and filling bottles for her newborn in her trailer at lunch. She was a machine.

I had assumed after writing for so long, she would have a really strong opinion on each character but in true Sonja style, she graciously gave it over to each actor to find their take on her words. She made it clear from the beginning that she trusted us and that we were free to play. This was echoed by Jacob who gave us all free reign to explore.

Looking back on it now, the thing that I have come love the most about Sonja is her dedication. She did what most people only talk about. She created her own work and continues to do so. She wrote, and still writes, diligently day after day, all the while raising 2 young kids, acting and taking on the world with her husband, fellow thespian Stephen Lobo.

Sonja remains very much her own person. She is private and focused. She is not a fan of social media, (so I was very surprised and kinda flattered that she asked me to help her enter the world of twitter last year). But even then, she is careful about how she uses it. She proudly walks to the beat of her own drum and that is why she is so loved.

Whether it is drinking wine and dancing with you or just having you over for toast and cheese with her kids, Sonja is always the same fun loving, compassionate person. She is what every girl needs in their life; a real girlfriend. Had someone told me 6 years ago that I would be so blessed to call her that, I would have laughed. I still look up to her but now I take joy in being able to tell her that – over laughs and toast and cheese in her kitchen.

So here it is…..

Working with James Caan was like working with most veteran actors who are damn good at their jobs: They have been there for years, they often know much more than you and they do not really like change. So rather than poke the bear, learn from him. Watch him, listen to him and – most of all – respect him.

Now that that is out of the way…  let’s get into the nitty-gritty, because that is what people really want to hear.

Jimmy, as he liked to be called, was exactly what you would expect him to be.

He loves the ladies – in the most sincere way possible – and will be the first to tell you that. On Day 1 of shooting, before Sonja Bennett or I could begin to feel nervous, he jumped in the car, set his steely blue eyes on us and beamed, “Aaah. I’ve got good looking daughters!”

In the next breath, he told Sonja Bennett, “I ain’t wearing that other shirt! I had them get me this. This is more me, that other one? That was not happening.”

That was Jimmy. Big heart. Big voice. Big opinion. No apologies. But the amazing part about working with people like James Caan is that you really can just sit and listen to them talk all day. So that is what I did.

Jimmy reminded me of my grandpa. He was rough around the edges but had a soft spot for anyone who matched him. Early on, he got grumpy with me and I gave it right back to him. I tend to hold my own in those settings. From that point on, we had a great connection! From there, every day was story time with Jimmy.

Over the shoot, he told me the whole story of how ended up living at the Playboy Mansion early on in his career.

“I was second in command after Hugh Hefner”, he joked.

He spoke so highly of the ladies at the Playboy Mansion and how he really looked out for them when he was there. He realized that many of them were so young and new to Los Angeles and how at the end of the day, they were someone’s sister, daughter, even mom. I could tell he looked back on it with nothing but joy and admiration for them all. It was really sweet to hear.

On another occasion, he told me all about filming The Godfather trilogy. He referred to Robert Duvall as ‘Bobby’ – they are still close friends – and joked about the pros and cons of working with both him and Marlon Brando. He taught me how to have your lines in a scene without anyone catching it on camera and he even shared a secret about a fellow actor who once broke a crew guy’s nose for disagreeing with him. Yikes. He truly had some juicy intel, to which I shall keep to myself.

But my favourite James Caan stories were those he told about his family.

For a man who has been married 4 times, he constantly told me to “never take the plunge, it is costs too damn much!”

He talked about his kids, his mothers-in-law, the ones that got away, the ones that would not stay away and so on. However, thanks to his beloved son Scott Caan (Hawaii 5-0) this “tough ladies’ man” could not contain his excitement for the arrival of his first grandchild. He talked about it daily and you really could see that ‘Grandpa Caan’ was going to be his best role yet.

In random places like a kitchen in Maple Ridge or an SUV in Pitt Meadows, sitting between takes with the legend I learned to love from the time my first boyfriend made me watch The Godfather trilogy in 24 hours, left me in awe.

Many people you meet in the business are nothing like you would expect them to be. But Jimmy is exactly as advertised. He comes from a time when being an actor was about working hard at your craft, not your social media presence. If you could not act, you did not work. So he expects everyone else around him to play at his level, to come prepared and to make no excuses. He challenges you to do your best work. That is what makes him a legend!

So all in all, how was working with James Caan? Everything I could have hoped for and more. Thank you Jimmy!!

]]> https://www.lisadurupt.com/me-and-machete-preggoland-adventures-preggoland-with-mr-danny-trejo/ Fri, 08 May 2015 08:49:23 +0000 http://lisadurupt.com/?p=219 Last March, I got a call from Director Jacob Tierney and Actor/Writer Sonja Bennett to let me know that I would be working with them in Preggoland.

At the time, I was in LA and after working out next to Ron Perlman a couple of random times at Gold’s Gym in Hollywood, I finally decided to catch up on his very popular series, Sons of Anarchy.

It had everything that I love - bikers, the very good-looking Charlie Hunnam and my personal fave, Katey Sagal. Season 4 introduced well-known Machete man, Danny Trejo as Romeo, the undercover bad guy working with the SAMCRO crew.

So when I heard that Danny Trejo was going to be in Preggoland as well, needless to say I was 50% excited and 50% nervous to meet the legendary bad guy.