Episode 357: Jay Brazeau

Jay Brazeau is an icon of the Vancouver film and television scene, and he’s got the filmography to prove it. He’s appeared in iconic television series like The X-Files, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, Da Vinci’s Inquest, and 21 Jump Street, Hollywood fare like Watchmen and Best In Show, and critically acclaimed indie fare like Eadweard, Down River, and Carl Bessai’s Fathers and Sons. He actually won a Leo Award for Fathers and Sons, which is a role that required him to get in a knife fight with Ben Immanuel, get drunk, and talk dirty over a coffin at a funeral. Jay is also an in-demand voice actor whose credits are many and include Sabrina: The Animated Series and the Academy Award nominated National Film Board of Canada short The Big Snit, the latter of which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. On stage, he’s starred in productions of Hairspray!, Fiddler on the Roof, The Cat Came Back, and The Battle of Georges Boivin. There are plenty of reasons as to why Jay has been a go-to character actor for the Vancouver screen scene for decades (his versatility; his reliability; his intuition; his artistry), but if you ask Jay, it’s because he’s lucky and (his words) “every production needs a fat guy.” In this compelling conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Jay reflects on his journey from Winnipeg to screens and stages large and small, appearing in a whopping 10 productions of Fiddler on the Roof, and how he confirmed that his improvised knife fight in Fathers and Sons was true to life. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA