Interviews

MICHAEL EKLUND
THE DEMON INSTINCT
by: Jamie Steinberg



Q) What are the current projects that you are working on?

A) I am about to start a movie called Walk All Over Me, which is directed by a Canadian director named Robert Cuffley. The other leads in the film are Tricia Helfer from "Battlestar Galactica" and Leelee Sobieski. I think it's going to be a fun project!

Q) Please tell us about your character Norman Bridewell on the new show "Blood Ties."

A) Norman is a very misunderstood young man. He's very similar to what it describes him as in the books. He is very similar to how I was in school. He's very quiet, very introverted and kept to himself. He didn't play a lot of sports and didn't have a lot of friends. He gets to a point where he wants to change that so he gets into demonology. He congers up a demon to make himself cooler and to attract more women. That's where it kind of goes wrong.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show?

A) It was one of those TV shows that comes around once in a blue moon, where the writing is really good and the character is very well developed. It also has a lot of humor in it, which is nice. I originally auditioned for Mike Celluci (played by Dylan Neal), the police detective. Then they brought me back for Dave, who is Mike's partner. Eventually, I got Norman. Now, I look back on it and that was the best part for me to play.

Q) What about the role was challenging for you?

A) I had a lot of Latin to learn. Norman speaks a lot of Latin so I probably had a page of a language that I've never even heard before. I had a really good Latin coach. We would just sit and pound this Latin out. I'd walk the streets of Vancouver just saying Latin to myself, probably turned a few heads thinking I was crazy. I had all this Latin to learn and the only way to do it is to keep saying it over and over again until it got to a place where it got normal to me. Now, at the end of the show, I'll know how to speak a little Latin.

Q) What was your most memorable moment from filming the show?

A) There are so many cool moments on the show. I got to sit inside of a Porsche. They wouldn't let me drive it, but I wanted to! Also, they had me in the craziest wardrobe. The makeup is awesome on that show. I had contacts put in and these red extensions put in my hair. I won't tell you too much since the character comes back later, but he kind of goes through this mutation with his body. It goes through this whole transformation. I think the best part was seeing the transformation from the beginning to end of this character.

Q) Why will people want to tune in to see "Blood Ties?"

A) I think "Blood Ties" has a little bit of everything. It has the action side of it, but then it also has the sex and romance side of it. For the women, they have the sexy male character and for the men, it is a very brutal and violent show. It kind of covers all of the bases of everything that people like. There is even comedy in it if people want to laugh. The acting is good, the quality is good and so are the special effects. It is a really great project that I think everyone is proud to be a part of. When you are on set, we all bonded really quickly and knew that we had something good on our hands. We just hope that people tune in and watch. So far, people are and we're happy!

Q) You also recently appeared on an episode of Smallville. What is your episode about?

A) It's about a fight club. Clark [Tom Welling] gets mixed up in an underground fight club. I play the ring leader of the fight club and I organize it. I bring Clark into it and give him fights. He is tracking down a character on the show that is involved in the fight club, as well. Clark gets his butt kicked!

Q) You've been on the show twice now. What made you want to return?

A) The first time I was on "Smallville" was seven years ago and it was the first season of the show. I had a lot of fun! So, seven years later, I decided it was time to go back and do it again! What I liked about it, is that it has been going on for so long that the cast has a real good family quality going on with all of the crew and cast members. They all kind of stick really close together and that is rare in the business where you meet a group of people who are so close and get along well. After six years of doing the same thing they are having a lot of fun. That's what I remember from my first appearance on the show, that it was a lot of fun.

Q) What is it like working with a cast that has been working together for so long?

A) I thought it was great! What they did for me was that they really included me very quickly in the fold that they have going on there. That makes it very easy to work and it was great. Tom Welling is fabulous! He's probably one of the nicest actors I've ever worked with in my life. I am not even lying! He's so nice. I actually got to work with wrestlers, which was cool. I watch wrestling so it was kind of a dream of mine to get to work with professional "WWE" wrestlers. That was really neat, too!

Q) What other than acting would you like to try your hand at?

A) I've been working in Vancouver for seven years professionally, but I've been probably doing it for ten or more years. What is happening is that I have been seeing my inner director starting to come out. I think I want to eventually direct. I have a project that I am writing on my own and I hope to some day direct it. I kind of see my inner director opening up. My visual eye is seeing how I would shoot things when I am on set now and I when I am doing a scene I am seeing how I would shoot things. It's the biggest thing I've noticed lately, my inner voice telling me is that I have a story to tell and I'd like to try that some day.