Recently we had the chance to talk with Aaron Ashmore about his acting career, including roles on Smallville and Killjoys, while he was a guest at Toronto Comicon.
Horror Geek Life: Was acting something you always wanted to do, or did you fall into it?
Aaron Ashmore: No, I just fell into it. My brother and I started doing commercials when we were kids. Somebody approached my mom and asked, would your kids want to try out for commercials, like toy commercials, and we said yeah, let’s try that, and it just kept going from there. There was never any big plan or blueprint to get into acting. We just kind of fell into it.
HGL: Has it been hard carving out a career in this business?
Aaron Ashmore: (Laughs) Ups and downs. I was sort of in my early twenties when I was trying to do it, which was a little more difficult, but you know, the more you work, you get a reputation, you build a resume, so that can be helpful but really, it’s been pretty good. Over the past fifteen years or so, there’s been a lot of great work, tons of stuff coming up to Canada because of tax credits, the dollar, all of that, so it’s a good place to be right now. Netflix is investing tons of money up here to shoot. They are building new studios, so yeah, it’s a good place to be if you’re in the film business.
HGL: You’ve done a lot of work in television. Was that a personal choice, or did it just work out that way for you?
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah, it really just worked out that way. I’ve done a lot of independent movies, but nobody really sees those, so that’s not something people recognize you for, but yeah, most of the bigger stuff I’ve done has been television. I kind of like doing TV because you get to live with the characters for a long time. If they pick you up and the show keeps going, it could be a short run (laughs), but I’ve been lucky to play characters for numerous seasons, and that’s a lot of fun, but I’m also open to doing movies, too. Whatever comes my way.
HGL: Speaking of playing characters for a long time, what was it like playing a main character on Killjoys?
Aaron Ashmore: It was the best. It really was. I didn’t know how good it was going to be when I first got the role, but I was very excited about it. It was the first time I got to be a lead on a show and start out with that character from the very beginning. Other shows I’ve had big roles on, when I came on the show, it was already very popular, so you’re trying to play catch up and jump in. But with this, it was like we got to create it and start from the very beginning, and that felt great.
HGL: When it came time for Killjoys to end, was it hard to say goodbye, or were you excited about the idea of moving on to new challenges?
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah, it’s always exciting to move on, but I had made some really good friends on the show, and it was a job and a role that I loved. If it had gone on for more seasons, I would have been happy with that, but also, when it’s time for it to end, you can’t hang on to stuff. I was excited to get back out there and see what else there was, but I could have played the character for another couple seasons, happily so.
HGL: What was it like being on Smallville and walking into that whole world of Superman?
Aaron Ashmore: It was great, and it was one of my first big gigs, really. A very popular show, an iconic character, so yeah, I was very, very excited to get on there. It was a learning experience just to get out there and work on a big American show. It was amazing.
HGL: Before you get back to your fans here at Toronto Comicon, I wanted to ask if there are any projects you have coming up?
Aaron Ashmore: Right now, I have a Netflix show called Ginny & Georgia. It’s not genre, more like drama, I guess. I also shot a season of a show called Skymed, which is pilots and paramedics in Northern Canada, a rescue/action kind of drama show. Those are the two things I’ve been working on for the past little while.
I want to thank Aaron for taking the time to talk with us.
