FILM
Class Act
Meet Jonathan Cherry a.k.a Coach Pete
Interview: Tom Ransley
Jonathan Cherry, 43, is a Canadian actor who played Coach Pete in The Novice.
He is known for playing Marco Belchior in
Goon,
Rudy in
House
of
the
Dead,
and Rory in
Final
Destination
2.
Fresh out of an audition, Cherry shares behind-the-scenes stories of
The
Novice,
with
Row360.
Why acting?
I love people. I love being around people working together to make a show. I'm happiest when I'm on set. If I lock into it, there’s this zone that plucks a string in me. It feels like being on. If you tell a joke and the joke hits, there's this thought of I'm funny, combined with the dopamine hit. It is like that but multiplied by a hundred. It’s a rush!
How did you get started?
I dropped out of university and went to film school. It was another boat movie, Titanic, that made me do it. Not because that’s my favourite movie or anything, but I just remember thinking how epic it was. One shot in particular where the boat was going underwater and there is a close up of DiCaprio. I knew about the budget and all the people working on the film. I thought This is so epic. The camera is pointed up at DiCaprio and the boat is beneath him. That is a lot of responsibility. Watching it was like having an epiphany. I thought, even if I just got to hammer a single nail into that boat – you know it is a business [making films]. I want to be on set, I knew I’d be proud if I was a part of something like that.
When did you first see the script, or hear about The Novice?
I have representatives in Canada and the States, and it was the Canadian agent who sent me the audition – they asked me to make a tape. At the same time one of the producers, who is a friend of mine, got in touch, “Hey, I've got this movie going... I think there’s a great part... Come into the office and make a tape”. So, I read the script and made a tape.