Torontonian Noah Reid takes to the stage and the big screen

Noah Reid is an up-and-coming actor who will be starring in the flick Score: A Hockey Musical, opening in theatres this October, as well as on stage with Soulpepper Theatre Company’s latest production, Jitters, by David French. Just 23 years old, Reid has accomplished a lot – his growing acting resume started when he was just 8 years old and was the original voice of Franklin on the popular animated series Franklin the Turtle as well as other animated programs like Jane and the Dragon and Pippi Longstocking. He later went on to appear in Terry about Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope, as well as Degrassi: The Next Generation, Soulfood and In Love and War.

CraveOnline spoke to the Toronto native about what it was like singing opposite Olivia Newton-John in Score as well as what he thinks his dream job would be.

CraveOnline: Can you tell me about Score: A Hockey Musical?

Noah Reid: It’s really unlike any other film that’s been done. I don’t think anyone’s heard of a hockey musical before. It’s a fun movie about this kid I play who is a 17-year-old hockey phenomenon named Farley. He’s a home-schooled weirdo who has never played organized hockey and then he gets to play hockey professionally and runs into some problems. He’s a pacifist and in the game of hockey that doesn’t quite work.

CraveOnline: There’s amazing music in it as well (the ensemble cast includes Nelly Furtado, and the Barenaked Ladies also lent their musical talent to the film’s soundtrack). What was it like singing opposite Olivia Newton-John, who plays your mother?

Reid: It was great. I didn’t hear her sing until she showed up on set and that was a week into shooting. She was fabulous. She’s still got the pipes and she’s very precise about what she’s doing. She was an incredible, generous actor to work with. She doesn’t have the ego you’d expect of someone so well-known. She showed up and just wanted to have a good time. The week she was on set I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. Between her and Marc Jordan, who played my father, we just laughed the entire time. Sometimes we couldn’t get through a scene.

CraveOnline: I understand you have a love for hockey – tell me about that. How long have you played?

Reid: I’ve been skating since I can remember. I never played at a high level – for a year I played on a rep hockey team but that was the year I wasn’t getting any acting work (laughs). I started acting when I was about 8 years old, and so I just kinda played in the house league, which was non-competitive. I liked shinny as well. I stopped playing when I was about 15 because it wasn’t as much fun anymore. And it’s interesting because that’s the problem my character had. Competitive hockey hits a point when it gets aggressive and it’s just not fun anymore, for me anyway. Some people thrive off that but I didn’t. I just play shinny now.

CraveOnline: How do you feel you prepped for a starring role like in “Score”?

Reid: I was a bit of a singing kid – I was always in choirs and stuff, but for me, this movie seemed like the perfect mix. It had the three things in life that I can do pretty well all mushed together (singing, acting and hockey). I remember thinking, if I can’t do this one then there’s something wrong me (laughs). It was truly the perfect gig. You never know in this business but I felt like, in a way, I was preparing for this role my entire life.

CraveOnline:  What’s the difference between working in animated television and then as an actor in TV/film?

Reid: I did a lot of animation when I was a kid but I haven’t done it for quite some time. It’s incredible though – you can show up for work wearing your pyjamas, you walk in, read the lines, and you walk out within a day. You don’t have to learn the lines. It’s a different kind of energy, and there’s a big difference in the preparation.

CraveOnline: Can you also tell me about the play Jitters?

Reid: It’s a play written by David French, a Canadian classic writer, and he wrote this play about the follies of what we go through when we try and put on a show. It’s surprisingly accurate to what actors go through. It’s uproarisly funny and the cast is incredible. And Soulpepper Theatre Company is one of the best theatre companies in Toronto. I’m playing the role of the young actor Tom Kent who accidentally shows up hammered for opening night. And that’s all I’ll say about the plot (laughs).

CraveOnline: Do you prefer live performance or acting on a set?

Reid: It’s really like apples and oranges. I think a live audience is hard to beat. That’s what I live off of. My heart kind of lives in the theatre, at least for now. But there’s something interesting about film. It’s so much smaller and condensed and subtle. You can communicate so much with little flicks of your eyes. It’s interesting for me as a young actor to start playing with the differences between the two. I haven’t done as much film as I have stagework and I feel like that’s a muscle I enjoy working on too. I don’t feel like I’ve hit any kind of stride with it just yet.

CraveOnline: What would be your dream job or role?

Reid: I think it might be Broadway. It’s hard to say. I could think of a few great dream jobs – guys like Scorsese would be fun to work with too.