Original-Cin Q&A: Eric McCormack on Zamboni-Driving in Drinkwater, and his Will & Grace-based podcast
Canada always comes first with actor, writer, producer all-around nice-guy Eric McCormack.
Although we know him from his years on the hit sitcom, Will & Grace, McCormack’s compass has always pointed North, where he continues to support Canadian film and TV.
His latest role is in the dramedy, Drinkwater. It’s set in small-town British Columbia, where an awkward teen Mike Drinkwater (Daniel Doheny) has trouble fitting in. His offbeat father Hank (played by McCormack) spends more time trying not to get caught defrauding the government than paying attention to his son.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Eric McCormack about the film and his upcoming podcast, Just Jack and Will which he will be co-hosting with his pal Sean Hayes.
Disability fraudster Hank (Eric McCormack) and his son Mike (Daniel Doheny) in Drinkwater.
Drinkwater premieres on Prime Video on Friday, February 17.
ORIGINAL-CIN: I had all the feels watching Drinkwater. I was laughing and I was crying, it doesn’t miss a beat. Hank, the character you play, I guess the best way to describe him would be that he’s a piece of work. How did you connect with him?
ERIC McCORMACK: (Laughs). Yeah, that’s for sure. He’s a deadbeat dad, let's put it that way. That's clearly what drove his wife away, his being such a sort of shut in.
Plus he’s ripping off the government by taking disability cheques that he doesn't deserve. He certainly doesn't sound very lovable, but when I read the script I felt like I knew a version of this guy.
My wife's family comes from this area of Northern B.C., and I knew how he sounded and I thought I can make this guy lovable. It sounds like my wife's Uncle Danny.
I never get to play a guy like this, especially with that North Canadian accent. So when Steven Campanelli, the director, asked me what I thought of the script, I said, “As long as I can have a Burton Cummings mustache, that's crucial to me.” He said absolutely!
O-C: I was going to ask you that because that mustache is practically a character in the film. Are you one of those guys who has no problem growing out your facial hair?
McCORMACK: Yes, but it doesn't grow as dark as it used to. Actually, the first role that I had in television that really mattered before Will & Grace was two years on Lonesome Dove for which I grew quite a beard.
That's when I met my wife and I had quite long hair and a beard. It was incredibly disappointing for her when I shaved it.
O-C: Oh, so did this rekindle some flames in the marriage when the mustache came out?
McCORMACK: You saw that mustache, Bonnie. That's not rekindling any flames in anyone.
O-C: Okay, enough said. I love the relationship that you have with the young actor Daniel Doheny, who plays your son Mike. He’s pretty fantastic. I wanted to know if your own fatherly instinct kicked in with him?
McCORMACK: Yes, a lot, because he was actually older than he is in the film. But at the time of the film, he was supposed to be exactly the age that my son is, 18 and in high school. So I related so much to what that relationship is and what it's supposed to be.
The fact is that nobody's a perfect parent would weigh on me a lot. So I would look at Hank's shortcomings and start thinking about my own. But also I got very paternal with regards to Daniel as an actor, because I could see where he was going.
You know, he's very similar to me. He comes from the theater and he's a very good dramatic actor. But he's hilarious, too. He's so funny in this film.
I’ll never forget getting a cut of the film and bringing it home for my family to watch.
We were in Vancouver, and I showed it to my family. And at the end of it, I said to my son - who rarely watches any of my stuff - ‘So what do you think?’
He looked at me and said, “That guy's more like your son than I am!”
O-C: The film was shot in Penticton, a gorgeous part of the country. It was so beautifully shot, very cinematic.
McCORMACK: Well, your audience will probably be fascinated to know that our director Steve, he's directed just a few films, but he has been the camera operator on virtually everything that Clint Eastwood has done for the last 35 years.
When I say camera operator, I mean the last few films he's virtually been the other director besides Clint.
He knows what he's doing and he particularly knows how to make a movie look incredible. We didn't have a lot of money on this movie, but you wouldn't know with all of those overhead shots of the town and the mountains and the ocean. Just stunning.
O-C: You do a lot of riding in this film, whether you're on the exercise bike or on a scooter. But I think everyone's going to be extremely jealous when they see you driving that Zamboni.
McCORMACK: Well, what was amazing because hockey is a big part of the film. But the Zamboni is this payoff that we shot right near the end.
This all-Canadian crew went nuts to be honest. You'd think I'd walked in with the Stanley Cup on my head or something. Just when I got off the Zamboni they were touching me like I was blessed by the gods.
O-C: We can’t not talk about the music in this film! What an amazing soundtrack of classic Canadian hits!
McCORMACK: Those fun needle drops are really important, but Steve set out to make sure they were all in and I think there's only one that isn't Canadian. There’s Doug and The Slugs, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and there’s a great scene where he features Loverboy. It’s the coming-of-age story that every Canadian needs.
O-C: What I admire about despite all of the success that you've had in the U.S. is you keep coming home to do projects here. It's got to be very important to maintain that, I would think.
McCORMACK: Well, yeah, for so many reasons. I spent the first 10 years of my career in the Canadian theater. Not just in Ontario, I worked across the country.
My parents and my grandparents were Canadian, and I'm Canadian. Born and bred, but so is my wife. She's from Alberta, and we met each other in Vancouver.
Canada will never stop being meaningful to me and I'm just always very grateful to be able to come down here, maintain my citizenship and work on projects. Don’t get me wrong, I am forever grateful for my run on Will & Grace, but Canada will always be home.
O-C: Okay, we’ve got to go there because I was a huge Will & Grace fan. The chemistry between you four was magic. I am so excited because the Smartless guys ( Will Arnett, Jason Bateman & Sean Hayes) have announced that you and Sean Hayes are getting together to do a podcast called, Just Jack and Will. Tell us more!
McCORMACK: We've just started recording it. We were going to go through every episode, what they call a rewatch. It was Sean’s idea. He came to me a few years ago to produce it with me and Debra Messing. Gut we’d just finished the reboot and then COVID was starting, and we just weren’t feeling it.
Then Sean revisited the idea, pitching it with me and him. The kick of it is that I've continued to watch the show and reruns over the years, but Sean has not. He hasn't watched the show at all.
So I thought, “If we do this podcast together, it gives us the opportunity to rediscover this amazing show that changed our lives. So, we’ve recorded two episodes so far and they'll get released starting in June. We are having such a laugh watching the episodes again, remembering the little details in which lines were ad-libbed or which ones were rewritten on the fly. It's been fun.
O-C: I can only imagine. The best thing too is you can bring in your buddies as guests like Deborah and Megan and everybody who guest-starred. The possibilities are endless.
McCORMACK: Oh absolutely. We're going to try to have people that were on episodes over the years. Whoever was the guest-star on that show.
But then my wife said last night we should try to have people that weren't even on the show, but young people that were influenced by it. They can talk about how they watched it with their parents. And that's the biggest influence of the show, particularly gay men coming up and saying, “Thank you, because if I hadn't watched my parents watching the show, I wouldn't have known it was okay to come out.”
ORIGINAL-CIN: I hope that we will get a nice tribute episode to the late Leslie Jordan as well. That would be lovely.
McCORMACK: Oh, of course, that will definitely happen. The first time we had a “Beverly Leslie” episode was probably the second season and I can guarantee we will remember the great Leslie Jordan very fondly. He was a huge part of the show's legacy.