You might remember Canadian actor Craig Arnold from “Degrassi: The Next Generation” as Luke Baker, an unsettled high school hockey player, but now Arnold is catching attention and fascinating fans in a new role on YouTube Red’s “Impulse.” Arnold spoke with Backstage about filming this new series, playing music, and taking acting classes.
Can you tell us about “Impulse” and your role in it?
It’s a sci-fi thriller that follows a 16-year-old girl named Henrietta Cole who discovers she has the power to teleport while she’s being sexually assaulted. I play Lucas Boone and he’s a seemingly shady, dark character in the beginning. He’s the oldest son of the Boone family and kind of the dark horse, so to say. But as the series progresses, we see that he’s a lot more sensitive than we thought and he really has a big heart.
In working on a show like this, there’s a lot of digital technology and special effects. What’s it like to act with effects you might not see or understand until the scene goes to editing?
You gotta look really silly on the day because there’s nothing there. For example, in the pilot, I’m locking doors to a car and the trunk implodes—and that just didn’t happen on the day. They said, “bang!” and I have to react to it. A lot of times, it comes down to looking at a tennis ball or a wall and acting like something crazy’s happening. It just comes down to committing and being willing to trust the director and trust that the editing process will make it look real.
READ: 2 Tips for Acting on a Special Effects-Heavy Film
How do you keep your craft alive as an actor?
I think it’s good to be training when you can. Recently, I’ve gotten in the habit of just trying to trust my own gut instinct in scenes when I’m working, and not to feel too dependent on any one teacher. I think there can be a tendency in some classes to over-complicate things; about two years ago, I had to take a step back and say, “This is acting, we’re telling real-life stories, and as a human, I feel like I can understand these things.” As much as I love class—I think it’s really important—I think you have to be independent and be willing to find your own way as well.
What was it about this project that made you say yes?
It wasn’t even just the script that made me think I wanted to be on this project—it was the whole team involved. Doug Liman [director] and the Hypnotic team [production company] and Lauren LaFranc [writer], they were all big reasons I wanted to do it as well. I liked the heart that all the characters had. It wasn’t totally a genre script; it is a character-driven show. We would get the script every two weeks for the next episode—and it kept getting better and better and more intense. I fell in love with it more and more as we went on.
What other thoughts do you have for folks who want to break into this sort of work?
The main thing before taking any class or pursuing acting as a career is that you have to make sure you love it because there are so many ups and downs—you get rejected nine times out of 10, as everyone knows. It’s a tough lifestyle, and if you don’t love it and getting up and doing scenes, and going to class or auditions, it just becomes a drag. In looking for a class—I’ve taken a lot of them—look for a teacher who has real experience and real success. Look them up on IMDb and see if they have credits—I always wanted to train with people who had actually been on set. If you haven’t been in front of the cameras with the pressure that is always a part of being on a set, it’s hard to teach people how to do it. When you go to an acting class, it should be easy to understand; you should leave feeling confident like you’ve got a sense of clarity not that you’re leaving confused or further from where you began.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Check out Backstage’s TV audition listings!
