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BIGGER THAN ME PODCAST
182. Fred Ewanuick: From Shy Kid to Beloved Hank Yarbo on "Corner Gas"
Aaron Pete sits down with Fred Ewanuick to discuss his journey from shy class clown to playing Hank Yarbo on Corner Gas, working with Brent Butt, the show’s cultural impact, memorable moments like meeting The Tragically Hip, and the importance of mentorship, humuor, and Canadian values.
Welcome back to another episode of the Bigger Than Me podcast. Here is your host, Aaron Peet. Corner Gas is a Canadian classic. I've spoken with Brent Butt, Lauren Cardinal, Nancy Robertson, and now I have the privilege of speaking with the actor who played Hank Yarbo. My guest today is Fred Iwanek. Fred, it is an honour to have you on the show. I'm so excited to speak with you. Would you first mind briefly introducing yourself?
Fred Ewanuick:Sure, my name's Fred Awanek and I don't know what else to say. I pretend for a living, I think, I don't know. It's been a little while.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, don't take yourself too seriously. Well, you are on a very, very popular show, but I want to pull way back to the beginning. In an interview you did with Ler. Well, you were on a very, very popular show, but I want to pull way back to the beginning. In an interview you did with Leroy, you talked about growing up being somewhat of a class clown, going to college, your experiences there and then wanting to drive trucks. I'm wondering if you can just reflect on that period of your life. Who were you and where did you want to go in life?
Fred Ewanuick:Oh man, wow, I didn't think we were going to get this deep. We're getting deep, oh no. Well, I hate to bore your viewers and listeners. Yeah well, I don't know. All right, I grew up on the West Coast, a town called Port Moody, which isn't really a town anymore.
Fred Ewanuick:It's like a full on explosive suburb now it's like it's. It's well, so it's stone city. It's not a suburb, but when I grew up there it was about 5,000 people. I think it's quite a bit more. Now it's probably closer to don't quote me but 40, 40,000, almost. So 30 to 40,000.
Fred Ewanuick:Um, and so it really felt a bit isolated. Um, so small school. Uh, there was just a couple of elementary schools in Port Moody when I grew up and I went to Moody elementary, which was a block away from my house. So I walked to school every day. Actually, all all the schools I went to Moody elementary, moody junior, moody senior. Uh, I guess I drove to moody senior even though it was walkable, because I got my license in grade 12. So I drove like the four or five blocks just because, um, because I wanted to be cool.
Fred Ewanuick:But yeah, like you said, I was a class clown. Uh, I was a really shy kid, scared of a lot of stuff. Uh, asked a lot of questions. Uh, because I didn't know so much. According to my godmother, marianne, she, she told me, would always tell this. She always tells this story whenever family gets together. Reminisce that I would ask a lot of like. I was constantly asking questions, like stupid questions why is why is this guy blue? Why is this that? Why is that? Why? And uh, marianne um asked me one day is, I think, fred Freddie, you ask a lot of questions? And my response is well, marion, it's because I don't know so much. And so she loves telling that and I kind of like it always makes me giggle when she tells it. But super shy kid, scared of a bunch of stuff, like everything. And so, going from elementary school this is a long-winded way of getting to why I became a class clown.
Fred Ewanuick:Going into senior high, going from grade 7 to grade 8, a group of my friends and I got together to walk to school for the first day of grade 8. And the whole talk was like oh, grade 8s, they're going to initiate you, they're going to lock you in the lockers, they're going to write 8 on your forehead with, you know, permanent, permanent markers and and they're going to beat you up and all this stuff, and, and so I was like, I was terrified. I was like you know, and I was a little fella, like I'm still a little fella and like I'm not going to survive this. Like what's going, like I'm, I'm meat, like I'm done, I'm history. And the first couple weeks of school I had my first I haven't actually told that, maybe I've told this story before I had my first um incidents of being bullied, and it was this guy I won't say his name because years later he's a wicked dude, but he was a bigger guy and this is probably how he was surviving grade eight and for some reason he, he, he pointed me out and he came up and he and it was in between classes, so the hall was full and he puts me in a headlock and and I can't remember what he's saying, but he was just he was, it was a pretty aggressive headlock and I pretended to pass out and because I didn't know what to do, and so I just like went limp and and and he freaked, he freaked out and he started crying and he ran out of the building and then I was kind of lying there and I guess you know everybody in the hall was kind of like.
Fred Ewanuick:And then I got up and giggled and did a little like one of those heel kicks you know those like old timey heel kicks and, like you know, went off to class and then everybody was laughing and that was kind of like my first class clown moment and like when. But in the preamble we joked. You know, I'm just smart enough to realize I'm not that smart. I was smart enough in that moment to realize, oh, this is my survival mechanism. If I can make people laugh, maybe they won't beat me up, and uh, so it seemed to work. But the the downside of that is, I found over the years, is it's hard to get people to take you seriously, uh, when you, when you act like an idiot all the time. So that's my lesson, I guess.
Aaron Pete:What I love about that period is I imagine a lot of people are in that circumstance, so like I don't think many people's younger years are where they feel like they stand out, where they feel comfortable within themselves or feel like they really have a strong sense of identity. And you starting from there and being so well known to so many is, I think, inspiring and something that's different than so many who come from a place where they were always confident or they always felt comfortable within themselves or knew where they wanted to go. Your story doesn't reflect that, and I think that's that's more broadly reflective of how everyday people feel is that they're they're trying to figure it out as they go along, and I think I think there's inspiration to be found in that story uh.
Fred Ewanuick:Well, that, if that's true, that's I hope that's a positive thing. Man, we are going way deeper than I was expecting. Yeah, uh, which I'm not opposed, don't get me wrong. I yeah.
Aaron Pete:You're going to love my next question.
Fred Ewanuick:Oh no, you know, I don't know, like it is a strange. You know, I'm 53. I'm of a certain generation, that you know. Things were different, for sure, and I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but our society has progressed incredibly from when I was a kid. Now, by no means am I going to sit here and tell you that we're in good shape. Like you know, as a society we've got a ton to work on. But I just think, you know, when I get together with my friends and stuff and we, we reminisce about the old days with my friends and stuff, and we, we reminisce about the old days. It's like, wow, like we were, we were horrible to each other, right like. But we, you know, but we found like I don't know, it's hard to explain like I, I started and I started playing team sports, hockey and lacrosse specifically.
Fred Ewanuick:Uh well, I started playing lacrosse from a dare. I started playing hockey because I want to be richard burdur, but there's something about being in a team and and and I'm this shy, scared kid, so it'd be a great comedic movie. You know, I got dared to play box lacrosse and I was terrified. But when you, when you get put back, then, when you get put into that team environment and you've got a team behind you, like, like it, it's a weird thing.
Fred Ewanuick:It's like if you buy in, if you play your role, if you find your role, play your role, you're, you're accepted, and it doesn't mean you have to, you have to be the best or you even have to be good, it's just like you're making an effort. Right, and that was me in lacrosse especially. Is it builds, it gives you, uh, an external confidence. Even though I didn't have an internal confidence, that team, especially my lacrosse team, and especially when I got to junior, that team gave me an external confidence, uh to to help me improve myself, even though there was a whole bunch going on inside I had to deal with. Does that make?
Aaron Pete:sense I don't know it does well like you, even connected to like how big people are fans of like the Canucks, and you think about that. They're like their identity. In some circumstances, like on the night of game day they're a Canucks fan, they're not like they're not advertising anything else, they are connected to something else and the outcome of that team somehow defines who they are, which I find like really interesting because I like the UFC. But it's like they go out there one person fights one other person. I have nothing to do with it, I don't get to claim that I had anything to do with it, but when you're a fan of a team, you're on the team, you're with them, and it's just when you look back at the riots like some people take that very, very seriously. Some people like to cause shenanigans, but some people take their relationship with the team very, very seriously because it gives them that sense of identity.
Fred Ewanuick:Yeah, unfortunately, some, some fans get fanatical in that situation. Yeah, I can see what I see. I see where you're going with that. Yeah, I mean yeah, and speaking with the Canucks, I feel that for sure. I've been a Canuck fan as long as I can remember, and the way the team goes, like you know, their defeats are my defeats, you know, especially against the Bruins and and and those sorts of things, is I feel it. I feel you're right. You feel like you're part of that community. It's a community, right.
Aaron Pete:Exactly, yeah, here's the heavy question for you.
Fred Ewanuick:That wasn right, exactly. Yeah, here's the heavy question for you.
Aaron Pete:We're gonna go deep here. That wasn't the heavy question. That's not a heavy question.
Fred Ewanuick:Get ready for this? All right, give me a sec. All right, I'm ready okay.
Aaron Pete:So in that same interview you talked about the impact of one other person who played a significant role in you being connected to corner gas, and I think that's really inspiring because sometimes somebody else helps you, open a door and advocates for you, and it reminds me that one person can make a difference in the life of other people. And you talked about Lynn Carreau and how she supported you when you went into audition, how she helped you prepare and then how she, it sounds like, advocated for you in terms of getting your role on Corner Gas. And when fans, when, when fans of the show watch this, they're going to know how instrumental you are to the show and it's because of somebody else that helped you kind of move in that trajectory, that opened that door for you, and I'm just wondering if you can reflect on her impact on helping you get that role.
Fred Ewanuick:Yeah, lynn Carroll. Yeah, she, she, she was a casting director in town. Uh, she's since retired, um, and she's just, she's just a what? She's just a fantastic person and and, um, it's. It's funny in this business there's casting directors that get you, casting directors that don't, and some, some you're a hard sell on, some like just seem to really like what you're doing and it's easy to get opportunities with them and um. So, going back to confidence and like being I don't know how I got into this business because I'm I'm really shy and anxious and but, for whatever reason, whenever I went to see lyn Lynn Caro whether it's early on for prescreens or any kind of taping I just felt really comfortable. I felt, like you know, I guess, safe. You know, like I felt like it was going to be okay. Like you know, I'm not going to make an idiot of myself and if I did, she wouldn't let me fail, if that makes sense.
Fred Ewanuick:No-transcript uh, for the santa claus 2. Uh, this movie I don't know if you saw that movie. It's a christmas, of course, and so I I didn't. I wasn't auditioning for it. They needed a reader behind the camera and and she'd never called me to read before and and so she got me in there to read and and she, she said something that I can't remember. It didn't make sense. I was a little nervous because I've never done reading for her before.
Fred Ewanuick:But the director was in all these sessions and and during one of the auditions this was really funny she, uh, not uh, lynn, but the, the director was like so somebody was auditioning and I was reading for him and they did their audition. It was, it was a good audition and and, uh, and I was reading off camera for the role that I ended up getting in in the thing, and the director's like hey, hey, do you guys mind? Hey, do you guys mind switching for can you go in front of the camera? He's just doing the scene again for me, please, all right, and that's how I got it. And and I found out, you know, I got the feeling, the sense that lynn didn't know where I would fit in this show, but felt like, oh, maybe if I get him to read, something might click, like, do you know what I mean? Like that I.
Fred Ewanuick:And then, and so this is what I'm talking about, the build-up with her like I just felt really, um, supported by her whenever I had to come in and I was auditioning for something else and when my audition was over, um, she followed me out of the room and she just said hey, I want to give you a heads up. There's something coming down the line. Um, I'm gonna get get your the scripts to the sides to your agent. I want you to have a look at them. Not sure when it's gonna happen, but I really, I'm really want you and I'm gonna push for you in this. And I was like, oh, wow, okay, and it was obviously corner gas. And when she, when I went into audition and I don't know this part, you'd have to ask Brent like why.
Fred Ewanuick:But you know you, always, there's usually an initial session where there's a bunch of people come in and then they tape, and then there's a callback session where usually the director, producers are there, and so the initial session, I, I show up and we're taping and usually go in. You do it once. They get. Maybe they give you a couple notes, maybe they don't, but you know that was good or, um, or you're not right, they won't tell you that, but they'll go. Oh, thanks, and you go. You do it once, but sometimes it's oh, you know, I really like that, can you? But can you do this here?
Fred Ewanuick:And the initial session I show up and there wasn't. There wasn't anybody else in the waiting room, like it was just me. And then it was just me and Lynn. Usually there's like a reader, but Lynn was reading with me, if I remember correctly. I might have that wrong, I may be remembering this wrong, but it was. I just remember it was us and and we, we, we worked at it a long time. We did the stuff a bunch of times and took a while at it, not super long, but longer than normal and then I didn't hear anything about it but I was like, oh, that was different, all right, cool.
Fred Ewanuick:And then when the callbacks came, we went through that and Brent was there and David story was there, lynn was there, david story was our head director and obviously Brent but was everybody knows Brent but and and did the callbacks and it went really well, like it was it was. You know, by then my confidence was big because I figured, yeah, they obviously want to see me. You know, this is great Once you get the callback. Once you get the callback, you feel a little better. You're like, oh, okay, I'm doing something right, they like.
Fred Ewanuick:But if Lynn but that wasn't the case Like if Lynn told me before going into the callback, they're like look, these guys aren't that keen on you. Like I had to really push to get them to see you at this point I would have, I would have fumbled and fallen apart behind the scenes. What was going on was like I guess, uh, lynn sent in the tape and and brent and the other producers and stuff yeah, you know, okay, but not really what we're looking for. And and lynn, like was like no, no, no, you're gonna, you're gonna see him at the callbacks. He's, he's the guy you know, and I'm obviously paraphrasing. I'm sure it went down a lot different than that, but brent told me this part, so I know it went down something like that. So I would have never got that part if lynn told me beforehand like, look, they don't really like you, but I'm bringing you in anyway. You know, I would have. Just I would have fell apart in the room, uh. But then that's another example of external confidence. Right, like people around around me uh instilled some confidence. So you think, oh, all right, I guess I all right, so you go in there and you just do it. Yeah, so Lynn Carroll.
Fred Ewanuick:I legitimately would have never, I would not have gotten Corner Gas if it was not for Lynn Carroll. Obviously, I did my part too. I came in and I did my job, but I wouldn't have got that opportunity. I did my job but I wouldn't have got that opportunity. And you know who knows how life would have gone. But yeah, I'm forever grateful for that. You know, now I'm going to think. I know I've sent her an email in the past thanking her Jeez. Now I feel like I've got to go and reconstitute another one and send it out her way. Yeah, I miss her. I could use Lynn right now. My career is stalled a little bit. I got to convince her to get out of retirement.
Aaron Pete:There's something about that story for me that really resonates and I think it comes to this idea of the importance of mentorship and supporting people in their craft. Like I see it a lot, with musicians even talking to other podcast hosts like we don't get a lot of encouragement when you go out on your own, when you're trying to do your own thing, it can be incredibly lonely to be trying to figure it out. Whether you're an artist and you're painting. Like I don't know if you watch the Office, but there's that scene where pam's standing there and she's she's got all of her art up and everybody who comes to visit doesn't really care. And then michael walks in and wants to buy a piece and like that matters to her and I think so.
Aaron Pete:So often when you're trying to do your own thing I know acting can be incredibly independent because you're going into the auditions that like there's not a lot of support and how much it matters for someone to advocate for you to, for them to believe in you, can play a huge role in your sense of confidence.
Aaron Pete:And just when I look at, like I cover a lot of journalism and stuff and there's not a lot of like the, the old guard of journalists, passing on what they know to new journalists on best practices, on how things went and so like.
Aaron Pete:We need to exchange that information so we can all do a better job. And there's something to what she did for you, like believing in you at times, maybe more than you believed in yourself, and that's such a gift to give another person and it's so easily missed, whether it's a teacher helping out a student or something. But those moments can really shape us and move us in a direction. And hers just really stood out when you told that story of like wow, one person can like just kind of push you a little bit further and it can open doors in ways that that might not have happened had she not played that role. And then you can do that and other people can do that, and it's just a call to action for all of us to remember that we can be that beacon of hope for another person, whether it's like hey, you got to try that again, you can do this, you've got this. Like. That can really resonate with a person when they need it most.
Fred Ewanuick:Yeah, well, for sure, those people you know, I hope everybody has people like that come through their lives. I've been really fortunate that I've had a number of people come through my life family, friends, colleagues that have been that sort of thing for me. Um, sometimes I, sometimes people can be that person, but for some reason the, the message, the way they send the message isn't as good and we were resistant to that. Which is it's such a fine line Like, yeah, I, yeah, I don't know, I don't know why that's. That's the case because you know like maybe as kids and your parents, they're those people for you at times. But you're just like, ah, shut up, I can find a thing. But then, like somebody like Lynn Carroll comes around, no, you can do it. You're like, oh, thanks, I can do it I believe you yeah yeah, yeah, it's, it's.
Fred Ewanuick:It's a bit funny, uh, who we decide to allow to be that person for us. Maybe, I don't know when.
Aaron Pete:So my understanding is season one. Everybody was kind of expecting like maybe this goes nowhere, brent. But it said like we didn't know if we were going to get renewed or not. We were kind of just having fun with it and we'd we'd see where the chips land. But then you get the response that over a million people have watched. This happens very, very rarely and hadn't happened in years. And then, corner gas, does that? You get a call from the heads of ctv saying you killed it. Season two is coming. We're so excited. How did that impact you did that like? Did that mean something to you personally that like you were a part of something that produced such an impact across canada?
Fred Ewanuick:um, well, yeah, I mean I wasn't, I wasn't. I mean, obviously I was incredibly happy, I was, I was really it's. It's nice to be a part of something that people like like, um, before that, I mean, I've done stuff I'm proud of, like other things, but most of the stuff I was doing people weren't watching or, you know, it wasn't a you know what. Yeah, I don't want to be disrespectful, but, like, I've done stuff that just, you know, people weren't interested in. Maybe, right, did other things too that that, like I said, were good and I was proud of. But this was the first thing where it's like, oh, wow, like a lot of people like it, like it's, it's, it's it's yeah, it's, it's it's incredibly proud to be part of something like that.
Fred Ewanuick:Now, yeah, because I all, all I do on I've done on that show is show up, pretend other words that people have written right, like I'm not belittling my role in that by any means, but this is, you know, and I was like proud of my part in it, uh, but you know, all of that is on guys like brent and all the writers and showrunners that have helped the show along the way, the crew, like all those people like helped create that. But if, if Brent didn't have that and if David story wasn't in a pitch session and they were like not liking any of his ideas and like what else have you guys like? Well, there's this idea that you know, this comedian I know has that. You know another thing that never would have happened, right interesting.
Aaron Pete:What do you think resonated with people about the first season? Like if you had to go back and see, like why did this hit when so many other shows don't? What do you think it was?
Fred Ewanuick:I I can't tell you, I have no idea. I mean I here's the things I like, I can I know are facts of the show. One it's funny, like you can't deny. It might be not, might not be your sense of humor, I've heard that but it is funny, like it's it's quality, it's well written, it looks really cool.
Fred Ewanuick:They shot on super 16, so I had a really unique kind of look to it, um, and it was a show that didn't try too hard and the whole family could watch, you know, and it wasn't vanilla, like you know.
Fred Ewanuick:There was the odd racy sort of innuendo and stuff in there and wordplay and stuff, but it wasn't risky, it was just happy, it was, it was easy, and so there's that. So I understand why people like it, but like to the extent that it was as popular as it was in the moment, um, and it seems to have legs, like there's, it still seems to be picking up audiences here and there. I can't tell you. All I can say is because I've listened to Brent answer questions like this and Brent said a number of things, but one of the things he said that I think is probably the most accurate is that he just made a show that he wanted to watch. He wasn't trying to figure out what's going to be a hit. What's going to be a hit, what's going to be, you know, a big show. He just went about creating and writing a show that he would like to see, and then you just put it out there and whatever happens happens, right.
Aaron Pete:So yeah a huge piece. A huge piece from my perspective is that it was warm in the sense that, like I think a lot of people have complicated familial relationships, people they might not get along with complicated family dinners or Christmas dinners and some of those things can be really heavy and what you see with, like I know Big Bang Theory was like a competitor of your guys's or you guys were on similar wavelengths at the same time is that people just want something where they can trust that it's going to be funny but that they can relate to family members they don't have. Like I didn't have many of the family members that you guys portrayed, but there was something warm about the idea that that's how you would want your uncle or your cousin or someone to be like. There was something admirable about their humor and the simplicity of it that maybe people weren't getting from their home lives, or it was nostalgic in a way that connects them to who they remember their family member being, or something like that.
Fred Ewanuick:Right, right, you telling me people wish they had an Oscar in their life.
Aaron Pete:I would love to have an Oscar in my life, Tim my producer is sometimes my Oscar, where he's just calling me out on how I'm messing up or could be doing things better, and it's much appreciated yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, you're right, I'd like to have an oscar in my life.
Fred Ewanuick:I might be oscar, I don't know, but um, no, I'm probably, I'm hank, for sure. But uh, yeah, no, yeah, you might be onto something. I mean, there's definitely a warmth to it, there's a it's, it's genuine, for sure, like it. That's what I was trying to say when I said it doesn't try too hard, it just is, you know, like, um, it's funny because, like I, I don't know that it would be a show that I would naturally be drawn to like it. The show grew on me right like I don't know that it would be a show that I would naturally be drawn to, like it. It, the show grew on me Right, like and that's not to say I didn't understand it or didn't think it was funny Um, but I, I was always.
Fred Ewanuick:The thing I was most proud about being part of that show was that the whole family could sit down and watch it. And um, at the time, and even now, I think that there's not enough of that on on television. So I don't know, it's I. You know, I I not to get deep into the there, there was always a bit of weirdness. Uh, in in the industry, not not with the viewing public, but but in in the end. I mean, I had his detractors in the in, in, in in the public too. But, um, there was this kind of like weird sort of not hate but dislike for the show and I could never figure it out, like, like, I I had a run-in, not a run-in, but uh, uh, uh, a creator, uh, that you know, I, I really admired, created a lot of shows and they told me straight out, the gemini's one. So they just, you know, they hate the show and they think it's terrible. And and I never understood it, like because, like, if it's not, if it's, if it's not your, if it's not your sense, like if it's not, if it's, if it's not your, if it's not your sense of humor, if it's not your taste, that's, that's fair. Like you know, that's like a fair, that's a fair response. But to say it's terrible and garbage and I heard that a few times over the years I'm like, well, no, that's not fair, because the show is quality, like it might not be your take, but it's quality.
Fred Ewanuick:A lot of hard work goes into it. The writing was always top-notch, top-notch. The cast is incredibly, respectful, respectable. The crew was. Everything about that show was quality. So, uh, that's the only time I get my back ruffled up, like if somebody doesn't like it. They saw it's not my sense of humor. I'm like, yeah, that's fair, no problem. I kind of had a coffee shot once. We were in for coffee and the guy there's, I think nancy, was there too. If I remember right, this is in regina it's like oh, you guys are Corner Gas.
Fred Ewanuick:We're like oh, yeah, yeah, he's like, yeah, I don't care for that show. And I'm like oh, okay, he's like, yeah, not my sense, and I think he even said not my sense of humor. I'm like totally fair, thanks, I'll Americano, please.
Aaron Pete:But you it to me.
Fred Ewanuick:But lauren cardinal um came on the show and one of the things that really stood out to me in the same vein. Does he want his 20 bucks? I own 20 bucks.
Aaron Pete:Is that what he was like? No, no, I think we're safe on that front, but uh, he, he just talked about how, like some of the stories that he heard about the impact of the show and one of them that, like, has never left me is that he and and maybe you were too, but like that people in afghanistan fighting over there had reached out and and that they were watching the show when they were being rocket attacked, because it gave them that sense of home. And I'm wondering if you have any reflections on that or, like experiences, on how the show impacted people that that's that example actually is.
Fred Ewanuick:Um, acting is is is a lot of work. It's not hard work, right like. Before I got into acting, I used to work. Some of my my buddy's dad, uh, was a plumber, so we'd work digging holes and ditches and stuff. That's hard work, right like, but acting is a lot of work. So I I never, early on I didn't really have a lot of respect for what I was doing. It was just fun, right, it was a job like I took it seriously I don't don't get me wrong like I I always wanted to be prepared, know my stuff and do the best I could, but it's fun. So I never, I never thought it was important. Like I would always joke like when the zombie comes, the zombies come, the last thing they're gonna need is a bunch of guys to pretend for a living, right like. It's just like. You know, uh, well, maybe I could pretend to be a zombie and like lure them away.
Aaron Pete:Fit right in, yeah.
Fred Ewanuick:Anyway. So that story was the first time where it kind of changed my perspective a little bit in terms of entertainment, and I remember being told that story and it was. It was impactful in that way and I had no idea that it could could do that. Like you know, yeah, it's an escape. People come home from work. They want to forget about their day. No, okay, no, but when? When we heard that it it just, it just. It's one of those things it's like oh, yeah, right, there's, there's people all over the world going through horrible things and holy crap, these people being bombarded by shells and things, and they're sitting there watching our, our show and that's helping them get through it.
Aaron Pete:That, yeah, that, you know that hit hit a spot for sure, yeah I think it's really important and I don't know if you've heard that the prime minister said that we don't have like a shared national identity.
Aaron Pete:But like I've lived in bc my whole life, I've been to saskatchewan one time.
Aaron Pete:I don't have any connection to that region or anything like that, but like to me that show does reflect canadian values and and it does reflect and that's why I think it was so successful is it was in the compassion and the kindness it was in those moments that like our values came through. It wasn't necessarily because stephen harper was on or, yeah, this political like it was that those are our values, that we are simple, like quality people who care about each other and we tease each other and we're just, we're just a good, wholesome community of people across canada and like we haven't really had a show like that since. That's really like entered the zeitgeist and been able to be embraced across canada in the same way. And so I noticed people reach out to you and brent and like we keep pulling you back to a character you played quite a few years ago now. But it's because there's nothing like it still, there's nothing that competes with that, that we can all agree that that's what reflects Canadian values.
Fred Ewanuick:Well, you know, I'm going to defer to you. You would know better than me the Canadian values thing is it's tough to figure out these days. It does seem a bit muddied. I don't know what that means anymore to have Canadian values.
Fred Ewanuick:But yeah, you know, corner Gas was in a very quirky animated way, you know, like you got all these characters from all sides of the spectrum like all over the map. Every episode they find a way to come together, pull their pants up and get stuff done right like um, yeah, we don't come together as a, as a nation, like we used to. I don't think we seem to be fighting each other, not so much like our neighbors, but there's that right. And when I was younger, for sure, everybody had, we've always had our differences, always like, always like. But we always seem to come together.
Fred Ewanuick:And I and I don't want to get too, because I don't know enough about it, but I was so disappointed during the pandemic at our response as individuals and how we just got so device divided about it and and and I'm not going to get into it because I don't know enough about it, but what, what? What disappointed me was how we weren't able to sort of come together in this moment, the extreme moment, to kind of get through it out the other end and then sort out what we're wrong. Does that? Do you know what I mean?
Fred Ewanuick:yes, because we did have that period where we were all jangling things and we were going out at 7 pm, but then that did come to an end, yeah, abruptly like abruptly it seemed uh, and I'm not gonna pretend to understand why, but I just it was that it was like that seemed new for the canadian experience, if you want to say and I don't know if we figure out how to sort that out yet- I don't think we have and I don't see anything on the near horizon, but I do think that's where shows can often give us like.
Aaron Pete:We don't think we have and I don't see anything on the near horizon, but I do think that's where shows can often give us like. We don't need to debate politics, we don't need to do like. We need places where we can gather, where we're not just arguing with each other and we don't have shared shows anymore. We have 15 different streaming sites that are all streaming different shows and you talk to hey, did you watch this? No, no, I don't have that app or I don't do like. And it's like we don't have a shared kind of 7 pm channel anymore where we all kind of gather and agree that that's top of mind. But my next question for you is who was hank yarbo from your perspective?
Fred Ewanuick:uh, the smartest guy in the room, uh, the hottest looking dude, uh, brimming with confidence, yeah, you know, he's, he's everything I wish I was. Um, he's, yeah, he's actually that like he. He thinks he's for lack of a better phrase he thinks he's the shit, he thinks he knows it all. Um, but the thing about hank that I do do actually connect with, that I tried to put into him, is he's, he's genuine, he's real, he's not you. You get what you get with hank, like there's no, there's no ulterior motive. He's not two faced. What comes out of Hank's mouth is exactly what Hank's thinking, you know, and I, I, I like people like that, like I like people that understand that about themselves. Number one, right, like, uh, um, and you know, let you know where you stand with them, respectfully, respectfully, so I know, that's who hank is to me. I mean, I always played him like, like he, when he walked into a room or every time he walked into the gas station.
Aaron Pete:He's, he was like I'm the, I'm the smartest guy here my, my reflections on the character and, like you can correct me if you disagree no, no, because it's a it's.
Aaron Pete:You won't be wrong, because there are reflections right is like I think it was again in the context of like playing a character and I know like actors don't have the world's hardest job but in the character you you played, I actually think it may have been one of the more challenging ones because you're regularly agreeing to play the butt of the joke, right, like in many circumstances you're the person being gaffed on or teased or mocked or and like in a sense like to remove yourself and just think like you're playing that character and I think at times that actually is one of the the most challenging characters because you have to kind of live with the, the levity of that circumstance.
Aaron Pete:Other characters, like Brent, like he's usually like he, he got the answer, he got the quick, snarky response, like it's, it's humorous, but he gets to play kind of the gotcha person and you regularly were the butt of the joke and I think there's something admirable about putting yourself in that circumstance and that's why I think it's not just that you agreed to play the character because you kind of at the beginning you were like well, like I just read lines, but there's also something to be said for agreeing to play the character that get teased and mocked a lot throughout the whole show that you were willing to be that to people and that like I don't know about you, but like sometimes when you're hanging out with friends people do not like being the butt of the joke, like they they are very against that.
Aaron Pete:Like I'll have friends and I'll I'll push their button and then they'll be like that's too far. No, like I don't like that and it's like it's actually a lot of work to kind of take it on the chin and when my friends tease me I do my best to just eat it and enjoy the roast or whatever the teasing is going to be. But that's actually a little bit more work than I think people might realize. And it brought the show together in a really good way because there could be somebody you were allowed to kind of laugh at or laugh at the circumstance and enjoy in a different way, and I think there's a lot of importance to that role um, that's a great uh, yeah, that's a great um with great perspective.
Fred Ewanuick:I, I, I mean I definitely felt, felt that and understood that um, and it did. I wouldn't say it was challenging, but there was times where, you know, I go back to my condo. I was like I wish I could. You know, I wish I could get the funny lines here and there, right, but but that that was usually stifled pretty quick because I just I genuine, genuinely loved playing hank. Like it wasn't hard for me to be hank the the only, the only challenge I found was that the longer the show went on season 3, by the end of season 3, I was really upset with myself because I felt, towards the end of season 2 and most of season 3, I really felt like I was phoning it in and and like. And most of season three, I really felt like I was phoning it in and like.
Fred Ewanuick:So, going into season four, I kind of gave myself a bit of a talking to and I was like no, look, you got a job, you got to go in and you got to be on it. Right, you got to be present on set, you got to be prepared. I mean, there was days in season two. Yeah, I be on like there was this pub of hanlon's, uh, that we would go to and there were a couple nights where I won't say the other cast member or myself and the other cast member would literally stumble out of there at daylight and like have an hour before we had to get in the van to get out to work. Like I'd look at my day, I and I was like, ah, I only got one scene. You know, I can, I can take a day off, kind of thing, um, and not not by. I like I was never, you know, drunk on Saturday and I only get this impression that I was like Mickey, mickey Rourke or something like well, that's not fair to Mickey Rourke. I don't know mickey rourke, what? I don't know why I said mickey rourke, probably a great guy, he's a great actor. Why did I say mickey? I feel terrible now, cut that part out, would you? Um, but my point being is is that was the challenge. So from four on, uh, well, season one and most of two, I was like this is my job and then, for some reason, I just got lazy and owned it in for a bit. So that was the challenge. It was like this is my job and then for some reason, I just got lazy and phoned it in for a bit. So that was the challenge. It was like being professional right that coming out of corner gas that's what it taught me most is like being on a show for that long. It's easy to forget what your job is right and, um, that was the biggest challenge for me.
Fred Ewanuick:Not so much I think I didn't mind being by the joke. Look, somebody's got to get hurt for comedy. Like. If somebody's not getting hurt either physically or emotionally, uh, being made fun of, there's no comedy like where's the comedy like you know, like that, something you got Like you know like that. So you got to point and laugh at something like that you have to. And so I guess I I guess I was too dumb to realize it that I should be like how come I don't get all the funny lines I'm being?
Fred Ewanuick:but I just love playing Hank and and I've I've been asked it over the years and I meant it every time I've said it I would have played Hank for the rest of my life like I, and I would have been completely content and happy. I love that character. That by far my favorite character I've played. I've had other characters I really love playing, but if I was to play a character for my entire life, it would be Hank. I love that. I love that every minute of it.
Aaron Pete:I like I know this is inside baseball in like a lot of ways, but like there's just something to the characters that were developed, like you in the show developing the lego set of corner gas in lego form, like that can that can seem like just a joke, but there is something to the fact that like whatever your creative endeavor is, like run with it, like it doesn't don't define what your creative endeavor is, based by other people's standards, and like I found that so valuable. Like having um, like like wanda, play this character of like you're incredibly intelligent and most of it is not useful in your day-to-day life. Like there's something to that that like I know a lot of people who think they've got it all figured out because they're very good at math or something and it's like but then you still don't know how to get an oil change in your car. Like there's these funny disconnects where you see in people that I think are so relatable.
Aaron Pete:The other piece that I think is important that we touch on is Nancy Robertson talked about the tragically hip performing. So did Brent, but like I think it was really special that you were all up those those other voices and and bringing in whether it's prime ministers or um, olympic athletes and kind of like pulling them in. Can you reflect on the tragically hip coming out and performing and being able to be a part of that?
Fred Ewanuick:yeah, well, I mean, that was that was, that was the biggest, and no disrespect, because we also had a couple of kids in the hall, guys who you know I was a huge kids in the hall yeah.
Fred Ewanuick:And the prime minister, prime ministers, that's a huge, that's huge, that's huge, you know. And just to cause, I know Harper is a divisive figure in Canadian politics. He was fantastic on the show, right, and I'm definitely not conservative leaning, so I'm not going to say what my politics are, but I wouldn't have voted for harper oh there, I just said, but he was incredible. You know what I mean. So you're right for him to come into the show and be able to contribute and be part of the family.
Aaron Pete:Essentially and be the butt of the joke like he switches his side, like he was willing to be.
Fred Ewanuick:I know he's a politician he, he nailed it like, let's be honest, he, he nailed it, martin too, and he came on. He was fantastic. So, um, you're all sit, literally come on. But the hip, my, my buddy, who's no longer with us uh, derek Usher introduced me to the Tragically Hip. Derek Usher I'm not going to get into it because it'll make me cry. Derek Usher is one of these people that come through your lives and change you. Derek Usher, anybody that I know who watches this will know what I'm talking about. But anyway, he got me onto the hip and the hip for me I don't know how to say this every album the hip puts out, I I don't like initially, but then I just keep listening to it and then I just can't not listen to the hip anymore and his voice, his words, the music, it like.
Fred Ewanuick:Every time I listen to a hip song, like it, just it, it it showers me, right, and I'm not over exaggerating, like I, okay, well, I said on leroy and uh, and I you know we were talking about uh, uh, uh, desert islands and what out, you know album, and I'm like, can you pick your favorites? Like like, that's an album, right, uh, of the hip and that's what I would want like. So when I heard they were coming on the show, I don't get starstruck, you know, like I don't the the only other time I got starstruck was when I met Richard Berder at a golf store in North Vancouver. Uh, richard Berder is a Canucks King. Richard Canucks goalie in the eighties, took him to the finals.
Fred Ewanuick:Uh, and this is the only time I, only other time I couldn't talk to somebody Right and right and uh, it was like that with the hip. So we did those. They were just for there for the one day. We did our sort of half in rolo and then the hip came and did their half in the studio and they got swamped right but, like, all of a sudden, our crew grew by threefold. Like I was like, who are, who are all these people like? And they're all there to see the hip and, um, I do this.
Fred Ewanuick:It got me emotional when I was doing uh, so they're doing their thing and and then and it was amazing, the, you know, they're doing it's private and they're going at it, they're singing it, they take after take, and so I'm like, I'm like five feet away from gordonny and he's, he's like bolting out those lyrics and I'm like, just I'm like, I'm like, I'm just like, I'm just, you know, I'm like a blah, right, and and then they finish, and then they get. They get bombarded by people, rightfully so, and they're so gracious, they're talking to everybody, all of them, and I'm just kind of standing in the back of the room like an idiot. And then finally I just, you know, I kind of scuffled out that was my last scene of the day and I'm signing out and uh, and the vans, a van's pulling out as I'm signed, I'm signing my sheet out for the day, and and then the van. I see the van come back and it's the hip, they're getting driven back to their hotel and gourd opens the door and he gets out.
Fred Ewanuick:I don't know, every time I talk about it, I don't know, it's such a big deal for me, and he gets out and he I guess he could see that I was there, right, you know? And uh, and he just talks with me like a normal person and I'm like, wow, he just keeps talking about. He's like what are you doing? I was like well, my wife and I are going across the country, we're gonna drive. He's like, oh man, we're going across the country on a tour and he's like maybe we'll see each other and I'm like, oh yeah man, like, oh, really, that'd be great and I wish I knew him. I wish I knew he.
Fred Ewanuick:Just in that four minutes, five minutes, I was just like, oh wow, this guy I see why people think people might be gods, because he was just so in that moment anyway, just so genuine and open, and not Gord Downie, big star, just I know it took a lot for him, I for him, to recognize that. I was like wanting to say something from what I could gather. Maybe he was just like forgot his watch and ran into me, but that's not, that's not what and it's. It's one of those moments that, for whatever reason, gets me emotional when I talk about it, but sticks with me. I think about that every once in a while and I I just think, oh wow, that was one of the coolest moments of my life.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, big deal, that was a huge deal I appreciate you for being willing to share that. It's to be honest with you, I yeah damn you for bringing it up right.
Fred Ewanuick:I don't know. It got a little emotional too when I was talking about Leroy and I was like, all right, in this moment I can talk about it, and no, apparently I can't. I don't know why, so stupid.
Aaron Pete:Well, I want you to know that I understand you, gord, I'm sure, didn't see himself the way other people saw him Right. And so like, in these circumstances, the fact that I've gotten to like I grew up and I would put on corner gas before I'd go to bed on my computer and it would just play all the episodes all the way through and I'd wake up and have to press pause in the morning, like that's the amount that I would consume corner gas. Like my partner and I watch it every year in summertime and we like it's a, it's a it's a family tradition for us to do that. And so like the opportunity to speak with you, like Brent, like the fact that you guys are being willing to share your time on something and like I know it was an opportunity for you guys at the time. But I also understand that when you're a creator, you don't want to be typecast as just one thing, right. Like I don't want to be known just for one single interview or like for one thing I do in my life.
Aaron Pete:You're a broad, like interesting person that has different interests and you've played different characters over your life. Like you're always pulled back to this role. So the fact that you're all willing to do this and share your time and reflect on these moments. The fact that you're all willing to do this and share your time and reflect on these moments, I really appreciate, in a very similar lens to what that interaction meant for you with Gord Like this. This means a lot to me to have the opportunity to speak with you on these things.
Fred Ewanuick:Well, that's nice, I'm glad. You know, obviously you know I'm good, I'm glad, and thanks for saying that. You know we bring up the you know, know actors always worried about being typecast that that was never a concern of mine. I mean, the only challenge with that is like, well, if you can't get other work, you know how you're going to pay the bills, right. But I've never, I've never, like I I love acting. Well, here's the thing. I don't know. If I love acting, I love being on set, and if that means I have to act, then I'll do it.
Fred Ewanuick:I tried being a stage actor and like I just can't Anxiety is no good, and but so it was just about like, like I said it with Hank, like I found that character and that gave me well, more than six years, because we did the movie and then we did the cartoon. Like almost 10 years of work, that's like so that's great. If that means, if that's what typecast means, then okay, bring it. Like, can I do that for another 10, though you know, because, like I'm not ready to stop being on set, like I want to be on set more and I don't get to do it as much as I'd like, like, I've been pretty lucky. You know I seem to get one or two things a year, but it's. It's not enough for my. I guess that's my addiction, maybe being on set.
Fred Ewanuick:It's the same with hockey. I still play hockey. I'm a goalie. I don't know if I actually like playing hockey, I just really like being a goalie. I like the gear. I like I started. One of my buddies is a goalie coach and and and he'll take me out to do training sessions. Right, don't be a better goalie, and I like that more than I like actually playing hockey games.
Fred Ewanuick:So I think acting's like that. For me, it's like, yeah, I like like acting, but I just really love being on set, like and, and it's got to be a part of something. That's what corner gas spoiled me is. When you get on a long running show like that, it's just, it's really comfortable, it's like your home, it's work, don't get me wrong, it's work. You got to be prepared, but it's you get to set you. You feel like you're a part of it. It's like you know, it's just click. It's like being part of a team. It's being on that team right, like yeah, maybe that's why I liked it, because I'm not a confident guy. But you get all these people around you that sort of instill confidence in you and then you're part of an energy like a positive energy rather than you just carrying it or that person just carrying it.
Aaron Pete:You're all contributing to the good energy.
Fred Ewanuick:Like I did Dan for mayor, and by no, it wasn't like what Brent was doing. Brent was like doing everything. I was just the lead guy. I didn't have to write it, I didn't have to produce it or nothing, and I was like I mean, this is for the birds, like I just want to be Hank. When you have to be responsible for all of it, that's just way more stress than I'm able to manage. I think that's why I like Hank so much, because I can just be, but I can't be on my own.
Aaron Pete:I need that family. Can I ask was the animated series different in a way that maybe wasn't quite as rewarding? Because you're not on set, you're just producing the voices, or did that work because it was? You're still doing the same jokes, but you're just doing it verbally. You're not in a community. It's somewhat a different thing, right?
Fred Ewanuick:Yeah, it's the same but different, right, yeah, it's, it's. It's the same but different. It's the same and like, especially because we we started that just before the pandemic and then the pandemic, I think, was season two, I can't remember now, uh. So initially we were all in the room together. Well, half of us were in vancouver and the other half were in toronto, but we were all connected via, so it was like doing a radio play, um, so that was great, that that was. It was a very similar experience, but lazier, right, like I didn't have to go through hair and makeup and you know, like our day wasn't eight to ten hours, it was like uh three to four hours, but you also couldn't hang out afterwards with I guess the people from toronto too right no, you couldn't.
Fred Ewanuick:But but I don't know, like, as the show went on, I mean, we still hung out, we went for dinners from time to time, but as the show went on, we kind of like found our own sort of pockets of life out there. Like, so we worked together and then, yeah, we did some dinners here and there, might go for coffee with you know, go grab a beer with lauren, or grab a coffee with nan, or you know, from time to time, or, um, have a poker game from time to time. But, like you kind of started developing your own life. Like I, I was playing ultimate frisbee out there, um, I started golfing with wow, um, my, uh, my buddy warren, who was our sound guy, um, so you, you know, you know what I mean.
Fred Ewanuick:Like it, it just became work, family, more, you know, um, so, yeah, when we started doing the animated stuff, it was just like that. Like you show up, you love everybody, it's great, they do, you're funny and we laugh, and then we kind of go back to our lives may I ask what advice would you have, or or what would you tell?
Aaron Pete:I'm not the person to ask what would you tell a younger person who's in a similar circumstance to where you were, where maybe you don't have that huge level of confidence enjoy being a part of a team. How do people strive forward in those types of circumstances when they don't know exactly where they want to end up when they're older?
Fred Ewanuick:Well, look, that's a really good question to ask. Unfortunately, my experience I'm hesitant to share because I don't. My experience might not be right for people and they could go try what I might suggest and it could go horribly wrong.
Aaron Pete:Right, we won't give them your phone number then.
Fred Ewanuick:No, but I don't like. I think what's helped me, like I'm incredibly fortunate, I've had a number of people in my life my wife, number one who is incredibly supportive, and so it's easy, right. You have somebody that you don't even, even when you don't want to talk to somebody, understands that you should talk to somebody, and finds ways to get you to talk without you knowing you're talking, right Like giving your aspirin with some honey, you know, but like the thing here's. The thing, though, is is you have I believe this, and I think everybody should try to find a way to make this to work you have to take responsibility for your own life, and nobody else can. Your happiness is not somebody else's responsibility. Your well-being is not somebody else's responsibility. Your mental health is not somebody else's responsibility.
Fred Ewanuick:You have to do the work to get out of whatever it is, and that may mean you need help, and so you need to recognize that you need help, and, and so if you find that people are suggesting you get help a lot, then maybe that's something that you need to understand is like okay, maybe I need help and I should go get that help. Like that's all I can say, because everybody's journey is going to be different. I'm still working on mine and I'm 53. So I'm always proud of myself. I always give myself a pat on the back because I'm way better than I was. But I'm nowhere near where I want to be, that's for sure.
Aaron Pete:Fred, it has been an honor to speak with you.
Aaron Pete:Stop saying that the honor is mine. Like as I said, I watched the show. I think you're a huge inspiration. I know that's hard for you to take in, but I hope you can hold space for the impact that you've had on so many and encouraging them to be comfortable with who they are, and I think you're a huge exemplar of that. I think we're incredibly lucky that we've had individuals that have advocated for you, like Lynn. I like I think we're lucky for her advocacy because you belonged on that show and we're lucky that that all worked out the way that it did.
Fred Ewanuick:You're the man oh, come on, that's very kind of you to say. But all right, for this one moment I'll pretend I'm the man.
Aaron Pete:Thanks, buddy, you know uh, how can people follow your work and keep up to date?
Fred Ewanuick:uh, well, I'm not super active on social media. Probably best is instagram. That seems to be where I I post stupid stuff. Be prepared, but uh, it's, uh, it's not my well, I guess if you search my name fred iwanek you'll find me, but it's freddy wanet, freddy wan it. Uh, all one word on instagram is probably the best best of luck to you.
Aaron Pete:I know you've got some things cooking up and you're working on bringing some new ideas to life, so I wish you the best of luck on that and really appreciate you coming on today oh, thanks, I appreciate you having me.
Fred Ewanuick:This was way more than I was expecting, but I I quite enjoyed it, thank you I am so glad to hear that all right. Oh man, son of a bitch, you made me cry, what the hell.
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