Actor Mark O'Brien. Photo courtesy of Mark O'Brien.

Actor Mark O’Brien. Photo courtesy of Mark O’Brien.

GALO: When viewers left off with the show, the main character Jake Doyle was being arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, his daughter Sloan disappeared with a safe full of money, and Jake’s girlfriend, Leslie, who was a victim of a kidnapping, was being carried away without us knowing whether she was dead or alive. That’s quite a cliffhanger. What are your thoughts on how the episode left off? Going into the upcoming sixth and final season (premiering this October), how would you say things progress for your character as well as other characters on the show?

MO: Well, I found this last episode pretty uneventful… [laughs]. No, it was very eventful. I think it’s great because you’re gearing up for the last season and you want to write about everything, and I also think it’s a natural progression of the story. Like Leslie Bennett, the amount of conflict she’s built up over the years is bound to reach a point like that. And with Jake and everyone, the amount of conflict they all just generated over five years is going to build to a point, naturally. I think also story-wise and dramatically for the audience, you need to capitalize on that. So, I thought it was great.

Season six really delivers on a lot of that stuff — what’s really great about it (obviously, I can’t give away too much) is that the show has always been very episodic in nature, but also has a hint of being serialized. There was always a thorough line that went with the characters from episode to episode, but season six is very serialized because of what happened at the end of season five. I mean, it was such a big deal. I think what audiences will like about season six is that it carries through from episode to episode until its conclusion.

GALO: How do you feel about the show ending after six successful seasons? What sort of thoughts run through your mind after being with Des’ character for so long?

MO: At first I was sad, but then I was happy. I feel proud that we did the show for six years — I felt lucky and proud, it’s amazing. It’s so rare to do something like that. People have 50-year careers and they don’t get to do something like that. Especially shooting in their hometowns, and going to dinner every week and playing hockey with the crew — to have done that is a wonderful thing.

I always just think about how the show is ending, and saying goodbye to people and stuff, but it’s going to be weird not playing Des anymore. That’s something I think is going to hit me later. It’s such a unique character to play, so it’s going to be odd because it’s become second nature [to me]. All I can do is try to look at it positively that I’m lucky to have done it, and that I had a good time and added people to my family.

GALO: I understand you directed the second episode of Republic of Doyle (much like Paul Wesley from The Vampire Diaries and Misha Collins from Supernatural). You have some experience with directing short films, but how does that compare to directing a television show? Did you find that you didn’t need much guidance after watching and being a part of the show for five seasons?

MO: They’re totally different, directing short films and television. As far as guidance goes, everyone can use guidance at some point. I mean, I don’t know Steven Spielberg, but I’m sure someone comes to him with a good idea sometimes that he hasn’t thought of before [laughs]. I felt very comfortable and confident and I don’t think I screwed it up, but there’s so much to learn. As a director of a movie, it’s your movie, whereas directing for television, you’re doing it really to add your own flare to something that’s someone else’s idea. At the end of the day, you want to do a good job, but you mostly want to please the producers, writers and the network, because those are the people who have been producing and making these episodes before you came into the picture. It’s their show and you have to respect that. But also, I think it’s so important to add your own touch to it and take ownership of it. That was something I thought was really cool and it was a great experience. There’s something so collaborative in working in television as well as working with those particular producers and with CBC — and the crew was amazing.

GALO: One of the short films that you have directed is Kathy, about the world of teenage society and all its girl gossip. Did your own high school experience make you interested in exploring this topic? And how would you say your film is unique from others that touch on the dramas of high school, like Mean Girls, for instance?

MO: The way I looked at that film was that I liked that it was told from a perspective of the girl when she’s in her adult years. To me, it’s all a comment on how we don’t really change — you are who you are. The character at the beginning of the movie said that Kathy was such a bitch, and at the end she still thinks she’s a bitch. In a way, we still move in cliques, gossip about people, and have opinions about people that aren’t accurate or are ill-informed — or we don’t like when we’re not accepted. I thought all those characteristics were universal.

It’s funny how people make decisions so quickly. I think that’s what changes as we get older. When you’re a teenager, it’s like, “That person’s a dick, I don’t like them” [laughs]. [As an adult] you think that, but you just don’t say it to them. I think we get more socially respectful [as we grow], but we’re still kind of the same. What makes [Kathy] different from other movies like that is it still has that running commentary on the film itself, where it didn’t resolve itself completely because the narrator still thinks this thing. And by doing that, I was trying to say that that’s who we are, she’s still that person — the narrator never changed, which is odd because normally in movies you want your protagonist to change. But I thought it was necessary to make that comment. I think it’s cool to make films sometimes that don’t necessarily follow the typical structure, and that’s what I was trying to do there.

GALO: You’ve had extensive theatre experience in shows like Rope, Butler’s March and Poor Superman. How are such roles beneficial going into television and film? Or rather, is it somewhat difficult transitioning from one to the other, given the distinct style of acting required for each?

MO: I think there are certainly differences between television, film and theatre. There are little unconscious things you need to know, like you need to make sure you hit your mark and play to camera without looking like you’re playing to camera — those are technical things. In theatre, those things still exist. But theatre requires so much preparation. I’m the type of actor who, after a read-through for a play, learns the whole script, I’m off book. I don’t like working with a script in my hand because I find that debilitating, since that’s not how you would ever do it. I like to play around with how I would normally do it. It requires such intense preparation that it prepares you for film and television in that way. Even though you are only shooting a couple scenes a day, you know it inside and out.

For me, I would find going from film and television to theatre more difficult. You’re also really naked in theatre (not literally, of course), but you’re up there and you have a role in it, and you have to make sure you’re really strong. I’ve been in plays where I’ve forgotten a line or skipped 40 pages in the script, and you just have to roll with it. But in film and television there’s that too, because sometimes an actor throws something at you that you weren’t expecting and you just go with it — and that’s normally the goal, that’s the best stuff. So it’s fine-tuning your instincts, and doing theatre first really did that [for me].

GALO: Is theatre one way that you like to keep yourself busy and on your toes? I read in another interview that you like doing more than one thing at a time, whether it’s directing, acting or writing; that you almost don’t feel like yourself if you’re not busy. What is one project or hobby that you are dying to try that you haven’t yet tackled, whether it’s in the film industry or in a different field entirely?

MO: I think I would like to do something different, like own a bar or restaurant — I always thought that would be kind of cool and fun. But mostly, I have so much passion for film, television, theatre and movies that it takes up a lot of my creative energy. It’s not that I’m too exhausted to do something else, it’s that I don’t want to. I am so in love with it that it’s the only thing I ever want to do. Down the road, like I said, I may want to do something else business-wise on the side, but I just love this too much; it’s what makes me feel good.

GALO: Is there another type of role that you are particularly interested in trying, like playing the bad guy, for instance?

MO: I did a couple episodes of Hannibal this year where I played a really kind of deranged character. I also produced a short film that we’re shopping around to make into a feature called Dennis that I was in as well, and that’s a dark character. I would like to do something that’s all-consuming in a way. I think it would be really interesting to do a character that is so difficult and such a stretch that it actually takes up a lot of your time and energy. Sometimes you get used to a character so well that you can just go do it — I’m not saying it’s easy, but you can turn it on really quick. I’m working on a show in development where there’s a character like that — he has a stutter and he’s totally stunted in a lot of ways, and I think that would be really interesting to do on a long-term basis.

GALO: So with those upcoming projects, what do you hope fans get out of it or hope they see in you as an actor?

MO: You always want to show your range. It was important to me doing Hannibal this year and Dennis to show that I have another side. There’s a thing with comedic actors where people are surprised when they are really good dramatic actors — like Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, or Robin Williams. Well, to be a comedic actor, you have to be a good actor. Most comedic actors probably did a lot of drama before we saw them do comedy. It’s important that people can see that because of this notion that comedic actors can’t do dramatic stuff.

For me, mostly what I wanted audiences to get is that I love making something that people can think about; that it’s not just easy for them to take in but it makes them ponder and think about their own life in some way. I love leaving a theater questioning. Moving forward, I’ll always want to do that — with Kathy that’s what I was trying to do. Essentially, with all my short films, I try to leave it a bit open for viewers because you want it to affect them. That’s the whole point of art in a way, to point out all those notions and ideas that we share.

The final season of “Republic of Doyle” premieres on October 15 at 9 p.m. on CBC.