Julian Bailey Interview

Julian Bailey appears in Three Pines on Amazon Prime. He previously appeared in NCIS, The Young And The Restless and Just Shoot Me. He has many other acting credits.

What do you most like about being on the set of Three Pines?

Well, it was just a really awesome ensemble, a really great cast and a great crew. So overall, a beautiful spirit of camaraderie and professionalism, and I really loved shooting in Montreal, which was my hometown, and just outside of Montreal in the Eastern townships, which is beautiful.

Do you think that there are advantages to two-part episodes rather than having everything wrapped up within one episode? And what are they?

That's a good question. Yes, I think there are, and I think that we have more time to tell the story. If you think about it, a feature film usually is at least 90 minutes, so I guess we're averaging approximately 115 minutes, I'd say somewhere between 110 and 117 minutes per two episodes. I think that's cool because it gives us more time to explore the story and to get as much out of our screen time as possible, considering we're more or less generally covering one book per two episodes.

What do you think fans will most enjoy about the show?

Well, what I think fans will most enjoy or hopefully are already enjoying the most about the show is I think they will appreciate that it's about very human issues, I think things that anyone can relate with, and the fact that it's set in a small town and the fact that the scenery is so beautiful being filmed where we were in the Eastern townships of Quebec and the fact that the music is so amazing too. Our score was done by a group called Toy Drum who are incredible. I would be remiss not to mention our star Alfred Molina in the lead. He's truly a star for good reason and sets the tone and sets the bar high for all of us on set, both as an actor and just as a representative of our show. He's just full integrity, man of integrity and principal. Yeah, so he's really someone who I think people really enjoy. I had also mentioned that Tantoo Cardinal as well as all the indigenous actors are incredible, but Tantoo Cardinal for me personally has really been blowing me away with her performance on the show.

What are some ways that you get into character?

Well, I like to sit with the material for as long as I can and just let whatever comes to me, come to me. I like I try it not to force anything as far as my choices go as an actor, but I love the opportunity to just be with the material and be quiet with the material and really just focus on my objectives, I guess as a character and what I want as a character, what I need as a character. I guess in that sense I keep it pretty simple. I try not to complicate things too much. I hope that's a good enough answer.

What has been your favorite TV role to play?

Definitely this one ranks among the top, if only for the fact that I've got a chance to explore my character over the arc of a whole season, even though it's only an eight episode series in the olden days, I guess we would call that sort of a long miniseries, but nowadays with streaming eight episodes, it's solid enough series. So I would have to put Peter Morrow up there at the top, Peter Morrow in Three Pines, and then I did an episode of Just Shoot Me years ago with David Spade. That was really fun and I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed playing this sociopathic sailor on NCIS in season one, actually of NCIS, petty officer, Ronald Zuger, who was addicted to video games and actually was ... If you watch the episode, you'll see he's more or less a sociopath. That was sort of fun to play. I'm sure there are other ones that will come to mind, but those ones I guess jump out at me.

What would you say has been the proudest moment in your career?

Yeah, you ask good questions. Geez, that is a tough one. Hopefully I haven't had my proudest moment yet. I would say being at the premiere for Three Pines and being there for the audience's reaction to the first episode and just how well people responded to it, I would say that.

Then coupled with that, hearing that we're currently number one in the US on Amazon, number one in Canada, number one in the UK, number one in Australia and Ireland is pretty ... Kind of blows my mind, but if anything, I would say I'm more humbled by that than proud. I don't know if I would use the word proud, I think it's just kind of blown away by how well people are responding to it. I'm just so appreciative of the fans of the audience and as well as the producers and Amazon Prime for giving us the opportunity, the production company in England, Left Bank for really getting behind this thing and just for everybody involved. I just feel incredibly humbled and grateful.

Do you have a favorite genre to act in?

I don't think I do. I think I like the challenge to use that word of any genre, I love Three Pines, for example, for what it is as a drama with comedic elements. I think those are definitely in there, but it wouldn't be classified as a comedy. Three Pines is definitely a drama and I love that, but I have done a fair amount of comedy and I love doing comedy. I'm trying to think what else? Yeah, no, I think I like doing all of it, but I definitely would like to do more comedies, I will say that. But really just working, I just like working. Period. As long as the material is solid and there's nothing in it that I find personally objectionable or anything like that, then I'm really glad for the opportunity to work in whatever genre I'm given the chance to.

What has been the biggest help in your career?

Wow, the biggest help? Well, the biggest help in my career, I guess I could take that question as far as what's helped me to get where I am in my career and also let's say, what comes to mind, what's helped me to stay on track or sane in my career? I would say my family, I would feel inclined to say the prayers of my mother who's always been solid for me and always been there for me through thick and thin no matter what. My mother is someone who's always believed in me and always had my back, I think in so many ways. Just having great people around me, like a great support system and solid community and solid people around me who've been there for me without necessarily trying to get anything from me or whatever, but who just believed in me, loved me, and supported me. So I would say family, good friends, and community.

What are some of your top tips for actors who are new to the industry?

You ask all the good questions. My top tips for people, actors who are new to the industry? Well, to draw on my last answer, I would say make sure that you take care of yourself. Make sure that you take care of your body and your soul and your mind, and know that there's more to life than material or worldly success. I would say don't make it about measurable results, but make it about daily disciplines and appreciating the little things. Continuing to grow as a person. Learn as much as you can, adopt skills and hobbies, become a well-rounded person and have experiences, I mean, don't do anything crazy necessarily, but have experiences that will enrich your life.

I would say if you can do that and if you can focus on those things, I think a lot of, "Good acting." So to speak, has a lot to do with having a well to draw from. I think just living a good and interesting life will provide the resources that an actor needs to draw from. So yeah, I think all the other stuff having to do with getting an agent and preparing auditions and all that kind of thing, I think that stuff will fall into place if you can get those main things dialed in life issues.

What do you most like about acting in video games and are there specific challenges that are associated with that work?

Acting in video games does not necessarily entail motion capture work, but it often does. So it could be strictly voiceover work, which would entail going into the studio and recording your part with just your voice. For example, my part in Rainbow Six Siege, it's just my voice. I'm not in a motion capture suit or anything like that. I don't do any motion capture in Rainbow Six Siege. Whereas I believe, for example, my friend Patricia Somerset, who plays Ash in Rainbow Six Siege, I believe she did motion capture work. I believe another friend of mine, Jeff Teravainen, who plays Sam Fisher in Rainbow Six, he, I believe, did some motion capture work. Now, when I did Far Cry 5, I did a lot of motion capture work and that was really cool.

So I'll try to break it down. Motion capture work. What I love about that is that it's all about really about imagination because you're in this big space, which is called the volume, and you have this sort of wet ... It almost looks like a wetsuit, like a surf suit or something. Then you have these little balls attached to your suit, and then you have this face kind of almost looks like a headgear thing. I don't know, back in the eighties, the kids used to wear a headgear instead of a retainer braces or something like that. So yeah, doing motion capture work is cool because there's so much of your imagination is involved, and it's really cool to see the finished product where you're like, "Wow, I'm a cartoon ..." Or not a cartoon, "but I'm like a video game character now." Then there's all these other pieces that they've put into place that's really rewarding.

But what I like about doing strictly voiceover work in video games is it's relatively simple, and I love being in studios and I love doing voice work. I've been doing it since I was very young, probably 11. Yeah, roughly 11 years old. So I just love being in the studio. I love voiceover work, and I'd love to do more motion capture. I've done more voiceover and video games than I have actual motion capture, and they're both great, but the challenge of being in this empty space and having to completely use your imagination is a really rewarding challenge as an actor. So I appreciate both of those things.

Did you and Sarah Booth meet when you worked on Far Cry 5?

Yeah, we did, actually. We actually did. In fact, I think that would be the first time I met Sarah. Yeah, so that's when we first met on Far Cry 5 in Toronto. Yeah, I could take note of her at the time and realize that she was a really legit actor. I remember we talked about Los Angeles because I had recently moved back to Canada where I'm from originally after having lived in Los Angeles for about half my life at that point. So she had just moved there, so I had kind of just recently left there, and she had just moved there with her husband Gavin.

So I remember we talked about that and then later, actually, ironically, I had gone back to LA for about nearly half the year in 2019. When I came back to Canada again in September of that year, I was actually cast in a docudrama in which Sarah played my wife. So we actually worked together again on his docudrama in 2019. Little did we know that we'd be eventually cast in the same ensemble a couple of years later for Three Pines in a relatively larger profile project. So it's been really cool. Yeah, she's an amazing actor and just a really lovely person.

Have you done projects with any of the other actors in Three Pines?

There was one actor that I did work together before with, and her name is Kathleen Fee, She shows up in episode one, I believe it's episode one. If you saw the show, she's one of the two slightly older women that are on the couch together in that one part when they're interviewing suspects. Now, that's Kathleen fee. And funnily enough, when I was a child, she was the one who directed me in the Jungle Book anime series when I played Mowgli, she was my director and she's directed me in some other voiceover things before. So that's someone who I did work with before.

I also have a story about Alfred. So we were shooting episode five, I believe it was, and I asked him how he likes living out in the area that he lives in LA and I said, "I actually used to live in Pasadena," which wasn't too far from where he lived. Then he said, "I used to live in West Hollywood." I said, "I used to live in West Hollywood for a while, in fact." He said, "Really? Whereabouts in West Hollywood were you?" I said, "Just around Santa Monica and Fairfax." He said, "Oh, I lived near Santa Monica and Fairfax." I said, "Really?" He said, "Yes, a little street called Orange Grove." I said, "I lived on Orange Grove," and we realized that we lived on the same street for probably at least a couple years, if not maybe even a few years.

We used to go to the same dry cleaners, we used the same dry cleaners. We used to go to the same Russian bakery that was right next to the dry cleaners, and we'd go to the same Whole Foods market, which was right next to both of those businesses. So that was kind of an interesting discovery. He lived further North on Orange Grove, and I lived further South on Orange Grave, so that was kind of funny. So we didn't work together, but we did live on the same street.

Where can people follow you and your work?

Well, I would say the best place as far as social media goes would be Instagram. That would be, @iamjulianbailey. That's my Instagram. I am Julian Bailey, and that's where I'm most active on social media. Having said that, I do have a Twitter, but I have not been active on it really at all. I had a few different handles, and I'm trying to focus on the one that matches my Instagram. So the Twitter is also, @iamjulianbailey, but I'm going to point out that I really hardly have any followers on there yet. So I'm just kind of starting on the Twitter thing, and we'll see if that goes anywhere. If you want to be more assured that you'll be able to follow me in. What I'm getting up to Instagram for now would be the place. But I will put out there that I do have a Twitter, and if someone wants to follow me on Twitter, please feel free. I could use the followers.