'Sterling Point' Star Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie Talks New Summer Series and Representation
the rising canadian actor makes his english language debut in megan park’s new coming-of-age series
Few pairings have lead to such rapid success as young-adult/teen oriented shows and Prime Video. The streamer has launched contemporary YA juggernauts such as The Summer I Turned Pretty, and more recently, Off-Campus. Enter Sterling Point, a brand new YA series from rising writer/director Megan Park (The Fallout, My Old Ass), set on an island in Muskoka, Ontario, following a pair of New York siblings spending their summer on the island, which their estranged late grandfather had entrusted to them in his will. What follows is a series of climactic reveals, themes of family, self-identity, and a slew of reimagined teen drama hallmarks. Among the series’ leads is Ellis, played by Quebec’s Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, making his English acting debut as the reserved but hardworking young man who emerges as one of the series’ romantic leads, and has many introspective layers that get revealed over the course of the show. A character like Ellis is emblematic of the breadth of nuanced characters in the series, and his inclusion specifically adds a lot of depth and authenticity to a show that could have very easily come off as shallow and out of touch. Jacob spoke with FilmSpeak about inhabiting the role of Ellis, what creative conversations were had, and having unique learning experiences on set.
FilmSpeak: I'm wondering what the biggest change from Ellis's character was from the initial conversations with the showrunners, to the actual inception of the character in the show.
JWL: “Yeah, you know, from the start, when I read, you know, [Ellis’] character description in the self-tape, I was like, this guy's pretty similar to me. I found myself in him. He's just this very quiet, hard working teen, and, you know, when I got to sit down with Megan, and actually break down the character, and the story, obviously, that helps you as an actor to really dig deeper and understand the character. Sitting down with Megan from the from the start was was super helpful because we got to really break him down and understand where he comes from, his environment… the way he is in general, how he grew up. Megan told me that Ellis is pretty low key, he grew up without Internet, without a phone, so he is, pretty disconnected from all the modern social media stuff, you know, he doesn't quite relate to that.”
FS: I love that you mentioned Ellis’ disconnected nature because even with a show like Sterling Point, which is built around secrets and reveals and everything, Ellis is a very withholding character. I think it speaks to how much angst there is in the show, like there isn't any good teen drama, and so much of that is personified in Ellis. I'm wondering what it was like from a performance standpoint to incorporate that sense of angst, but also make sure you have these layers of withholding in him because I feel like that's really crucial to the plot.
JWL: “Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. I feel like I had to to sit down with [the material] and have those conversations, but, it felt super natural for me to just play like this quiet kid, because I feel like I am one at heart. When I was reading the scripts, I realized that Ellis is a man of few words. For me, at least, it was really about acting with my eyes and in my face for most parts, to really give off his vibe… because obviously he's not the super talkative kind. It was really fun. Obviously we get to know him throughout the show, but at first, [Ellis] does come off as maybe a little stubborn, doesn't really fit in, because obviously, he grew up on a lake. Annie (Ella Rubin) comes in, and she's from the city, and, Ellis is not super used to that. He’s repaired boats and stuff, and works with people from the city, but, obviously, when she comes in, it's like a, it's like a big breath of fresh air for him. I feel like Ellis doesn't have a lot of friends in general, [let alone] a lot of city friends. It's love at first sight, but, I think her chaotic manner really stands out to him.”
FS: Something else I really appreciate about this show is that it's diverse in ways that I didn't expect. Myself being an Ontarian, I know that the idea of these kind of kids who went up north for the summers to cottages and lakes and everything of that sort, our understanding of those ideas and circumstances are kind of rooted in affluence and kind of an inherent whiteness, I would say. The show recognizes that, it recognizes that privileged aspect of it, but it also doesn't lose sight of the fact that the Muskoka area, northern Ontario and areas outside of the GTA can still be very diversely populated. I'm wondering what the conversations were like about having that kind of representation, especially with Ellis as an indigenous character within in the context of this show.
JWL: “Definitely, I feel really proud to be that representation in the show, and it's definitely a breath of fresh air for the younger generation. Myself, I didn't have a lot of references as a kid, so it's definitely inspiring for the younger generation, and I feel like representation in TV and film is growing larger every year, which is really fun to see, and it's super refreshing. Yeah, I had these conversations with Megan, and, um, it's, it's, it's definitely, it's very fun to be able to portray that in the show. You know, for a lot of the cast, it was their first time in Canada, so that was really interesting. Getting to show them my country was really fun. I mean, Muskoka is a different beast and was definitely interesting for the cast that have never been to Canada. Everyone was floored by the, the scenery of Muskoka. And obviously, me too. Like, I grew up in Quebec, and, you know, we have these kind of lakes in Quebec, but, like, Muskoka has these huge mansions on lakes. I've never seen anything like it.”
FS: Earlier, you mentioned the very physical nature of Ellis's performance. We get to see lots of him fixing things, operating thing, etcetera. I love asking this question to actors. Do you have examples like that of on-screen tasks that like seem very innocuous and easy, but are actually like pretty hard to pull off in a take?
JWL: “Yeah, that's a good question. For Ellis, I definitely had to do all types of stuff on screen for the first time. With the seaplane, they had to show me how to look like a pro, to rock it, and to attach it to the dock and stuff. I had a few lessons with the boating people and stuff… I've had some experiences boating as a kid, but, that big workboat that Ellis drives in the show, that was definitely a challenge because it was a huge boat with 2 motors. Having to dock that was, was definitely a challenge. We rehearsed so many times, and I, I felt like at the end, I was getting pretty confident at docking the boats, but obviously when it's time to shoot, it's a whole different story, because you have all this pressure, everyone's looking at you, and, you know, we're rolling, and time's ticking. So, I definitely felt, um, a little nervous getting into the scenes and, you know, every time I'd wake up and I had a boat day, I was like, ‘all right, I gotta, I gotta nail this, I gotta nail this in front of everyone.”