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::TV NEWS::
LE Newsletter - February 2, 2012
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Chantal Sutherland Co-Stars In HBO’s Luck
Source:
www.thestar.com - By Rob Salem
(Jan 27, 2012) Horses get shoed. Jockeys get pedicures.
Well, some jockeys. When I talked on the phone Wednesday with
Toronto-bred thoroughbred racer
Chantal Sutherland,
she was having her toes done for that night’s L.A. premiere of
the all-star HBO drama Luck, in which she makes her
acting debut . . . as a jockey.
The racetrack drama, produced by equine enthusiasts David Milch
(Deadwood, NYPD Blue) and Michael Mann (Miami
Vice, The Insider), and co-starring the likes of
Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, debuts on HBO Canada Sunday night
at 9.
Though Sutherland and her toes walked the red carpet that night,
her “hay job” will prevent her from attending this weekend’s
secondary event, appropriately relaunching the show in the
gambling mecca of Las Vegas.
Sutherland doesn’t have much to do with the gambling side of the
racing game. But then, she didn’t know much about acting before
she Luck-ed out and made the cut from a hundred
auditioning real-life racers.
Though the model-gorgeous blond has been featured in Sports
Illustrated and Vogue, and was named one of People
magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful People,” she nonetheless admits
to having had a hard time watching herself in the one finished
episode of Luck that she’s seen.
“It’s embarrassing,” she admits, “watching yourself with all
these other people watching.”
On set it was easier, she says, if initially intimidating
“It’s a pretty cool job,” Sutherland allows. “When I got to set
I had my own private little trailer. I mean, there’s a lot of
standing around — I’ve learned to bring along my iPad — and, as
a jockey, you really have to learn to stay away from the craft
services table. But when you do act, it’s a lot of fun.
“I don’t know if I’m any good at it, but I am enjoying the
ride.”
And superstar co-stars Hoffman and Nolte? “They’re just really
nice guys,” Sutherland insists. “Fun to talk to, fun to be
around.
“It’s pretty interesting. I’m meeting a lot of interesting
people.”
Another of those interesting people, though they have so far met
only once in passing, is co-star and fellow former Torontonian
Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan), cast here in Luck
as a wryly stoic track veterinarian.
Not a real horse doctor . . . she just plays one on TV.
She has done her homework though. “The character is based on a
real vet that I’ve been working with,” she says, “very well
respected, who Michael and David both knew. She happens to be a
Canadian, by the way, from southern Ontario, though she now
works mostly out of Santa Anita and the Hollywood Race Track.”
And also occasionally on the Luck set. “The horses we
work with on the show are incredible,” Hennessy says, “very
professional. But with all the cameras and equipment around,
sometimes even they get spooked.”
Sutherland found out the hard way with a close call in the
saddle when the horse she was riding tried to duck under a
camera boom.
On another occasion, a show horse cut his forehead coming out of
a trailer and Hennessy was invited to assist. “My job was
basically to hold the equipment and calm the horse down. Now, I
don’t know if you’ve ever dealt with an injured animal that’s a
couple of feet taller than you are . . . I’m dancing, I’m
telling jokes, anything to keep this beautiful creature
distracted.”
This would not be Hennessy’s only “horse call,” though the first
one was, fortunately, faked.
Her Luck character has barely been introduced when she
finds herself elbow-deep up an ailing horse’s rectum.
“Needless to say, I got to know the horse — his name is Buzz —
really very well. And he was very considerate. Then I just sort
of moved his tail aside and mimed it. I did not have to actually
insert my arm — trust me, it was all camera angles. I was
careful not to exploit Buzz in any way.”
Perhaps they’ll add that to the customary end-of-credits
disclaimer, “No animals were harmed or humiliated by Jill
Hennessy during the making of this film.”
“I hope so or that will be my epitaph,” she laughs. “I don’t
want the animal rights groups after me.” |
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::ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADAN TWIST::
