Michael Shanks

Interview by Blaine Schlechter for I'm Here With Magazine

You star as ‘Will Sanders’ in the CBC show Unspeakable which has its season finale on Wed Feb 27th. For those who haven’t been following or are planning on doing some binge watching to catch up on CBC Gem…tell us a bit about the show?

The series mostly focuses on a couple of families in the 1980’s who both have children that were/are hemophiliacs who, through the Canadian tainted blood scandal, one of them contracts Hep C and the other one contracts the AIDS virus. It’s about the fallout and the fight against the institutions that allowed it to happen. It sort of explains it to the larger population bases that really didn’t know too much about what was going on about how these families dealt with it and are still dealing with it and how lives were affected during that time frame.

Is there anything you can share about the finale or is it best to just tune in and watch it?

I think after the first seven (episodes) it’s hard, there’s so many different story lines going on. I say it’s mostly about these two families, (but) there is a large number of people that sort of get picked up along the way that all the parties are dealing with, both friends and people that are associated with the battle; nurses and lab techs and others that are part of it. It’s kind of best to tune into it, but obviously for anybody that can’t it’s best to watch it all the way through, otherwise it’s kind of hard to pick it up on the fly. There’s so many different threads that’s ongoing, and it takes place over a 25 year period, so it’s quite a complicated story that way.

You obviously have some great credits to your name, including Stargate SG-1 and Saving Hope. Is there any one particular project that you’ve done that you are extra proud or extra passionate about that you wish more people had seen or should see?

I certainly think that Unspeakable is one. It’s one of those shows that I found, given what the ratings have been for it, that unfortunately I find that it’s a lot like the scandal in the first place, that most of the people that seemingly comment on it over social media and live when it’s going on and on Facebook after, are people that were directly affected by it. Other people are not watching the show. I did another one for the CBC called the The Gordie Howe Story that I was quite passionate about that I’m not sure garnered a huge audience that I was very proud of. But this one (Unspeakable), because of its importance. I have a friend who is a blood oncologist out East who I’ve known since childhood, who’s been sending me information about it and how he’s been watching is very closely and how great it is. And so many people who were part of it or part of the blood industry and were affected by the tragedy or knew people affected by the tragedy are watching it, and the other people aren’t it seems. As new people are being exposed to it, I find it kind of ironic, because that was the problem in the first place. I was one of the people certainly who was ignorant of the story to a large degree because I wasn’t affected by it in the 80’s and this show has educated me, as well, as well as my relationship with Rob Cooper who wrote and produced it.

The nice thing with today’s technology and the CBC Gem app and online is that people can still catch up as they hear more and more about it and gain momentum that way. What’s next for you that fans can watch for?

I’m doing a couple of projects right now that are projects on Netflix; I’m not entirely sure how much I’m allowed to talk about. I’m a reoccurring (character) in these shows. One is a new series called Virgin River that will be airing on Netflix in, I think, the fall. And the second season of Altered Carbon I’m going to be appearing in, so those are my things coming up.

Unspeakable airs it’s finale on CBC on Wed Feb 27 but of course you can catch up on all episodes on the CBC Gem app and online. Last questions that I need to ask…I understand that you were quite the hockey player growing up, so which Canadian team do you think has the best shot at winning the Stanley Cup this year?

(Laughs) Boy oh boy! Obviously I think that it’s a toss-up between Calgary, the Jets and Toronto…but I’m going to go with the Jets. I think they got a team that’s more built for the playoffs right now, so I think I’m going to go with the Jets. And it’s got nothing to do with my outright hatred of Calgary or Toronto…absolutely nothing to do with it (laughs).

I completely understand. Thanks a lot for chatting with me, I appreciate it.

You bet.