Post by LaurenM on May 3, 2007 11:56:56 GMT -5
Life with Derek anything but boring
Lead role keeps Seater busy; in town Saturday for Family Expo
By TIM ARSENAULT Television Reporter
Michael Seater has been acting for a little over half his life. In his case, that means he’s been
pretty busy.
Seater, 20, plays the title role in Life with Derek, the Canadian programming staple on Family Channel about a blended family.
But his career path had more humble, home-grown origins.
"It just came from Grandma coming over for Sunday dinners and me always putting on a show. I think I was eight-years-old when Beauty and the Beast on stage came to town and there was an open casting call anyone could go to. My mom said, ‘Do you want to try this?’ I was like, ‘Yeah!’
"She was so nervous when we went for the audition. She’s like, ‘Aren’t you nervous?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m just excited,’ " said Seater during a phone interview from Toronto.
"I sang my song and I was too big to sit in the box to play the part of Chip. They recommended me to an agency and I’ve just been auditioning and working ever since. It’s been great."
Since premiering in the fall of 2005, Life with Derek has built a steady following among tween-aged viewers. It’s a fan base that’s been going global, too, with the show being presented on Disney Channel in the U.S.
"I think one of the reasons that the show does so well, and it’s sold in something like 10 territories and 114 countries or something crazy like that, is that it’s not too concept-heavy. Some shows are such a niche market whereas with our show we have a six-year-old, then we have two 11-year-olds, and then the teenagers and the parents. So it really is something that everybody can latch onto and relate to. Then you’ve got the two alpha characters and one’s a boy and one’s a girl so it’s not a show just for girls. We have kind of your girlier, wordy
comedy that young girls latch onto more and then you’ve got a lot of slapstick, physical comedy that the boys really like," said Seater.
"I think there’s just a really nice balance throughout the show that lets everybody get into it. As far as Canada goes we’re on Family Channel and it is such a family show that everyone can sit down and watch and enjoy."
Something that goes with the popularity is the demand for personal appearances. Seater, who will be at the We Love Our Children Family Expo in Halifax on Saturday, is invited across the country to meet viewers and if it coincides with a good cause, so much the better.
"As the show’s grown and gotten a lot bigger, they get us out there a lot more and more. It’s really great," said Seater.
"I think the stuff that’s really rewarding is when, through Family Channel, we did the Stand Up tour for Bullying Awareness Week.
"We did that last fall and that was really nice because it was more than just promotion for the show. It was about helping kids out. I was bullied as a kid, so I could relate. The kids put us on a bit of a pedestal so it’s more than just their teachers telling them bullying’s bad."
In the near term, Seater is looking forward to production of more Life with Derek episodes and said that the supply will be doubling shortly.
"Family Channel is very specific about when they release stuff because they want to release it at a time when the most kids can get to see it. There’s 26 that have aired and there’s 26 more that are waiting to air this summer or fall. In a month or so we go back to shoot another 26 episodes. There’ll be new episodes coming out for at least the next two years."
To continue making up for not landing that Beauty and the Beast part, Seater has been able to squeeze in some jobs that are light years away from Derek. He was in the recent Shades of Black TV movie about businessman Conrad Black and has a role in the scientific thriller series ReGenesis.
"It’s totally different. Shades of Black, it was just a small little part, but ReGenesis, I keep going in and out of there doing some of Season 3. It works because ReGenesis is the same production company as Life with Derek. So as far as my availability goes they can finagle it so I can get away from set for a couple of hours. It’s funny because I will literally be doing a thing as Derek, jump in the car, half an hour later all of a sudden I’ve got this fake bruise around my neck from hanging myself, sitting in ReGenesis and doing a scene there."
To keep things interesting, Seater is getting more involved with the behind-the-camera world of television production. He said he and his brother are writing occasional episodes of Life with Derek.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New episodes of "Life With Derek" begin in the U.S. on May 11.
Lead role keeps Seater busy; in town Saturday for Family Expo
By TIM ARSENAULT Television Reporter
Michael Seater has been acting for a little over half his life. In his case, that means he’s been
pretty busy.
Seater, 20, plays the title role in Life with Derek, the Canadian programming staple on Family Channel about a blended family.
But his career path had more humble, home-grown origins.
"It just came from Grandma coming over for Sunday dinners and me always putting on a show. I think I was eight-years-old when Beauty and the Beast on stage came to town and there was an open casting call anyone could go to. My mom said, ‘Do you want to try this?’ I was like, ‘Yeah!’
"She was so nervous when we went for the audition. She’s like, ‘Aren’t you nervous?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m just excited,’ " said Seater during a phone interview from Toronto.
"I sang my song and I was too big to sit in the box to play the part of Chip. They recommended me to an agency and I’ve just been auditioning and working ever since. It’s been great."
Since premiering in the fall of 2005, Life with Derek has built a steady following among tween-aged viewers. It’s a fan base that’s been going global, too, with the show being presented on Disney Channel in the U.S.
"I think one of the reasons that the show does so well, and it’s sold in something like 10 territories and 114 countries or something crazy like that, is that it’s not too concept-heavy. Some shows are such a niche market whereas with our show we have a six-year-old, then we have two 11-year-olds, and then the teenagers and the parents. So it really is something that everybody can latch onto and relate to. Then you’ve got the two alpha characters and one’s a boy and one’s a girl so it’s not a show just for girls. We have kind of your girlier, wordy
comedy that young girls latch onto more and then you’ve got a lot of slapstick, physical comedy that the boys really like," said Seater.
"I think there’s just a really nice balance throughout the show that lets everybody get into it. As far as Canada goes we’re on Family Channel and it is such a family show that everyone can sit down and watch and enjoy."
Something that goes with the popularity is the demand for personal appearances. Seater, who will be at the We Love Our Children Family Expo in Halifax on Saturday, is invited across the country to meet viewers and if it coincides with a good cause, so much the better.
"As the show’s grown and gotten a lot bigger, they get us out there a lot more and more. It’s really great," said Seater.
"I think the stuff that’s really rewarding is when, through Family Channel, we did the Stand Up tour for Bullying Awareness Week.
"We did that last fall and that was really nice because it was more than just promotion for the show. It was about helping kids out. I was bullied as a kid, so I could relate. The kids put us on a bit of a pedestal so it’s more than just their teachers telling them bullying’s bad."
In the near term, Seater is looking forward to production of more Life with Derek episodes and said that the supply will be doubling shortly.
"Family Channel is very specific about when they release stuff because they want to release it at a time when the most kids can get to see it. There’s 26 that have aired and there’s 26 more that are waiting to air this summer or fall. In a month or so we go back to shoot another 26 episodes. There’ll be new episodes coming out for at least the next two years."
To continue making up for not landing that Beauty and the Beast part, Seater has been able to squeeze in some jobs that are light years away from Derek. He was in the recent Shades of Black TV movie about businessman Conrad Black and has a role in the scientific thriller series ReGenesis.
"It’s totally different. Shades of Black, it was just a small little part, but ReGenesis, I keep going in and out of there doing some of Season 3. It works because ReGenesis is the same production company as Life with Derek. So as far as my availability goes they can finagle it so I can get away from set for a couple of hours. It’s funny because I will literally be doing a thing as Derek, jump in the car, half an hour later all of a sudden I’ve got this fake bruise around my neck from hanging myself, sitting in ReGenesis and doing a scene there."
To keep things interesting, Seater is getting more involved with the behind-the-camera world of television production. He said he and his brother are writing occasional episodes of Life with Derek.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New episodes of "Life With Derek" begin in the U.S. on May 11.
