Launched last year as a parody of the spy and procedural genres, CBC's InSecurity debuted a rejigged format when it returned for its second season last week: that of your more traditional office sitcom.
Set in Ottawa, at the fictional National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), the show revolves around secret agent Alex Cranston (Natalie Lisinska) and her team of spies, as they juggle "dates, terrorists, pets, ex-boyfriends and the safety of the nation."
Yup, typical office comedy stuff.
Last week I spoke with William deVry, who plays NISA director Peter McNeil , a character whose strengths include delegation, supervision and cheekbones.
DeVry gave me the scoop on season two's format changes, his approach to his character, and what it's like shooting in Regina.
What can viewers expect from season two of InSecurity?
We’re going to get more in-depth into the personal lives of the characters. There’s a little bit less action. Last year was very much ‘Terrorism never sleeps,’ so the pace was very quick. This year we slowed down the pace a little bit, for a little bit more character interaction. So we’ve gone back to sort of an almost office comedy, with a little bit of espionage, as opposed to constant terrorist activity.
Do you know what the reasoning was behind this new direction?
I don’t honestly know, but I guess they have all these formulas that they calculate with minute-to-minute ratings and all of that. It’s calculations that I really don’t get involved with nor do I believe all the time, but they must have done some sort of thing where they thought they needed to show more of the personal lives [of the characters] ...
I know that the producers did feel there was only so much we could spoof certain shows. I think they felt the material would probably run its course trying to spoof CSI or Without A Trace or whatever that may be. That’s probably come to think of it, part of the reason we needed the change, because we needed the content.
As an actor, are you able to explore the character in a different way with these format changes?
I sort of looked at myself last year and I had already decided to make a few changes this year, just in my personal delivery. I felt I needed to slow down a little bit. But that’s just technical stuff. As opposed to some of the other characters who were more out in the field fighting terrorism, I felt I had the least amount of adjustment to make. As you know, last year ... there was a little bit of ineptness in the characters. This year they’re a little bit more confident and not so bumbling.
You shoot for the most part in Regina, which is somewhere I’ve never been, and have never necessarily thought of going. Can you tell me what it’s like shooting there?
It’s quite good. Believe it or not, they’ve got a great sushi bar there, that is fantastic, comparable to anything you could find in Vancouver. Albeit, where you’ll find 20 great sushi restaurants in Vancouver, at least you’ll have one in Regina. There’s a great steakhouse had called Golf’s, that has the best tableside-made ceaser that I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve traveled excessively. It’s absolutely fantastic.
The city itself is easy to get around. Beautiful park, Wascana park – You can bike ride around the massive lake and around the legislative buildings, rollerblade or walk your dog. It’s a really fantastic city park. It’s actually well worth the visit to be honest with you. If someone was to go for four or five days there, they wouldn’t be bored at all.
Your career thus far has been fairly diverse, spanning drama, sci-fi, soaps, and now comedy. Is there a certain type of role or genre you like to tackle best?
I enjoy it all. I think as an actor you want to go back and forth, part to part, character to character, so you don’t get too pegged into one character. So I’d like to do a heavy drama next. As it is, I’m about to shoot a romantic comedy feature called In Return. And my character’s a sort of fastidious, uppity store clerk.
What’s the appeal of playing your current character Peter McNeil?
It’s just the joy of doing a comedy, [coming] from doing drama, which is what I did last with Godiva’s and Bold and the Beautiful. It’s just a departure from that. Peter’s just a lot of fun. The more I get to know him, the more endearing the character becomes on paper. Whether or not I can translate what I see on the paper to the screen, that’s up to the audience. But from what I see on paper, I just sort of see this guy that’s a little bit misunderstood and once you get to know him he can be a lot of fun. He might be a little narcissistic, but once you get to know him a little bit, like any person, you go ‘Oh there’s another side to this person.’ So doing that on a comedy level is always fun.
You have roots in Canada, but you’ve worked both in the States and in Canada. Would you say there’s anything distinctly Canadian about InSecurity as a television show?
On paper, script-wise, I don’t necessarily think so. When you look at The Office or Parks & Recreation, I think that can kind of go anywhere. While I think with NISA, that could be in the States as well. It could be anywhere . . . Interoffice relationships or issues or personality conflicts, you’re dealing with all that stuff . . . It’s all in the eye of the beholder. TV and film is subjective to whoever’s watching it ... I know a lot of money is put towards the screen value [on InSecurity]. I don’t think when you’re looking at the final product you’re thinking ‘Oh, this is definitely Canadian.’
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InSecurity airs Mondays at 8:30 p.m EST on CBC.