Luke Kirby has a wonderfully varied acting resume. He's done everything from classical drama to TV, to horror. He had a prominent role in the recent teen-targeted slasher film, "Halloween Resurrection," and he won some rave reviews for his excellent performance in the instant indie classic "Lost and Delirious." His most recent feature, "Mambo Italiano" was one of the more accessible films at the 2003 Chicago International Film Festival. I caught up with Luke the first week of the festival and recorded his ruminations on his background, his various projects, and the current state of Canadian cinema. He also told me about some of his more famous co-stars, such as rapper Busta Rymes and the veteran actor, Paul Sorvino. Luke was a thoughtful, fascinating interview subject.

LK: I was born in Hamilton, Ontario to two American expatriates. My mom is from Brooklyn and my dad grew up all along the eastern seaboard. They moved to Canada in 1974 to escape the madness of New York City. They were idealistic hippies. They decided to move to Canada with $500 dollars to buy a farm. I was raised in a small farm town. I studied drama at the National Theatre School of Canada. It's a theatre conservatory that mostly focuses on classical works. It's a sister school to Julliard.

LK: The first play I did was a production of "Peter Pan" when I was in grade 2. I played a lost boy. In theatre school, we did lots of Chekhov and Ibsen. I also focused a lot on Restoration Theatre in a class. They had gossipy characters with high sex drives. Thomas Otway and operettas by Purcell. Outside of school, we did lots of new Canadian plays by people like Judith Thompson and Daniel Brooks.

A casting director was looking for someone to be in "Lost and Delirious," a film that Lea Pool was directing. The theatre school director recommended me and I auditioned. I got the part while I was finishing up theatre school. At the same time I got a role in Toronto as a Holocaust survivor in a CBS mini-series called "Haven," which featured many Canadians as well as American actors such as Anne Bancroft and Natasha Richardson. So for the first two months after theatre school, I was going back and forth between Toronto and Montreal. I played a lecherous, chauvinistic private school guy who has an attraction for a lesbian in "Lost and Delirious" and a German Holocaust survivor who plays an accordion in "Haven." I met some warm and welcoming actors with a theatre background. Colm Feore, who was known for his work with the Stratford Festival, took me under his wing. He also went to the American Film Theatre and he did many films. He was so enthusiastic about doing films that he gave me the bug, too.

LK: I don't really prefer one to another. When I'm in the theatre I do feel a little more like I'm in a home because it's grounded in one space. Film is more of a circus. In film you have to be willing to go anywhere at anytime, which can be exciting. I've been to neighborhoods I would have never seen. Film is still new to me, but I like the idea that with film anyone can see my work anywhere. It's like Marshall Mcluhan's idea that you can be present at more than one place at one time.

LK: All of my work was done in Canada except for "Troilius and Cressida." That was an Off-Broadway play that Peter Hall directed in New York with the company, Theatre for A New Audience. It was neat to hang around with Peter Hall. He has been around the block so many times and he has never hardly taken a vacation since he started directing. He had a lot of stories to tell, and it was great to hear about the seedy underbelly of British theatre.

LK: Not really. I watched a few as a kid and had to sleep between my parents for months. I had a few friends that were "Halloween" junkies. They used to take me to see the "Halloween" films. They even dressed up like Michael Myers. I thought that I had to be in it for the buds. I'm not really afraid of horror films anymore, though.

LK: We aren't in any scenes together but I got to meet her the first day. I was overwhelmed because it was the first time I was in a film that had a substantial budget. They were shooting an old mental institution. Jaime was a very wacky bird and she was very nice to me. We just hung out in her trailer and talked. She showed me the storybooks she is making for children.

LK: He was awesome. When I was 12, I listened to his old group, Leaders of the New School, who I listened to with fervor. He was also doing stuff with A Tribe Called Quest and other people I had listened to. He had an entourage and he took me to all the clubs. He showed me the inner workings of the hip-hop life. I got a little taste of that.

LK: The one director I'd love to work with, that I have little chance of meeting, is Nikita Mikhalkov. He did "An Unfinished Piece for Piano Player," one of my favorite films of all time. He also did "Dark Eyes," "Burnt by the Sun," and "Close to Eden." His movies feel like they were sent from a proletariat heaven. I'm a big fan. If I ever got the opportunity to learn Russian, that would be my dream.

LK: To me, Independent films usually have more appealing content. If you're going to be an actor you should do it because it's heart felt and inspiring. I look for a film that I can keep under my pillow at night. That can happen with studio films, but it's more rare. I wish we would have a resurgence in more personal studio films like we had in the `70s, with films like "Serpico," The Godfather," and "Dog Day Afternoon." If they put more money into edgier studio films again, I would be happy to go that way. Who knows? I could be in a "Fast and the Furious" films. You never know.

LK: I certainly pulled stuff from people I knew, including some gay Italian guys. I took some stuff from Steve Gallucio, the guy who wrote the script. I didn't consciously model Angelo after him but lots of his friends say I'm playing him. In "Lost and Delirious," I just let out the inner jerk in me. In "Halloween" I just acted like a clown.

VC: Both "Lost and Delirious" and "Mambo Italiano" had gay characters. "Will and Grace" and several new sitcoms also have gay characters. Do you think that film and TV audiences are more receptive of homosexuality than they once were?

I don't have anything new I'm working on but there's some stuff in the can that is coming out. "Lock" is a Canadian independent film that's written and directed by Peter Wellington. I play a guy named Shane who is obsessed with a girl played by Sarah Polley and she breaks his heart. Sarah Polley is a brilliant actress. He challenges God, starts gambling, and ends up becoming a bookie. It takes place in 1972, when the Canadian hockey team took on the USSR. It was a huge event when Canada won, and everyone there remembers where he or she was. It's coming out sometime next year. I'm very proud of it. I also have a mini-series called "Slings and Arrows," a six part mini-series about a Shakespeare festival. It deals with the corporatization of Shakespeare and I play an action hero who wants to do Shakespeare to better his image.

VC: A few years back, many Canadian films came out that had dark, grotesque humor, and psychologically perverse themes. Some of the films were associated with the so-called "geek cinema." Do you see any new trends in Canadian film or theater?

LK: There has been a reworking of the funding system. Telefilm will not fund any films now unless they are marketable and commercial. They're following the Hollywood model. So we may see Canadian films that are more glitzy and glossy. Hopefully, it will generate a larger audience for Canadian films in Canada. Right now everyone only breaks even. Most Canadians only watch Hollywood films, except for the art house lovers. But it may be a mistake to challenge Hollywood on it's own turf. There may be a danger that Canadians will stop doing the type of films they do best.