Not everyone manages to self-fund a passion project of a film that becomes so popular with fans that Netflix personally sees to it that a sequel to the movie gets made. But then again, not everyone gets to act alongside comedy legends Eugene Levy, Bonnie Hunt and Steve Martin in their first ever acting job. Robbie Amell just seems to have that kind of influence.
The Toronto actor certainly didn’t anticipate that the short film he helped fund and produce with his friend, director Jeff Chan and starred in with his cousin Stephen Amell would turn into the massive, now Netflix-backed hit that is Code 8: Part II. But he credits the success to the support of so many talented friends in the process.
“We have the best crew in Toronto. At our budget range, we should not have the people that we do. But the cast, crew, producers — they were all friends, and having talented friends really goes a long way.”
Back in 2016, Amell and his cousin took to crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to raise $200,000 to turn the short film into a movie. Instead, fans and supporters helped raise a whopping $2.4 million, leading to the creation of Code 8, which had a limited theatrical release. When talks of a sequel began, Netflix stepped in — and Robbie Amell was back into the producer role and starring alongside his cousin once again for Code 8: Part II.
It’s an amazing accomplishment for someone who, he says, “fell ass-backwards” into acting. “I did commercials and print work as a kid, but then I was playing hockey seven days a week, and I didn’t have time,” he says. But then, the summer before Grade 11 at Lawrence Park Collegiate, Amell got an audition for Cheaper By the Dozen 2.
“I booked it and shot for two months over the summer, and it was totally life-changing. I talked to some of the kids and parents on set and they told me I should take the film as an opportunity, but I didn’t know how to get an agent,” he says. “They said, ‘Call any agent in the city and you’re on set shooting Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and they’ll sign you.’”
Having an acting credit with Eugene Levy and Steve Martin as scene partners was enough to kickstart his career — Amell landed recurring roles on Life With Derek and True Jackson, VP, a lead role in movie The Duff and eventually a superhero stint on The Flash. And in 2020, he landed the lead in comedy series Upload.
Code 8 was a chance for Amell to create something of his own as both producer and actor.
“We were just trying to make our version of a grounded, gritty superpowers movie. We wanted to take something that people can relate to and add the powers and the visual effects to make it a little more entertaining,” he says.
Code 8 follows a world where 4 per cent of the population are born with supernatural abilities but, unlike the superhero stories we’re familiar with, they’re faced with discrimination and often live in poverty. The sequel takes us back into that world, this time touching more heavily on law enforcement, power and corruption.
“In the movie you’ll see how these robots and the police force could be overbearing and aggressive — we wanted it to feel timely and to have some truth in it,” Amell says. “The film’s tagline is ‘Power corrupts’ — people don’t handle things that they don’t understand or that they’re scared about very well.”
Aside from the superpowers, the movie is set in a world quite like our own — and for good reason, considering it was filmed in Toronto (at one point, the news plays in the background and the channel on the TV resembles a dystopian CP24).
“In the first movie, we had two total Americans. In the sequel, we have zero,” Amell shares. You’ll recognize some of the faces on screen as fellow Torontonians, including Aaron Abrams, Alex Mallari Jr. and Jean Yoon.
Seeking Canadian talent is something of a Robbie Amell trend — the romantic drama he produced and starred in that was released in February, Float, featured Kim’s Convenience’s Andrea Bang as his co-star, Toronto’s own Sherren Lee as director and was filmed in British Columbia.
He filmed Float and Code 8: Part II back-to-back, and switching between Wattpad romance and sci-fi action was something Amell says he really enjoyed. “I like doing all of it. I’m less interested in the genre and more interested in the story and the people and those who are involved.”
That being said, he loves comedy, and is seeking a big action comedy next — “But those don’t come along too much.”
