ASK AARON ABRAMS how he landed a leading role in Take This Waltz, and he’ll tell you it’s because of his resemblance to Seth Rogan and Sarah Silverman, who play his brother and sister in the film. “I’m like the missing link between the two that makes it believable for them to play siblings,” the Bayview native jokes.
Take This Waltz is one of two films starring Abrams that will have its world premiere at TIFF. The other, 388 Arletta Avenue, is a thriller co-starring Nick Stahl and Mia Kirshner. But it’s Take This Waltz, with its high-wattage cast, that’s generating the most buzz leading into the festival. Abrams describes the film as a bittersweet dramedy about a woman (Michelle Williams) who has an affair while on a business trip only to discover that the man (Luke Kirby) lives right across the street from her and her husband (Rogan). It’s the second film by writer-director Sarah Polley, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for her first film, Away from Her.
“Sarah is a brilliant person, one of my favourite people on earth, and she wrote an amazing script that is funny and sweet and sad and heart wrenching,” says Abrams. Abrams has known Polley since they were classmates at Earl Haig Secondary School, and they later co-starred on the hit series Slings and Arrows.
These days, Abrams is working on — he’s writing, producing and starring in — a comedy series tentatively titled Highland Gardens. The show’s inspired by the L.A. hotel where many broke Canadian actors live while trying to land their big break in Hollywood. Abrams himself splits his time between Toronto and L.A., but he’s racked up more than 40 acting credits on his resumé, including roles in Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe, and Amelia with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Not bad for “an annoying look-at-me kid” (those are his words) who grew up in the Bayview area.
Abrams says Highland Gardens is expected to premiere on CTV early next year, and he’s already finished work on another new film, co-starring Toni Collette and Michael Sheen and produced by Julia Roberts.
“It’s amazing to me that I get to act opposite some amazing people, people I’ve idolized since I was eight years old,” he says. “One minute I’m doing a scene with Alan Alda, and the next we’re chatting about the weather.”
