184. Eric Peterson: Corner Gas, Comedy & Playing Oscar Leroy

Eric Peterson, the legendary Oscar Leroy from Corner Gas, joins Aaron Pete to discuss landing the role, the show's success, Brent Butt, and its cultural impact on Canada. 

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Episode Transcript

Aaron Pete (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the Bigger
Than Me podcast.
Here is your host, Aaron Peet.
One of the most legendarycharacters of Corner Gas is
Oscar Leroy.
He was an absolute fanfavourite.
Today I'm speaking with the manwho played Oscar.
We discuss starting Corner Gas,where the term jackass comes
from, the impact of the show onCanadian culture and the

(00:23):
importance of fighting for thatdistinct culture here in the
Great White North.
My guest today is Eric Peterson.
Eric, it is an honour to haveyou on the show.
I have been looking forward tothis day since I started the
show and I'm so excited to beable to speak with you.

Eric Peterson (00:40):
I've watched Corner Gas since I was a young
man, Since you were bornprobably yes, exactly, and even
before you were in vitro, youprobably watched it.
I was very young.

Aaron Pete (00:52):
Can I first ask how did this role for Corner Gas
come about?

Eric Peterson (00:57):
Well, well, that's a very big question if
you want to look at it.
There's so many ways to look atit.
I guess it came about becauseBrent Butt had this thing that
he did and he's the guy thatthought about this character.
He's the guy that wrote thischaracter.
I have no idea.
I can only assume that the kindof father that I play, you know

(01:23):
that Oscar is.
I mean, obviously Brent hassome issues with his dad I mean
no more than I had with my ownfather, and I loved my own
father very dearly but you can'tgrow up without having a few
issues about your parents.
I'm sure I've damaged mychildren in a perfectly normal

(01:43):
way as well.
So, you know, life goes on.
So, yeah, he wrote this.
Now I can remember it's a longtime ago now, eh, it seems to me
anyway that they, you know, andthey were going across the
country auditioning people.
I get an audition to go in this.
I read the kind of, I read thesides that we've had and kind of

(02:06):
set up of the, of the of thesituation, and I go Saskatchewan
.
I'm from Saskatchewan, I've gotto play this part.
You can't grow up in a provincethat never has any television
shows produced there.
And when they do produce atelevision show, you've got to
hire the local people.
You've got to hire the sons anddaughters of Saskatchewan to be

(02:30):
in it.
So when we did the part, and Iimmediately I mean it's really
wonderfully written.
It was consistently wonderfullywritten.
So this part was veryattractive to me and I could
channel my own age into it aswell, as I knew this type, the

(02:53):
ball cap slightly on the side,and the kind of his stance about
reality and the world that hefaces.
I was in my own life facing it,where everything that was new
was just stupid and people werejust stupid, you know, and it

(03:15):
used to be so much better andeverybody basically other than
himself was a jackass, and Icould really get behind that in
my own personal life and it kindof reminded me of my own father
.
My father was, you know,obviously much more complex than
most characters we see ontelevision, as real people tend

(03:37):
to be.
But, um, yeah, so that was.
So when we did the audition, Iand I don't think I've ever done
this before, and Brent was, ofcourse, brent was at the
audition and I said you have togive me this part.
I said I am this guy and I comefrom Saskatchewan.

(04:00):
That probably carried no weight.
Maybe everybody at the auditionsaid the same thing, whether
they were from Saskatchewan.
That probably carried no weight.
Maybe everybody in the auditionsaid the same thing, whether
they were from Saskatchewan ornot.
I knew several actors that didaudition for it and some were
from Vancouver.
Maybe they said the same.
They just lied and said youknow, I live in Vancouver, but
I'm basically from Saskatchewan,deep down, deep down in

(04:22):
Saskatchewan.
You know BC is close inSaskatchewan.
You know BC is close toSaskatchewan, closer than
Toronto.
So anyway, so that's how itcame about.
But the real genius, the realthe genius is that you know,
it's the genius of Brent Buck,basically.

Aaron Pete (04:41):
So when you auditioned, did you have a
suspicion you might get the part?
What was that follow-up call?
When did you find out and howdid that feel?

Eric Peterson (04:51):
Well, I had been in a long-running, you know the
street legal series and that wasthat had gone like what?
Eight seasons Street legalsucks.
It's a classic line.
It's totally.
I love saying that line.
I don't think I was ever sodelighted with that line.
The other one I loved was whatwas it?

(05:13):
Get the F off my lawn when thestreet sign fell down.
There's a big letter F on hislawn.
I love that one.
But to turn and say streetlegal sucks, we had to do many
takes because I would break uplaughing saying I'm delighted by
it, though sweetly.
Oh, anyways, getting back tocorner gas.
So I didn't know, so that Iauditioned for it, and then you

(05:35):
don't hear anything for a whileand of course, immediately you
go I haven't given it tosomebody, that's gone anyways.
But I really wanted to get intoa series again.
Being a Canadian actor, I meanbeing in a series, a regular in
a television series.
It's kind of the jackpot, youknow, as far as making a living

(05:57):
and feeling that you're avaluable citizen, or maybe not
even a valuable citizen, just acitizen in your country and
gainfully employed.
It's a lovely place to be.
And Street Legal was like that,and Corner Gas too.
Suddenly you're introduced tothis whole kind of routine and

(06:18):
these wonderful people thatended up being the cast, as well
as the crew, the people youdon't see becomes this
incredibly big family with someof the tensions that normal
families have.
But basically you're onlyworking together for maybe four
months a year and then comingback to it.
So I didn't hear from him andfinally then I get this call.

(06:38):
I get this call they want toscreen test me, screen in Regina
.
Now, in my expectation, when Iwas an actor, that I would be
screen testing.
They want to screen test you inLA.
They want to screen test you inNew York.
We want to fly you to Rome toscreen test with Sophia Loren,

(07:01):
or something like this.
No, this was we want you tocome to Regina and screen test,
which was fine.
My, my parents were still aliveat that point, living in Indian
Head, which is 40 miles east ofRegina, where I grew up.
So that was fine.
But because they wanted toscreen test me with the actress

(07:24):
that was going to play Emma andthey didn't say who it was and
it wasn't.
Until I got into Regina and thescreen test was the next day, I
went to the hotel and I said whoam I screen testing with Janet
Wright?
Now I almost fainted, I almostswooned.

(07:45):
I fell to the floor laughing,crying.
I went hysterical.
I had an event.
I had a psychological eventbecause I have known Janet since
Janet was the same age as me,so at that point we'd known each

(08:06):
other first.
We'd first met when we were 18.
18.
And this was like a number ofcenturies before Street League
was being shot.
So she and her sister, susan, Ihad known in the theater, the
theater, you know.
I'd never worked with themparticularly, but I we knew each

(08:27):
other from from Saskatoon,where I went to university and
Janet grew up there.
So it was.
I was tickled pink to think thatI was going to be doing this
with Jen and it does.
I mean she was, I took, we wentout together for a while when
we were 18.
So this was, this was no wonderwe kind of clicked, as this old

(08:49):
married couple and Janet Wrightwas.
She was just a wonderfullycomplex kind of defies
description, the kind of womanshe was and a wonderful actress.
She was also a very gooddirector, very smart and very
funny.
So that was a treat and it justas you saw Emma and Oscar.

(09:16):
I mean we might as well havebeen those people.
We had so much fun doing that.
We had so much fun, you know,exercising the dynamic of that
couple.
That, yeah, so that was so.
But yeah, I don't know how manybig stars, international stars,
have actually flown into Reginato screen test.

Aaron Pete (09:40):
Yeah, you're the legendary, one.
I suppose, it could be.
Yeah, you're the legendary one,I suppose.
Would you mind taking me backto season one?
What I find really interestingin interviewing the other cast
members was that nobody reallyexpected this show to go
anywhere, that there weren'thigh expectations that this was

(10:02):
going to get renewed.
Weren't high expectations thatthis was going to get renewed?
Everybody, um like fred ewanuck, um brent, we all, they all
thought they were going to havea good time, but they didn't
know if it was going to be ashort time or a long time.
What was that first season likefor you?

Eric Peterson (10:15):
it was.
It was exactly that, andespecially, um, on the location
that we had for dog river inrollo, saskatchewan, the town
that was, and and that's wherethe exterior of the of course,
as you, as people would know,that was where the exterior of
the gas station was, with theinterior of the store, but the
exterior of the Ruby was theretoo.

(10:35):
So, so you'd be there, you know, we'd be there filming, and
people would drive in from thehighway to get gas and that was
a wonderful thing aboutCanadians and they'd come in and
they'd go, they'd go, and youknow the, you know the ASM would
go up and say I'm sorry, we're,this isn't actually a gas

(10:56):
station, we're, we're shooting atelevision series here, and
people were so apologetic theygo, oh, oh, I'm so sorry here.
And people were so apologeticthey go, oh, oh, I'm so sorry as
if they, you know, as if theyinterrupted a moon launch or
something that just to pick upgas, they went.
They were so apologetic, oh,I'm terribly sorry, I'm serious,

(11:17):
we didn't.
I hope we haven't ruinedanything, you know, forgetting
entirely that they were nowstranded with an empty tank of
gas at a fake garage.
Yeah, so, and I don't know.
Yeah, it was just wonderfulthat first year, I mean, it was
so fun to shoot this series themore we did it and we were all

(11:38):
getting to know each other.
I didn't know I'd known Janet,but I didn't know Fred, I didn't
know Lauren.
You know all the people on thecast.
I didn't know Brent, and it wasyeah, so that, and the scripts
were just delightful to do.
They were, you know, and thesewere very funny people to work

(12:00):
with.
So shooting was a joy, you knowit was.
It was good material to workwith.
It was funny the guests thatwere coming in, getting to know
and getting to love and havetremendous affection for
everybody else and the wholecrew.
It was wonderful.
And for me, who cared about akind of you know, was a cultural

(12:27):
nationalist wanting us inCanada to have our own film,
television, theater experienceand contribution to the world,
as opposed to being a branchplant for the American one, or
earlier on, when I was first onethe British one you know to be
that this, this was, so I'd been, a lot of my theater had been

(12:52):
new work and and original workthat was being done in this
country.
So to be shooting thistelevision series where I had
grown up, to come out atlunchtime when you'd have
lunchtime, you know.
You know everybody goes in afilm set, your television set,
and you shut down for lunch andeverybody goes and has lunch and
then you go back to work, to bewalking and looking out at the

(13:13):
prairies.
I couldn't get over it.
I was tickled pink by this thathere I was because I had left
saskatchewan years before going,you know, to go to be an actor,
when they either had to go to.
Then I went.
I was in Vancouver for a time, Iwas in Toronto.
I'd gone to London, england,and lived there for a while and
of course there was always youhad to go to the United States

(13:36):
to work, to be, to be this.
So suddenly to be back inSaskatchewan and then having
this wonderful setup where I, inRegina, I was 40 miles from
where I'd grown up and from theCapel Valley and Lake Ketepwa,
where we'd always had a cottageand we still had a cottage.
I had this ideal setup and thenI had my kids were young then,

(13:56):
so my two daughters would comeout for an extended period, so
it was great fun for me to beable to show them where I had
grown up as well and we'dexperienced the lake and they
all, you know, helped out in theset.
It was, it was.
It was really wonderful for meto have that happen.

Aaron Pete (14:16):
So I'm just going to quickly reflect on my take on
season one.
So I've watched the show manytimes but rewatching it with
your input and with Fred's inputand Brent's and Nancy's, has
given me new perspectives on it.
And now when I look back atseason one, I feel like we were
being introduced.
There was a lot of comedy fromBrent.
I think it was a little bitmore low key and the whole cast

(14:39):
was a little more low key.
But one person was not and itwas you, and I think for that
first season you had thosemoments where it was like out of
the park humor that reallycatches people and goes like, oh
my gosh, this is hilarious.
Like, uh, this might be in theweeds, but like the taxman
episode where you're justripping through stuff and you're
just like, like my taxes payfor your salary like that energy

(15:02):
buddy boy, it's just hilariousand, like everybody else, was
more level, and then you werejust knocking it out of the park
throughout that first season.
And then you see, throughout,like subsidiary seasons,
everybody starts to come out oftheir shell and have these wild
moments.
But you really kind of likeshowed out on that first season
and I'm just wondering yourreflections on being able to

(15:24):
play that character really fullyand give energy to that well
again, I felt, uh, I felt I hada certain authority about it.

Eric Peterson (15:33):
But both in my personal you know my personal
stance to the zeitgeist that youknow, oscar's railing against
the, the old fart, railingagainst the present situation as
well as, like I said in theaudition, I knew who this guy
was.
He was my father, he was myuncle, he was everybody else's

(15:55):
father.
I knew I just, you know, thiswas a character that had met the
writing, that wasn't trying tobe another you know actor that
had acted another character.
You know I wasn't trying to besome other character from some
other series and model it onthat.
I wasn't modeling it on reallife.

(16:17):
But the other thing I have tosay about the show is and with
acting you can only act.
I don't know how to put thiswhat's written?
If there's good writing, you'llget good acting.
If you've got good actors, goodactors can act.
Good writing, good actorscannot necessarily give a

(16:37):
performance if it's bad writing,you really need that.
It's the genesis of the writingand Brent's writing and the
writers that consistentlythrough the series.
But this was my firstintroduction to comedy.
Writing like street legal wasdramatic writing.

(16:59):
So with the comedy writers andthey were inevitably.
I think all of them werestand-up comedians at one point
or another, and it made meunderstand that being a stand-up
comedian is basically a writingexercise.
They write all their ownmaterial.
And listening to Brent talkabout his travels as a stand-up

(17:20):
comedian and biker bars andother venues where if you're not
funny it can be dangerous, youknow.
So you learn to write wellquickly and the hard way, as it
were.
So their sense of structure andtiming and they may have

(17:41):
different languages, a languageabout it, like the button on the
scene and things like this orthe joke or the lead up, but as
an actor doing I had maybedifferent terminology about it,
but totally understood this andI've always felt terribly secure
in the writing that I washaving to do.

(18:03):
I didn't have to, I didn't haveto work very hard, I just had
to learn it and get into it.
You know, waste the pants andyou know I remember I love the
one where Oscar decides to buildhis own coffin.
They go to the funeral.
They go to the funeral, right,and Oscar's going.
He's going.
He looks in the coffin.

(18:24):
It's an open coffin.
He looks around the coffin's anopen coffin.
He looks around the coffin.
He goes you got ripped off,buddy boy.
He says to the corpse right.
And he goes I can do betterthan this and I'll save a lot of
money.
So he's now my.
My plot through this wholeepisode was oscar is decided
he's going to build his owncoffin.
It's going to be a lot betterthan anyone you can buy.
He talks to people about it andat the end he's standing in the

(18:46):
coffin and it's the first timehe realizes oh wait, a minute,
I'm only going to be able toenjoy this coffin after I'm dead
.
And so then he turns it into abookcase.
Well, it falls apart for onething because Oscar, though he
prides himself on his carpentry,is a terrible carpenter.
So I always loved the birdhouseyeah, exactly, so thank you for

(19:14):
saying that about it.
I loved doing that part and itstill is great fun to me.
And when we were reallyshooting it when it was on
television and a very prominentpart in all the time, I was
always being stopped by peopleon this, total strangers, coming
up to me with a big grin intheir face and would you call me
a jackass?

Aaron Pete (19:43):
And I'd go really, really resonated with.
There was something about likethe off the cuffness, the
frustration, like there wassomething about seeing that
personified so sincerely, thatlike we wanted that, like we
want that energy, and I don'tknow where that comes from.

Eric Peterson (20:00):
Well, again, I mean not to sound pompous or
anything, but again, when youhave your own culture, that is
when you are reflecting, whenyou have art forms that reflect
the culture within which theycome out of, as opposed to this
happening in Dodge City.

(20:20):
Or, you know, as Canadians wecan translate the American
experience very well and go well, we're sort of like that, but
we're not quite like that.
But in this case, where you hadBrent Bott, who grew up in this
place, reflecting in this comicway a kind of authenticity that
this wasn't based on otherforms, this was based on his own

(20:42):
experience of the people andcommunity that he lived in.
And so and I responded to thatbecause I also was interested in
making art or images orwhatever we're doing jokes,
beauty, edginess, out of anauthentic experience and that

(21:05):
then gets verified or notverified, but in this case, in
Street League, it's verified bythe audience who go.
They then recognize their ownfather, their own uncle, the
number of times that people cameup to me and say you're just
like my granddad.
Of course I wasn't just liketheir granddad, but again, so
you've, you've, you've hit on akind of arch.

(21:26):
So the community is respondingto and in this case because in
in the canadian situationthey're going.
It's kind of unusual becauseit's a canadian show.
We're so, so accustomed toseeing uh, uh content from other
places, mainly America, thatwhen we get to see our own and

(21:51):
we like it and we're proud of it, it's a kind of double whammy.
I get to think about my uncleand what a funny guy he was and
look at what this guy is doingand also I'm proud, I kind of
own it, it's mine, you know.
I mean I'm thinking as theaudience member that this is a
and you know, living inSaskatchewan, it's kind of, it's

(22:12):
kind of okay, it's kind of.
You know, the show demonstratesthat in a way.
So I think that element wasvery strong and because and I go
back again, I keep going out,you have to keep going back to
Brent Butt and the people he putaround him.
But Brent was he's a genuinevaluable artist in this country,

(22:34):
very funny, very shrewd, very areally wonderful guy.
But he really capturedsomething there.
And in a sense we, you knowagain I go to the Canadian
audience who's we've been somost of our film and television
is 99.9%.

(22:55):
So then when we hit somethingthat's ours and so.
So, even though it'sSaskatchewan, well, again, that
the the specificity of thatauthentic experience of corner
gas and what they got there inthe comic terms that it's
presented in, that's a kind ofuniversality that allows.

(23:19):
And of course, in Canada, thatSaskatchewan community is really
no different than a BCcommunity.
I mean, they may have aslightly different accent, they
bitch about the differentpoliticians from province to
province or from Newfoundland,but we're all that.
And even living in Toronto orthe city, there is a community

(23:41):
around us that has an Oscar init and has a friend.
You know, it has Hank there andyou can identify this kind of
group of people and it's adelightful experience.
The other thing with Oscar wasthat he was so unaware of what

(24:05):
kind of a guy he was.
He thought everybody else was ajackass, but basically he was
the jackass and everybody elsewas normal in a funny way, and
Emma knew this and was alwayspointing this out to him.
But she loved him.
They all tolerated, they allknew what he was like, they all
tolerated, they all knew what hewas like and I always enjoyed

(24:26):
the fact that young, you knowsort of young teenagers or
teenagers or that age, you know,the 11 or 12 year old boys.
They loved Oscar.
They because he said jackass,for one thing, but they loved
that I.
The number of times and becauseI then came to realize, because
Oscar himself in some ways wasno more mature than a 12 or

(24:50):
13-year-old kid, you know theyreally identified with him.
So when a little person wouldcome up and say, will you call
me a jackass?
And you'd go, you're a jackass,they would writhe with pleasure
.
They thought it was thefunniest thing there is.
It was really delightful.

Aaron Pete (25:07):
Where did the catchphrase jackass?

Eric Peterson (25:09):
come from.
It came from the show.
It was from Brent.
Brent had a long, you know, andthe Buddy Boys.
He had a wonderful way ofcapturing that.
And the one I loved was theWoolerton.
When they mentioned the nexttown and everybody spit that
killed me, coming from IndianHead, because the people you

(25:31):
really hated were the onesclosest to you Like.
In my case it was St Louis andFort Capel.
You know, when you had to playhockey, it's totally human
nature.
You can see this, and acrossthe world it's the next
community is the real rivalsright.

Aaron Pete (25:47):
Do you?
Do you think that like it tookoff or was jackass?
Do you think always a part ofthe plan?
Because it did become like astaple in every season and maybe
you expected to do one episode,one scene and then it just it
continued every episode it everyseason.

Eric Peterson (26:02):
It did grow, it did become and, as the show went
on, other people had you know,lauren, what was the one he had?
He had a kind of you know, Ican't remember what the phrase
was, but he had certaincharacteristic reactions to

(26:23):
things and the jackass reallytook off.
Because, again, it was a greatword, it was a great choice of
words.
This goes back again tostand-up comedians having this
hard-won knowledge of what'sfunny and what isn't funny,
because if it isn't funny you'regoing to get killed or a beer
bottle will be thrown at you.
So you better get it right orchange whatever it is that

(26:44):
you're getting the beer bottlethrown at you for right.
So jackass, that this doubleword is like.
You know, it's like asshole orsomething.
It sounds like swearing, yeah,but it isn't, and that's why the
young kids liked it.
You know it was like walkingthe line.
It sounds like this bad word.
It's a male donkey, for god'ssake, you know, a male mule or
whatever.
Jackass is a male junkass.
Oh, it's a male donkey, forGod's sake, you know, a male
mule or whatever.

(27:05):
A jackass is a male junkass.
And it's a double.
It's a that the two consonants,I mean the two vowels, I mean
the two syllables.
God, it's just too bad.
When you get old, like me,aaron, you have word flight,
word flight.
The word is there and then itjust disappears.
Yeah, so when you have the twosyllables like that, you can

(27:28):
really get behind that when youwant to say you're a jackass and
it grew.
So I used to have one maybeevery second show, then there
were one every show and thenthere was nothing but jackasses.

Aaron Pete (27:41):
So season one what was your reaction?
Fred talked about actuallygetting the call from ctv saying
like we are renewing this, thisis fantastic and the
overwhelming support of thatfirst season.
The numbers came in, you guyscame in over a million.
What was that reaction?
For you to be able to be likewow, like we, we, we actually

(28:02):
delivered, and like the audienceis responding.

Eric Peterson (28:07):
Delight, delight, surprise, gratitude, you name
it.
I, I mean, I'd had theexperience of street legal, so
part of me when it was going,thank you, Jesus, I need another
series that's going to run fora while, and this looked like it
.
But you, jesus, I need anotherseries that's going to run for a
while, and this looked like it.
But you could tell, in a way,the first season of shooting it.

(28:32):
Like you're on a set, you'redoing the things you're going,
you know what.
This is really working quitewell.
It just hasn't seen an audienceyet, but you're going yeah,
this, wow, wow, this is reallyfunny stuff.
The other thing I have to takemy hat off to is CTV and the

(28:52):
Comedy Network.
They had a group of people thatwere producing it from the
network that were very savvyabout this show.
First of all, they let Brentand David and you know, they let
the artists that were producingit run it.
There wasn't a lot ofexecutives, there wasn't

(29:14):
executives coming in.
We don't like this, we can't dothis.
In other situations I'd seen anover kind of, you know,
interference by for lack of abetter word the producing side,
the non-artistic side.
So they gave Brent his head and, of course it was well worth it
.
He knew exactly what he wasdoing and if you just let him do

(29:36):
it he would lead you to thepromised land.
There was no doubt about that.
But they had people thatrecognized that and let him.
And then they marketed thatvery well, because our first
performance it was after some Ican't even remember some big
American, I don't know show thatattracted a million people or

(29:58):
over a million people, and theykept running.
I can't remember what it was.
The Big Bang Theory, it wasn't.
No, that series I don't thinkwas even happening.
It was some other thing likethe Office.
No, it may have been a realityTV show or a music.
I can't remember what it was.
It's so long ago now.
Anyway, that drew a big audience.

(30:19):
It was like, say, you know,after the World Series came or
something, or you know it'd besomething like that, a big
audience.
And they just ran ads throughthe thing saying after this show
stay tuned for.
And lo and behold, people did.
And once you started watchingit, it was funny, it was good.
You know it was funny and andand.

(30:39):
Again, when you were shootingit, you're going.
This is funny.
I don't see how people aren'tgoing to like it.
And again, I go back to theshrewdness and the canniness of
the producing the comedy networkand CTV and the and the
executives there that went yeah,this is good, we're going to
keep this.
You know, and it filled a lotof boxes for its Canadian

(31:02):
content.
They had this.
It was just one of the.
It was just a, you know,perfect convergence of all kinds
of considerations, that it wasblessed in that way and it was
yeah.

Aaron Pete (31:19):
One of the things Lorne shared that I think was
really impactful was about howit resonated with people or the
role that it played in people'slives during certain trying
times.
The one he raised was that hehad people reach out to him who
were Canadian soldiers servingin Afghanistan and who had
reached out and said we'rewatching Corner Gas when we're

(31:41):
being rocket attacked and that'skind of our solace, our escape.
What were some of the feedbackyou had received from the impact
of the show?

Eric Peterson (31:52):
well, I never had that.
I, I totally was part ofhearing that that, that that had
happened and that situation was, yeah, it was very heartening.
Again, I go back to theauthenticity of the show.
The authentic, how authenticthe the show was, that as

(32:12):
Canadians, this did reflect incomic terms something that was
true to the experience of all ofus living in this country, that
it wasn't something we had totranslate, that a town in North
Dakota was something like us,but then again, not quite
because.

(32:32):
But this was us and this was us.
This was us and this was good.
It wasn't the other trope, whichis it's Canadian.
It has to be bad, a kind ofself-loathing about what we do
and who we are, that otheraspect, that darker aspect of us
as Canadians vis-a-vis livingnext door to this great cultural

(32:53):
behemoth called the UnitedStates and speaking the same
language.
So that whole element of it.
For me, what was so interestingabout the show was the number
of people that said I can watchit with my whole family, I can
watch it with my kids, I canwatch it with my teenagers and
we can all sit there and watchthis show and have a good time.

(33:15):
So the sense of the show,bringing that aspect to it of
community or family could enjoythis.
It was very satisfying to me andagain, it speaks to Brent's.
I mean, brent is a stand-upcomedian.
He's his.

(33:35):
His comedy is not, you know,it's not dirty jokes, it's not
bad words.
It simply catches theidiosyncraticness, and with a
right turn, of how our lives areand that was, and that gets
reflected in the show wherethings that in real life that
aren't, um, you know where,things like where a pothole

(33:57):
becomes a significant event asopposed to, you know, the cuban
missile crisis or something likethat, you know it's yeah, so I
would.
The enjoyment I thought of theshow was this, this aspect of
the family being able to enjoyit.

(34:18):
So I was very proud of that andin it.

Aaron Pete (34:22):
This question is just coming to me now.
You have a deeper connection, Ifeel like, to knowing all the
episode specifics.
Then, like, I spoke to Fred andhe basically said, like I can't
watch myself, like I can'treview the like, I just I know
it went well, but like when Iwas trying to bat past episodes
off of him he was like, yeah, Ididn't watch that, or it's been

(34:44):
a long time, and I totally getthat.
That's one of the challenges ofre-listening to interviews and
trying to figure out where I canimprove.
It can be tough to to seeyourself Watch yourself on
screen and stuff.
But I feel like you have thedeepest understanding of some of
these episodes and havehighlighted the culture in a
deeper degree Of like where itwas really authentic and living
up to its name.
And I'm just wondering whatwhat that was like for you to

(35:08):
watch Everybody in their elementtrying to trying to bring their
best to the table, becauseyou're the one who kind of saw
it at that bird's eye level ofthe impact it was going to have.

Eric Peterson (35:17):
Well, that was definitely the lens with which I
appreciated the show throughand that spoke to my previous
experiences as an actor and mykind of modus operandi as an
artist in this country and mykind of modus operandi as an
artist in this country.
I had always been, evenstarting in Vancouver,

(35:38):
associated in theater projectsthat were new work and you know,
again, to tell our own stories,for lack of a better term to
use that well-worn term.
That way we'd be telling ourown stories that would be
original and from a perspectivethat only a Canadian could tell,

(35:58):
because you had to be here.
And these stories would be toldto our neighbors and they would
be verified or not verified, orappreciated or not appreciated,
which would allow us as artiststo judge how well we were doing
by our community, that we wereno more important as artists or
filmmakers or televisionproducers than the doctor, the

(36:22):
teacher, the baker, the plumber.
You know, we had a function inthe community.
We had something to give to thecommunity and the community
gave something back to us.
We had a role.
We were no more important andno more exotic than that.
We just belonged.
And that model was, when Idiscovered this, because I'd

(36:45):
lived in England to be anEnglish actor and I came back to
Canada and fooled around when Iran into theater groups here in
Toronto and it startedbasically in Vancouver.
That ability to go you can use.
I could use my uncle and auntas models for the characters and

(37:07):
work that I wanted to do.
That unleashed a huge burst ofcreativity for me.
I didn't have to pretend to be,you know, or try to be.
I was going to say Brad Pitt,but he's though I have a
striking resemblance to BradPitt.
It's really telling.

(37:27):
You probably thought it was histwin brother.

Aaron Pete (37:29):
When you logged on I said, hey, it's.

Eric Peterson (37:30):
Brad Pitt, exactly.
So you know that you could useyour own life as part of the
modeling clay that we're goingto make this for.
You know the art for lack of abetter word.
I know we call it content now,but it was.
You know this television showand that was reflected.

(37:51):
I mean, what I loved about,year after year, being in Regina
.
People would come up to you inthe grocery store and go, well,
how was the scripts this year?
And it was like they wereasking you, how was the crop
this year?
You know it was like you fitright in that whole model that
I've just described about havinga place in the community and

(38:12):
the contract, the socialcontract, between the community
and you as an artist was totallyfulfilled in the Safeway in
Regina.
When they go, how's the scriptsthis year?
Are we going to have a goodcrop of jokes, you know, and
things like that.
Or they'd ask you aboutdifferent characters and you
would be treated like respectand and and a slight sense of

(38:34):
ownership that they knew you andand.
But they were.
People weren't going, theyweren't a gog, they didn't
become tongue-tied, they just itwas.
It was lovely and I and Ireally enjoyed that.
I had the ambition, while wewere shooting the show, that I
wanted to thank every Canadianthat loved the show.

(38:56):
I wanted to thank thempersonally.
Janet Wright used to kill.
She used to tease meunmercifully.
Then she'd say the tourist carpeople would come up and I'd be
over there.
Hello, I'm Eric B.
And she'd go you're such asuckle.
She'd say, yeah, they're goingover edge, because she was very
shy when about fans.
Janet was, she didn't, shedidn't, she didn't want to be

(39:19):
around them.
I, on the other hand, became,you know, mr host, hello,
welcome.
This is the set.
Hello, yes, thank you forwatching this show.
It's so, it's so important.

Aaron Pete (39:28):
Yeah that's such a beautiful philosophy.
I just want to linger on thatfor a second because I think we
sometimes forget why we dothings or what the purpose is.
And the one piece that I reallyliked of what you said within
my First Nations culture we havethis idea of Tomeuk and it's
you look back seven generationsand you try and learn from them.

(39:49):
And I think so often I uselearn as if it's just like
teachings, like how to makestuff, how to make a good
casserole, those types of things.
But there's something to whatyou just said of like learning
the idiosyncrasies, learning thehumor, learning where their
head was at, and kind of takingthat with you too, so that when
you're in new circumstances youcan go how would this person

(40:11):
looked at this new situation?
And that's one way that theycan almost stay with you.

Eric Peterson (40:17):
Yeah, it's very true, and it's also something
that is that kind of that kindof originality and original not
and you've discovered somethingbrand new, but original because
you are the only point of view.
All our points of view areunique.
I mean, we all see thingsslightly differently and that

(40:41):
difference comes from whereyou're standing and the eyes
you're looking through.
It comes from the kind ofeducation, neighborhoods,
cultural experiences, everythingwe've had.
You build up this world thatyou perceive the rest of the
world from, and it's veryimportant if you can reflect

(41:02):
that in terms of televisionprograms or theater pieces or
whatever films.
That information is a gift tothe rest of the world.
It seems to me, and the sameway their perception, like in
Yugoslavia.
If you see a movie or somethingabout that and you suddenly go,

(41:26):
there's something about thatimaginative connection that is.
So.
I mean, all that joins ustogether is imagination,
basically, and when we exerciseit in these, in art, that's the
fundamental joy of it.

(41:47):
You're not conscious of it, butto go, I get that in a way it's
sort of like my life.
But this connection, thisimaginative connection, called a
television show whereeverybody's pretending making
believe bravely and I saybravely because it takes a lot

(42:10):
of guts to get up there andpretend you're somebody else.
Let me tell you it doesn't look, it sounds.
It all sounds like fun andgames, but it can be.
It can be stressful.
The audience responds bravely.
They also get.
You know, let out theirimagination, let it run loose a
bit, and then you get toexperience other people in a way

(42:33):
that we don't.
You know.
That's wonderful, it seems tome.

Aaron Pete (42:37):
I know that's all very vague, no, I was just about
to say that might have been thecoldest cut of the whole all my
episodes that the thing thatconnects us all is imagination.
Like when you said that I was,I was like whoa I don't know if
we've had like a deeper quote onthis show.
Um, because that's true, andand that is when people sat down

(42:58):
and it was the whole family,every character represented them
in some sort of like theirfamily or who they knew.
It all brought them togetherand it was being reflected back
to them and that's why they werewilling to enjoy the show and
be so supportive.
I don't know if I've everthought of it that deeply before
.

Eric Peterson (43:19):
Well, yeah, I mean, that's the, and I think I
mean I often said, you know,especially in theater I go, the
play is simply an excuse fortheater to happen, and by
theater I meant was that youhave a bunch of people at the
same time in the same place,letting their imagination go

(43:44):
through the story, and thatexperience is so counter to the
other experience that we are allindividuals.
You live alone, you're bornalone, you live alone, you die
alone, which is the otherextreme.
I mean, that's true, but thispower that we have of imagining

(44:09):
and then imagining the other,there is a bridge, then that
happens between us, that myunderstanding now, it's not.
You know, I don't experiencelike I don't experience you
totally, but I do get to connectwith you in a way that is only
possible through art, seems tome, and even watching a painting

(44:31):
or a painting, there'ssomething about the joy that a
human being has of going, ofthat imagination being exercised
.
It's why we've always done it.
I guess Sung danced, made plays.

Aaron Pete (44:50):
I couldn't agree more.
There's one quote.
It's, I think, your mostlegendary quote and I want to
recite it back to you because Ithink it was the thesis of the
show.
I also think that it is a hugeopportunity to remind people of
this path.
And it's the last episode.
It's your last rant.
Why the hell settle?

(45:11):
We never settled.
I'm a paper boy.
One week you teach piano, thenext, the next week, lacy's a
hockey coach, wanda's a realestate agent, hank's an
accountant, the cops have aradio show.
We all try new things and I forone want to see brent up on
that stage standing in a bucketof yogurt and it just the

(45:35):
juxtaposition's beautiful.
But I just I love that becauseI do feel like one thing maybe
we're learning or trying tofigure out is to just find
hobbies, find passions, findthings that interest you.
Then drop them and trysomething new next week.
Like you are able to chasewhatever goals you want to set
for yourself.
You are the only personstanding in the way of living a

(45:58):
full and meaningful life.
And I just you saying that asthe last kind of big statement
at the end of the show.
I just thought tied the wholeshow in a ribbon for everybody.

Eric Peterson (46:07):
Well, that's Brent.
Eh, that's Brent, but Thriving.
It's just beautiful.
Yeah, it is.
It's a wonderful book.
I'd forgotten all about that.

Aaron Pete (46:20):
It's really good.
Can you tell me about what itwas like to go through the
animated series and the movie?
Do you miss those pieces at allor are you okay?
Can you close the book?

Eric Peterson (46:32):
I, I, I didn't want the series to end right.
I mean I'd gone through the,I'd gone through the.
You know the eight years of theeight seasons for street and I
and and in a canadian series Isaid are you kidding?
People just love this show.
There's, the ratings haven'tdropped the ratings, as strong
as ever.
Let's ride this pony into thedirt.
You know, let's take it as faras it'll go.

(46:54):
But Brent and Nancy wanted to do.
You know they wanted to doother things.
So and Brent wanted to.
You know they wanted to leaveon a positive note.
I didn't care, I didn't care, Iwanted to let's.
You know I was already becominga submerging artist.
You know it's going to bedownhill anyway.
So let's ride it as far as wecan downhill.

(47:17):
So I was sad that when we endedbut you're always sad, I mean
the series that I've been on,I've always been when they say
we're not going to go next year,it takes a day or two to get
you go to get over your griefabout it, and this was no
different I.
I was delighted that we weregoing to do the movie and I was

(47:42):
delighted with the movie andthat the movie was not was
really just three half hourepisodes put together as a movie
, you know.
So they didn't change anything.
Again, I can't speak, as you'veheard, I can't speak too highly
about Brent, I just can't.
He's just wonderful this way.
So that was fun.
The cartoon was a hoot.

(48:04):
The cartoon was.
I love doing the cartoon.
The cartoon was A.
This was a chance for Brent.
I just was so delighted becauseBrent always wanted to be a
cartoonist, he wanted to have acartoon.
So suddenly he could do it.
This was a way.

(48:24):
And the whole thing about theshooting it live was there's
certain parameters.
You can't have Martians comingin, you can't have, you know,
suddenly turning into you know,I don't know whatever they kind
of.
But in the cartoon you could,because you just had to draw it

(48:46):
would just had to draw it.
I mean it sounds simple.
I mean it talked aboutcomplicated.
Anyway, the other thing I likedabout there was a group of us
here in Toronto and then Brentand Gabe and Fred and Lauren
were all in Vancouver.
So they would record and we allrecorded at the same time.

(49:07):
So we'd do the episode justwith the connection.
So they would record and we allrecorded at the same time.
So we'd do the episode, justwith the connection.
So they'd go in at 9 o'clock inthe morning and we'd be at 1
o'clock or something in theafternoon here and we got to
visit again as we were recordingthe episode.
We got to visit oh how are youdoing?

(49:29):
And things like that.
So that was a wonderfulconnection, as well as the.
The great thing was we were allgetting older, you know, I mean
I, when we started the series.
I'm 78.
Now I don't know I was what, 65or something.
You know it was, you know, orbetween 60 and 65.
Look at me now I'm.
I'm like I'm older than I'molder than any.

(49:54):
I've gone into the land of theimmortal now in film and
television parts.
I have to.
I have to play Zeus, you know,or Santa Claus or a vampire, I
have to, I.
That's my category now.
I can't play a living personanymore, other than if I was a
cadaver, I could.
I could use my body.
In fact I often thought ofgetting my publicity shot with

(50:18):
the kind of oxygen thing, welllit, so I can do cadaver, I
could hold my breath, I don'tknow.
So, doing the cartoon, we wereall getting older.

(50:43):
Suddenly there's Fred, they'regetting gray hair, lauren, I
couldn't believe it.
They were all becoming.
I mean so, but your voicedoesn't.
You's always to a certainextent disappointing watching
yourself, because acting hasyou're inside it.
You're not on the outsidewatching it, so naturally as
you're on the inside acting.
There's part of you that thinksI must be just like Brad Pitt.

(51:07):
I'm sure I keep referring toBrad Pitt so that when you see
yourself and you are nothinglike Brad Pitt, it's a bit of a
shock, because while you weredoing it you felt you were Brad
Pitt.
But then you see you're not.
So, even though I can look atmyself and go, okay, it's like

(51:29):
hearing yourself, you know, on atape recorder your own voice
for the first time.
You're kind of shocked abouthow different it is.
But you do acclimatize yourselfto seeing it.
And you don't.
I mean, especially in film,when you're shooting it.
It's a coherent scene thatyou're in.

(51:51):
She says this, he says that, Isay this, he says this, but then
when you watch it it's cut.
So it's so.
You're going.
Why did they cut away from methere?
I did such a wonderful thingthere.
You can be complaining aboutyourself.
You're not in control of it.
So you see it put together asit is to's to be, as opposed to.
And then that makes you realizeI was just raw material.

(52:15):
When we shot it, I was likecopper ore, and then it got
refined, when it got editedright.
But and where was I going withthis?
There's something I was goingto.

Aaron Pete (52:27):
Sorry, I've lost my train of thought no worries, we
were just talking aboutswitching over from the animated
.
Oh, the animated, that's whatwe want.

Eric Peterson (52:34):
So to see the animated me, I loved it.
You could watch yourselfwithout any guy going.
I look just like I thought Iwould look as an animated
character and I used to.
My big joke was I learned moreabout acting that guy's acting
the cartoon Oscar.
I could do this now when Iacted.
I thought it enhanced my liveperformances when I brought my

(52:58):
cartoon experience to bear.

Aaron Pete (53:03):
One other piece on this that I think you've done an
excellent job of is reallyhighlighting the people who made
the show possible, and thatmight just seem obvious to you,
but I do think that there'ssomething about like lifting
others up and admiring theircraft and admiring Brent, budd
and David's story for thestorytelling, and your ability

(53:25):
to do that really stands out tome as something that's important
, because when you're on a team,you can be very inward looking
on what am I doing?
Am I showing up?
Okay, am I doing a good job?
But you've, throughout thisinterview, done such a good job
of highlighting what otherpeople were good at and what you
admired about the show and whatthey brought to the table, and

(53:45):
I just want to appreciate youfor that, because I think
there's such a deep lesson aboutthe role we can play when we do
give people the other leg upand then when we do put shine on
others, and I'm just wonderingif you have any other
reflections on the cast and andwhat they brought to the table
or the camera.

Eric Peterson (54:00):
I mean I, everybody, everybody did.
I had such affection for it andthe and the acting of.
They're all wonderful actors onthat show and wonderful people,
I you know.
And again, the art form itself,theater.

(54:25):
These are communal art forms,you know.
You can have one-man shows, butit requires the expertise of
people in a group and that's thebeauty of it.
It can also be part of the hellof it, because we're all human.
So, to put something forward,to get something, it's both fun

(54:50):
and not fun at times and at, butthat's only to be expected.
That's, that's the best we cando, and I think it's such a
wonderful activity for people todo, to spend their time trying
to make something silly andfunny.
It is as opposed to gettingtogether to kill other people or
, to you know, blow up this ordestroy the universe or the

(55:14):
planet.
It's so nice that people canget together just to make a joke
and make other people laugh.
It's a high calling to me.
The fact that it was being shotin Saskatchewan also made it
what's important, what was tosee that by that happening there

(55:37):
?
Everybody that now grew up inSaskatchewan as opposed to
myself and Janet, and everybodythat hadn't had this example, oh
, you could do this.
I could be a stand-up comedian,I could be an actor.
I could shoot films, I could bea director.
I could have this.
And that was so important to metoo, to see that you didn't

(55:58):
have to go someplace else.
You could do this and peoplecould be inspired by this as a
career choice.
When I was growing up, when yousaid I'm working in the theater,
they go, what do you do?
Do you take tickets?
You know there was no idea thatyou would be an actor.
I grew up.
Nobody I knew was an actor.
Nobody I knew knew anybody whowas an actor.
I mean it, just it was not onthe radar as a possible way of

(56:25):
living.
And suddenly, by having peopledo this in Canada, wherever it
is, suddenly there's this wholeother opportunity to do what I
just said, which is to makefunny jokes.
It's a high calling, it's worthit.

Aaron Pete (56:44):
You've advocated for this for years, for this for
years.
In a CBC interview done 12years ago, you were going on
about how you were fighting forCanadian film, television and
theater, and that you believethat having strong Canadian
content that reflects theCanadian culture is important
when we are so often overlookedbecause of what's going on in

(57:06):
the US, because they have such astrong film and TV industry and
theater industry and theatreindustry that it's hard for us
to get our shine.
And I look at the landscaperight now and, to be honest, it
couldn't look worse during thisperiod.
Right now, from my perspective.
We don't have shows like CornerGas, bringing everybody
together in the same way theyused to.

(57:26):
We have a lot going on in theUS that's overshadowing
everything going on in Canadaright now, and so I'm wondering
what is Canadian content fromyour perspective and how do we
fight for it?

Eric Peterson (57:39):
Well, that's a big question.
I mean, I grew up as an adultand my artistic you know the
kind of artistic experience thatI searched for and wanted to
establish in this country.
The country that I imagined Iwas in is not the country that
we find ourselves in now, canada.

(58:01):
I think that there's been a lotand one could argue or one
could say that part of theconversation that hasn't
happened is this coherentCanadian culture and the results
of that.
We see part of the results orwhat's fed into the.
What I see is the country isreally on shaky ground.

(58:23):
We're all in differentcommunities.
The federal, the confederationitself, seems to be at war with
itself, the federal governmentagainst the provincial
jurisdictions.
These are highly contentiouskind of divisions between us.
And then there's other issues,but again, partly that's due to

(58:48):
culturally we've changed.
We've changed, we're looking at, you know, I looked at it as an
old white guy.
This was the candidate.
I talked to her and thatperspective, quite rightly, has
been said.
That is a point of view thatlots of people in this country
don't share and we want to lookat it from those people, like

(59:10):
First Nations, like yourself.
If I look at it that way andtell their stories, then I can
get behind that, because it'sthe same impulse I had to tell
my story.
And again, the same imaginativeinterchange happens when I see
a story there.
I get to be able to imagine andtherefore join some experience

(59:33):
that I hadn't understood orthought about.
The other thing I just want tosay is my tendency, my passion
for Canadian culture, or this,basically, let's talk, let's
have our, let's, let our ownoriginality out has been a

(59:54):
constant theme in Canada since,you know, ever since we've, you
know, we seem to have,especially in English Canada,
deep affection to be a colony ofsome sort, for some reason or
other.
The other thing, the other bigissue that's changed all that
now, and so when I talk, this isvery old-fashioned,

(01:00:14):
old-fashioned what I'm speakingof and really not quite, it
seems to me very relevant rightnow.
The other thing is the internet, the kind of interconnectivity,
the digital, interconnectedpeople.
So geography has disappeared ina way, you can be in Regina and

(01:00:34):
not feel, and still be totallycoherent and current with New
York, if you want.
We don't have the same sense ofland and space because we're
all in a virtual space now.
Well, you all are, I'm not, asyou just pointed out.
You can't find me.
I am under a real rocksomeplace.

Aaron Pete (01:00:57):
Yeah, I've done long and hard.

Eric Peterson (01:01:02):
In Ontario.
He's living under that blade ofgrass over there.
He's not on the internet.
So what is Canadian culture now?
I mean, I do agree there areall kinds of strains in this
country and in my lifetime thisis but there is in the world too
.
It's not just in this country.

(01:01:24):
All our democracies, all ourliberal democracies, are under
various strains of other theworld is much more unstable and
unsure than any time I canremember in my adult life, and
so we're not alone in that, andI, I, I don't know.
It's's funny.
Today we're talking.

(01:01:45):
This is when Trump comes topower in the United States, and
his remarks in the last sixweeks have brought Canadians
together more than I've seen ina lifetime and not in a lifetime
, but in the last little while.
So who knows what's ahead?
I still want to work.

(01:02:08):
I still prefer.
I just did an audition for aterrible audition for an
American thing that's being shothere this morning and I still
go.
I still want to do somethingthat's Canadian.
I want to do something original.
That's all I ask.
I want to know, I like to workon somebody that says let's do

(01:02:31):
this, let's tell this story, andthat you know again.
I refer to my advanced years.
The parts for 1,000-year-oldmen are few and far between now,
but I'm waiting to do any oneof them that they want.
As the 1,000-year-old guy comesup, I shall be there to try my

(01:02:53):
best Anyway.

Aaron Pete (01:02:55):
How about Wise man?
I think that's a better fit foryour category.
I think the piece that I'mtaking away from this is that
the reason that I'm such a fanof doing these interviews with
you, lorne, nancy, brent, fredand yourself, is because I'm
living off of the steam, theenergy.

(01:03:18):
I'm riding those coquetails andwaiting for something else to
come along that reflects back tome our culture and that is, to
your point, more risky, morechallenging.
And some of the jokes you guyshad in those early days they
were bold for the space thatexisted at the time and letting

(01:03:40):
those producers, the executiveproducers, run wild and come up
with ideas.
It was so refreshing.
But I just I do think this isan opportunity for us.
I had an article go out where Italked about how I think this is
allowing us to look at the flag, look at our culture, look at
who we are and try and get backon the same page.

(01:04:01):
We don't have to agree oneverything, but we used to have
a few things that we all agreedon and that humour, that
sensibility was all found on ashow that you were instrumental
in helping bring to life andgive us that connection, and I
think a lot of the people whotune into these interviews on
Corner Gas are all just tryingto grab on to.

(01:04:22):
What are Canadian values?
Where are we and want to hearthat back to them, and I think
we're just sorely waiting forsomething to come to life that
reinvigorates that in us.

Eric Peterson (01:04:33):
Well, again, even talking about this, who knows
what that will spark in anybodywho's listening to it.
As to just the idea of it isimportant.
We can't dream about somethingwe've never thought about before
.
We can't move towards somethingunless there's some sort of
indication that there could besome way out towards that.

(01:04:55):
But it is a tough time, youknow.
I, by my estimation, this is atough time.
People are, you know it's hardto share at the moment.
People are very defensive, itseems to me.

(01:05:18):
You know we're all in different, you know, points of view and
they are, yeah, so.
But who knows, who knows what'sgoing to happen.
I'm just so thankful that I hadCorner Gas.
It was a rich experience.
It continues to be a richexperience for me.
And I was and talk about luck,you go if I hadn't been born in

(01:05:43):
1946 in Saskatchewan, I wouldn'thave been of the right age to
play Oscar Leigh.
What a bit of luck that was,you know.
So, like in every kind of youknow life, you have to.
I totally want to.
And if Brent hadn't been bornwhen he was, and Janet Wright

(01:06:04):
and Fred, and you know wewouldn't have met.
You know.
So the huge I appreciate, I'mso grateful for this huge amount
of whatever fate that allowedus to do this and, again, I'm so
grateful that Canadiansresponded to it and still
respond to it the way they do.

Aaron Pete (01:06:24):
I couldn't agree more.
Eric, I want to thank youpersonally.
As I said, I watched the showgrowing up as a kid and it
really shaped me, but yourcharacter also had a huge
influence on me.
I am not afraid to speak mymind, I am not afraid to speak
up on so many things, and a lotof that was watching your

(01:06:45):
character so boldly and bravelyspeak what his opinions were.
Again, you might not agree, youmight disagree, but I think
that that was so valuablebecause I do think people are
afraid to speak up and all theyneed to do is speak up on their
worldview and nobody can takethat from them, and I think we
need to give people thatpermission again, and I think

(01:07:05):
that's what your character didfor so many is.
I'm going to say the thing, andmaybe it's not perfectly well
said, but I'm going to say whatI think the truth is, and I
think there's so much admirationthat I have for you, and it's
been such an honor to be able tospeak with you today.

Eric Peterson (01:07:19):
Well, thank you very much, aaron.
It's been a pleasure talking toyou too, really To think about
all these things.
How can people follow your work?
They have to come to Toronto,toronto.

Aaron Pete (01:07:30):
And are there any?

Eric Peterson (01:07:31):
shows coming up.
Well, no, I haven't anything.
I just finished.
Over Christmas I was doing Intothe Woods.
This was my first musical, myfirst musical, and I've decided
to pivot to become a broadwaystar.

Aaron Pete (01:07:46):
Wow, just getting warmed up on the broadway shows.

Eric Peterson (01:07:50):
I'm off to broadway.
I can't wait.
There's no business like showbusiness.
I can.
I think they've been waitingfor me.
No, and I'm just doing aworkshop now on an original play
, but I haven't anything linedup at the moment to see.
You know, I'm submerging.
As I said, submerging, I'mslowly sipping below the waves.

Aaron Pete (01:08:17):
Well, you have a huge legacy for so many to
aspire to work towards.
It's been a blast speaking toyou.
I love your sense of humor,your lightness and your energy.
It's just.
It's been so refreshing tospeak with you today.

Eric Peterson (01:08:31):
Thank you very much.
Perhaps we'll meet sometime inperson.
That would be an honor Are youin Vancouver as we speak.
I am yes, yeah good, wow andTim, of course.
Thank you, tim.
Yes, Tim come on out, let's sayhello Come on, yes, yeah, good,
and Tim, of course.

Aaron Pete (01:08:48):
Thank you, tim.
Yes, tim, come on out.
Come on, tim, come on out.
There you are.

Eric Peterson (01:08:49):
You look just like your portrait, tim, there
you go that was delightful, Iwas just smiling.

Tim McAlpine (01:08:56):
I was actually because Brad Pitt became a
recurring go-to for you.
I went to the internet and saidhow old is Brad Pitt?
And he's 61.
So I think if you're talkingabout relating yourself to a
current leading man, you need toscale down just a little bit.
But I guess, well, I shouldhave said Paul Newman.

Eric Peterson (01:09:18):
He was the guy that I always grew up with.
There was a wonderful storyabout, uh, paul newman.
I'll just bore you with thisstory.
He, when we were I was doingstreet legal and joanne woodward
was his wife right and she wasdoing a theater piece here in at
the at the royal alleys, andone of the costume people on

(01:09:43):
Street Legal came in one day andsaid that her aunt had been
getting this was in the summer aBaskin Robbins ice cream cone
and she put the ice cream cone.
She got the ice cream cone andshe put it in the stand in order

(01:10:04):
to open her purse to get thechange.
And she looked up and shelooked into the eyes of Paul
Newman and she was so flusteredshe closed her purse and fled
from the basket.

(01:10:25):
Robins got outside and realizedshe'd forgotten her ice cream
cone.
So she went back into the storeand she went to the rack and
there was no ice cream cone andsuddenly beside her was Paul
Newman saying yes, I am PaulNewman and you put your ice
cream cone in your purse.
I am Paul Newman and you putyour ice cream cone in your

(01:10:47):
purse.
That's amazing.
I thought it was a wonderfulstory about how people were
flustered by it.
That never happened with Oscar.
Nobody ever put their ice creamcone in a purse.
By talking to me, they justsaid would you call me a jackass
?

Aaron Pete (01:11:04):
One more piece on street legal you're.
You're almost legendary becauseyou have these catchphrases,
but I was going through somepast videos and one that you did
your line had tom fuckery in itand all the comments were like
that is my new line is stop thetom fuckery I even.

Eric Peterson (01:11:21):
That's so long ago now.
Yeah, that's funny.
Yeah, oh god, it's all.
I'm all out there in thisvirtual world that I don't know
about.

Aaron Pete (01:11:28):
It's just as well it's for the best it's all.
I know.

Eric Peterson (01:11:35):
I'm still just going back under my rock and
blade of grass here somewhere inOntario.
Yeah, okay, thanks you guys, wegot it.
We got it.

(01:11:56):
You're the man.