Brandon Firla, the veteran Canadian actor who plays Rev. Thorne in Little Mosque on the Prairie, walked right into an international televison phenomenon when he joined Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Brandon Firla, courtesy of CBC
The series which is filmed in rural Saskatchewan tells the story of a tiny town that divided pretty evenly between Muslims and Anglicans.
Despite their religious and cultural differences, they co-exist somewhat peacefully.
A young Muslim teenager wants to assimilate over her father’ noisy objections. A Christian woman and community leader has converted to Islam for her contractor husband, their daughter is a feminist Muslim; a local radio host finds it hard to accept outsiders, and at the top of the list of local irritants, the Muslims and Anglicans are forced to share the same church.
And both sides have their idiotic moments.
The characters are loveable, unique, and at times irretrievably stuck in their ways. The show’s rock solid base and good natured humour has made it an audience favourite.
Little Mosque on the Prairie is seen in 80 territories and 63 countries around the world.
Monsters and Critics had the chance to speak with Brandon Firla, the newest character, a villainous new Anglican minister Rev. Thorne, who loves stirring up trouble when he can get away with it.
His latest project – ejecting the Muslims from the church for once and for all. And he has a particular need to compete with the charming young Muslim Imam Aamar.
M&C - Describe Rev. Thorne’s relationship with Aamar? They’re in a pretty intense popularity / power contest. It’s escalating – do tell!
BF - We see things from the opposite side of the spectrum. We couldn’t be more different and we sort of highlight the differences between our religions. But halfway through the season we realised we have a lot more in common than not. It appears as if I’m going to change and accept the Muslims and Muslim faith and be happy to have them share the church. But then I veer to the dark side again. I can’t resist trying to expel them form the church. I can’t live with them being there. It provides tension ion the show. The writers and producers wanted this new character to highlight the conflict that’s more common than not.
M&C -It pains me to see Rev Thorne being sooo bad. Gives Anglicans a bad name.
BF - He’s not representative of Anglicans. He’s more like a politician. A satirical figure that can be as single-minded, as religious figures can be at times. I equate him to Bill O'Reilly in his way of having a singular point of view and being judgmental. There are definitely people like him. I don’t think it’s that far from religious figures out there, not so much in Canada. I'm thinking the US Bible Belt.
M&C - He doesn’t just speak either, he sneers with a clipped kind of British vibe.
BF - Yes, it’s a very condescending delivery. The roots of the Anglican Church are in England and it’s about breeding. He’s from the upper class in Toronto. And he does have that condescending, proper persona.
M&C - You came in and replaced another actor on the show. Was it hard getting to speed?
BF - It took time to develop the part. The process is hard, for this especially because it was a new character coming into a well-established show. The first two or three weeks we were playing around with the tone and boundaries and I was seeing how far I could go to create this larger-than-life guy. It was the most theatrical character I’ve played on television. The first couple weeks CBC executives were on the set wondering if they’d done the right thing. After two weeks they settled down and realised it would work.
M&C -The show is a phenomenon! Why do you think it resonates with audiences so well?
BF -The religious themes are obviously universal. Everyone can relate whether they're religious or like to mock religion. Everyone has experienced some kind of religion in their lifetime and have an opinion and so it’s something everyone can hook into and on top of that, it's a pretty funny show.
M&C -Do people approach you and talk about religion?
BF - People I’ve met, fans of the show definitely discuss religion. I've definitely learned more about Christianity and Islam because I had a very secular upbringing. And they ask for advice on everything, help, and prayers. “Please, father, pray for me.”
M&C - What else are you doing acting wise?
BF - I’m in Score: a Hockey Musical (with Olivia Newton John and Nelly Furtado) we just wrapped this week. The character I play is, get this – nasty! A pig headed sports agent. I really want to play a nice guy some time. Someone with redeeming qualities.
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