The Bold Acting Podcast Reflections from Jason Bryden's More-than-just-an-Acting-Class class in Toronto.

Everybody knows the polls look terrible for Justin. Everyone knows Pierre Poillievre will be our next Prime Minister. But there are three things that Justy Trews could do differently that would afford him a more elegant exit.
By virtue of Pierre’s runaway popularity I find myself hoping the lengthy run-up to the next election is just enough rope for the Calgarian. And by the way, he IS a Calgarian so the Anglos trying to pronounce Poillievre’s name Frencherly can stop. Thanks. You’re fooling no one.
I can’t stand being in accordance with popular sentiment however the evidence is overwhelming. Watch for Pierre to enjoy a landslide victory come next Spring.
The Top Three Things Justin Can Do so he Loses with Grace
1. Distance yourself from Jagmeet Singh
It’s over. And the NDP are always the bridesmaids. Go out on your own Justin. Start swinging for the fences. It’s Hail Mary time. Do something radical! (That doesn’t mean you should start wearing capes again.)
2. Get a Girlfriend
Halle Berry is single. So talented, so beautiful. Also has three kids.
3. Learn How to Talk.
What is with the hushed drama-voice? Justin, you’re not narrating a nature documentary. You’re not David Attenborough sneaking-up on an Ibex giving birth. What’s with all the stilted and breathy emotion? No one is buying it.
Check out this cringe-worthy Christmas video for example:
One YouTube comment said “Only Trudeau would manage to turn a Christmas message into a lecture.”
How does he do it? He still wants to be an actor, that’s how. But when we add a thick layer of mustard to our communications we lead the witness. Audiences don’t need to be told how to feel. The less editorializing the better. Politicians are the worst at this. Leave room for the audience. When we’re watching a performance we don’t want it handed to us on a silver platter. We want to be a part of the alchemy.
Prime Minister, the minute you quit acting is the minute people will stop rolling their eyes at you. Tighten the cap on your bottle of effervescence. Watch the great performances. Take your cues from Frances McDormand, Gene Hackman or Michael Stuhlbarg. They don’t spell it out for you, they don’t hammer you on the head with it. Put thine eyebrows down, Justin. We get it. You’re a feeler.
And put the cape down too. Dress-up time starts again summer 2025.
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What stories are you telling yourself?
Victimhood is the neighbourhood I used to live in (but I’m not talking about trauma. I’m just talking about how the ego hijacks.)
A favourite story I used to tell myself was the one where I absolve myself of all responsibility for bad things happening. It was in 1993 and a friend of mine accused me of hitting on his girl. I would never have done such a thing. He was way stronger than me, older than me, I looked-up to him. I remember mooning about Banff (I don’t know why we were in Banff) horrified at the charges. Why was this happening to me? I had done nothing wrong. I would never consider such a thing. Even though it was right around this time I was hooking-up with Shawna … who had a boyfriend named John.
Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. I wasted so much time feeling sorry for myself.
Some Other Stories We Like To Tell Ourselves:
- We’re dehydrated and we need to carry around water bottles the size of pony kegs or we will turn into dust and blow away. The truth is the human thirst mechanism is alive and well. You’re not dehydrated, you’re just thirsty. Dehydration is a serious medical condition. As a rule of thumb, try not to take health advice from the Nestle Corporation.
- We still threaten our children that Santa won’t come if they’re bad. Idle threats, much? My children have gotten everything they asked for no matter the behaviour.
- Recycling. Absolute horseshit. And deep down you know it.
How To Accept An Apology
He apologized to me. He was drunk. I still couldn’t believe the injustice of it all. But I was young. When someone apologizes to you and you accept it that should be the end of it. If accepted the apology wipes the slate clean. Apologizing is the most self-full thing you can do. It gives you your life back. And life is short. Apologies are a fast track to the present moment. They are a French Exit, an Irish Goodbye. Hank Snow movin’ on.
Hank Snow. You can tell he’s a hoser by the size of his cherry.

If it’s our fault then we have agency to change the way we respond to things. Apropos of a disappointing exchange with a stranger my ex-mother-in-law once said “The things people say to me.” Identifying the common denominator in that statement is a highly underrated way to remind oneself we have far more control over how we feel about things.
John had a ponytail. Shawna had the cutest moustache. It’s funny the things you remember.
Martyrdom
It’s my fault is a tool for freedom. It’s not said with a heavy sigh as we go back into the kitchen to scrub the floors, Cinderella. It’s more like a — Well that didn’t work out the way I was hoping. How can I come at this from a different angle. It’s lighter. It’s less work. And I’m always interested in the path of least resistance. Besides, have you noticed no one ever asks for a martyr? They are foisted upon us.
I want more recourse, not less. I want all the recourse. I don’t want to be defeated by something or someone. I want to win.
Life As A Game
A couple weeks ago I got nervous about having to volunteer at the ACTRA Toronto Awards. There are people on council that I disagree with. They disagree with me. Some of us want change faster than others. Also, I don’t like crowds.
Imagine being the Prime Minister. Or a surgeon with someone’s life in your hands. I can’t handle two hours of volunteerism. Meanwhile, my friend Dr. Mark goes around replacing people’s hips for a day job. Perhaps it comes with practice. Maybe gaming everything could help. I’ve noticed high functioning people often speak about treating life like a game. They do the things to win the game but more importantly they know if all else fails they’ll probably be alive when the whistle blows. After all, it’s just a game.
If I’m still alive then I’m doing great.
The opposite of victimhood isn’t a British stiff upper lip, it’s going easy on yourself. It’s not thinking so much, it’s

Born in 1970 in Lviv, Ukraine Dmitry Chepovetsky’s family moved to Regina when he was a baby.
He began acting in high school before attending theatre school at Ryerson now known as Toronto Metro University.
Chepovetsky is best known for his recurring role on ReGenesis as Bob Melnikov, the show’s lead biochemist and a person with autism. The role garnered him two Gemini Award nominations for best actor in a dramatic series once in 2005 and once in 2007.
Chepovetsky has also played Nikola Tesla in CBC’s long-running Murdoch Mysteries. Picasso in Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile but these days you can find him as Bo on Kurt Smeaton’s Children Ruin Everything on CTV.
I got a chance to speak to him on Victoria Day 2024 at my house in Toronto.
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Eric Peterson is one of Canada’s most iconic actors. With a career that spans more than 50 years. Best known for his roles in Corner Gas, Street Legal and onstage as the WWI flying ace Billy Bishop in Billy Bishop goes to War which he co-created with writer and composer John Gray.
We talk about how at age 77 he doesn’t have any work lined-up. As well as what makes for great performance and what was his best year.
Peterson lives in Toronto with his wife Annie Kidder, sister to the late Margot Kidder.
He came over to my house and we talked at my dining room table.
You can listen to the Bold Acting Podcast (the Bold Interview, the What I Learned from Reading …, and How to be a Person Newsletter read aloud) wherever the podcasts are for you.
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At my house in West Toronto May 2024.


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Apples to Oranges
I recently spent an hour on instagram and deleted the app once again from my phone. I would quit the phone altogether if there weren’t such a thing as podcasts and audio books.
Am I doing this right? What of this grind? Is this a good way to spend what’s left of my short, little life?

Dr. Saras Sarasvathy, professor of business at the University of Virginia speaks about effectual entrepreneurship, specifically Affordable Loss. Break down costs: How much will it cost you to start a new venture? 80-90% of start-up costs are human capital. The way to do it is to convince people to help you for deferred payment.
Predicting the future is difficult. Figure out what you are willing to lose rather than what you expect to make. Forget profit projections. Try stuff on the cheap if possible. Call this your business school. You can learn so much by the doing without going into student debt.
“Cultivate opportunities that have a low failure cost that generate more options for the future.”

Sarasvathy cites Richard Branson starting an airline with planes leased from Boeing instead of buying his own. He didn’t seek investors, didn’t give away his company to venture capital. He kept costs low. James Dyson built his cyclonic vacuum prototype  5,127 times in a shed and lived on bank loans for more than 15 years. Don’t buy an office before you have to. Don’t get a partner before absolutely necessary.
Be kind to yourself. Remember that when you have to do it all on your own it’ll take longer but you’ll learn more.
The first Dysons were made from cardboard.

You can fail in business. You can’t fail when you’re making art (Even Chris Gaines sold two million records). Bad art is still art. You try something then you evaluate it. You have to listen back to that song or podcast. You have to re-read the thing you wrote. And not with love in your heart but with the cold, sober eye of the editor or critic. Ask yourself, did I fully get what was inside my head out into the world? Could I make it better?
Satisfactionism
Is it not strange that perfectionism is a word but satisfactionism is not? There is a line somewhere between the two, between making something great and beating it to death. When is a child fully whelped?
Apple launches their products before they’re ready and then comes out with fixes.
Google beta-tests projects, gets feedback, quits things (Google Glass, Google Plus, Google Trips, etc.)
I left home at 18 then came back at 19, then left home again at 21 and then came back at 26. This went on a couple more times. Anyway, my parents were (are) incredibly generous.
With my latest venture (a new podcast with personal finance expert Preet Banarjee) we are excited to pair complementary skillsets. Preet likes to dot the ’i’s and cross all the ’t’s. My preference for a premature birth means that together we’re hoping his mature chocolate and my juvenile peanut butter might add up to just right.
Analogies have never been my strong suit.
Comparing my Navel orange to someone else’s Granny Smith is just par for the course. The trick is to not be too hard on yourself. Sticking your neck out there is exhausting. Here’s hoping that equals a better sleep tonight.
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Getting advice from comedians is like getting advice from a funny person that has managed to survive one of the most difficult vocations around. I don’t have to tell you that comedians come out on stage, into what is historically a hostile environment their only weapons a mic and their words. Who better to give survival tips?
Jimmy Carr is a British stand-up comedian known for his offensive one-liners and deadpan delivery.
“I could have phoned in a showbiz book of 60,000 words, stuck a couple of pictures in, cash the cheque, great. But I didn’t want to shortchange anybody and in the end it became a labour of love.” - Jimmy Carr.
Carr turns out to be a huge fan of self-help books. He read lots when he was in his early 20s, trudging to his marketing job at Shell each day, dissatisfied with his life and longing for some excitement. “Self-help opened my eyes a little bit to the idea that the rules that affect our lives aren’t written. — The Guardian’s Tim Jones, September 2021.
I too love self-help books. I don’t care if they say the same thing over and over. I need the reminding. I’m not especially prone to joining cults so there’s no danger of me sending a charismatic all of my money.
I’ve taken 12 pages of notes and recorded them here but I can recommend this book as a great listen. I got it on Audible.
I hope you like it too.
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This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit boldacting.substack.com/subscribe