An Interview with Pat Mastroianni
Good Magazine: Thanks for agreeing to this phone interview, Pat. Now, most movie-viewers are familiar with you from your role as Apache Helicopter Pilot #3 from the movie Godzilla. But what many people may not know is that you got your start in the role of Frank Pagnozzi on the CBC series Liberty Street.
Pat Mastroianni: Well, actually, that's not quite true. Don't forget about Degrassi Junior High.
Good: What?
PM: Degrassi Junior High.
Good: ...
PM:Surely you know it. I played Joey Jeremiah, remember?
Good: Joey ...?
PM: Jeremiah. Guy with the hat? Played in the Zit Remedy?
Good: He played with... like some sort of pimple cream? I don't follow. That sounds like a weird character.
PM: No, the Zit Remedy was the name of his band... You've really never heard of it? How could you know Liberty Street, but not Degrassi?
Good: I don't know what to tell you. Was this just a short-lived thing?
PM: You're kidding, right? It was on for six years on the CBC, on PBS, and on Showtime.
Good: You were in junior high for six years? PM: Well, no. It was actually like two shows – Degrassi Junior High and then Degrassi High when we got older. Then some of us even had a social issues talk-show kind of thing called Degrassi Talks. You must have heard of this.
Good: No, it really doesn't ring a bell.
PM: Really? It was the highest rated show on Canadian television. And it got an International Emmy for Children's Television. Over ten percent of all Canadian households watched our series finale. It was the CBC's highest rating ever.
Good: Wow. When did this finale happen?
PM: In 1991. But it's not like it's not on anymore. It's syndicated in 70 countries, in dozens of languages. It's really popular in Israel, for instance.
Good: Oh. Well, I've never been to Israel.
PM: Yeah, but they still show it in Canada, like, four times a day.
Good: Really? Okay. So, did you have a big part in this show?
PM: Yeah, one of the biggest parts, actually. I won the Gemini for "Outstanding Acting in a Continuing Dramatic Role" in 1988, you know.
Good: Wow, that's pretty impressive! You would have been like fifteen or sixteen, right? Who'd you beat?
PM: Sixteen. I was up against... let's see... Winston Rekert from Adderly, Donnelly Rhodes from Danger Bay, Patrick Bauchau from Mount Royal and Scott Hylands from Night Heat.
Good: You beat Winston Rekert?
PM: Yeah.
Good: You beat Adderly?
PM: Uh-huh.
Good: Night Heat is the one with the vampire cop, right?
PM: No, that's Forever Knight.
Good: Right. And you were on... what was it? Degarsy?
PM: Degrassi. Come on. You must have heard of it. Look, my call display says you've got a 416 area code. So, you're calling from Toronto.
Good: Yeah.
PM: Well, we filmed the series in Riverdale. It was based there.
Good: You mean like Archie?
PM: No, no. Riverdale, the neighbourhood in the east of Toronto.
Good: Oh, like where they filmed Riverdale!
PM: Yeah! Actually, Degrassi had the same producer as Riverdale, and Liberty Street too: Linda Schuyler.
Good: You know who I liked on that Riverdale? Melissa DiMarco. She's a hottie.
PM: Yeah.
Good: I wonder what my odds are going to be of running into her sometime in the fall. I'm going to be taking some classes in that area, at the Bell Centre for Creative Communications.
PM: You're kidding, right? We filmed at the Bell Centre.
Good: Really? But that's a college, not a high school.
PM: Nevertheless...
Good: Whoa. Small world. So, this was a show about Canadian high school students. Is that right?
PM: Yes. That's right.
Good: Are you sure you're not thinking of Northwood?
PM: Jeez, man! I know the name of my own show!
Good: Okay. Maybe we should try to move on.
PM: That might be a good idea.
Good: Okay, so you were in Godzilla. What's it like working with Matthew Broderick? Nice guy?
PM: Yeah, he seems pretty cool. What I liked, was that he's like this short little guy and he's got this big role as an action star. Inspiring example for a guy like me, you know?
Good: Yeah, me too. Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise are pretty short too, you know, and they get lots of big action parts.
PM: That's true.
Good: Plus Broderick, Stallone, and Cruise all have these really hot wives too. I must say I actually find Cruise's first wife, Mimi Rogers, more attractive than Nicole Kidman, though I'm probably in the minority.
PM: Do you really?
Good: Yeah, Kidman's just too cold and sterile for me. Oh, that reminds me of another question. There was an actress named Stacie Mistysyn who played the character of River in X-Rated, the pilot for Liberty Street. But, she never ended up not being in the actual series. What happened there? I thought the two of you had good chemistry.
PM: Well, she didn't want to get typecast as my girlfriend, is the long and the short of it.
Good: After only one episode, she was worried about this?
PM: Well, no. She actually had already played my girlfriend Caitlin for several years on Degrassi. That was the problem. She didn't want it to be Joey and Caitlin all over again.
Good: Oh. I see...
PM: You're absolutely sure you never saw Degrassi? I can't believe that.
Good: No, I'm really sorry. But I swear I was a huge Liberty Street fan. And I used to watch you all the time on Music Works, and I even remember your guest parts on Once a Thief and PSI Factor.
PM: But not Degrassi.
Good: Look, I'm really kind of embarrassed about this. I obviously have this big blind spot in my research. Could I maybe get back to you sometime later after I'm up to speed and try the interview again then?
PM: Yeah, that might work.
Good: Thanks. And again, I'm really sorry.
PM: No problem. It's actually kind of nice to get through an interview without being called "Joey" half a dozen times.