Mike Clattenberg on Countdown to Liquor Day
Trailer Park Boys Director Talks About Alliance, Odeon Film
Sep 24, 2009
For the past seven seasons, Trailer Park Boys has chronicled the misadventures of Julian, Ricky and Bubbles: three rednecks whose every attempt to better their lives seems to land them in jail. The mockumentary has become Showcase's highest rated Canadian series, and has been embraced in 15 other countries.
Now the lovable losers of Sunnyvale trailer park return to the big screen in the franchise's 2nd film, Countdown to Liquor Day.
In this conversation, creator/director Mike Clattenburg – who admired this interviewer’s Dickies shirt – discussed how this film came together, and why it will be the last stand for the Trailer Park Boys.
S101: People are saying this will be the last we will see of Trailer Park Boys. Is this true, and why?
Mike Clattenburg: “Yes, it’ll be the final chapter. The idea for ending the show came about in Season 5, because we had the first movie coming up and to do the movie and the series at the same time is pretty huge. We only have 2 ideal shooting months in Nova Scotia, so to do the series is like writing a feature film, and then to write an actual feature on top of that . . . I thought, ‘Okay, this is the best time to end it, it’s gone 5 seasons.’
“But there was such demand from our fans, and our cast and crew really wanted to do it, so it was too hard to end at that point. I decided to phase it out slowly, and we’d do a 1-hour special called ‘Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys’ which wrapped things up for television, and one last feature film.”
S101: I heard you’re working with some of the cast members on a new project?
“There’s a whole bunch of things going on. Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are working on a new comedy series, but I’m going to take a little break because we’ve been working together for 10 years. We all need to grow, so we’re doing different stuff.”
S101: Where did the idea for Countdown to Liquor Day come from?
“It came from Mr. Lahey waiting for the Boys to get out of jail. He wasn’t drinking ‘cause they weren’t around; Mr. Lahey doesn’t have to drink when they aren’t around, but when they are around, he’s driven to drink.
“Mr. Lahey has a bit of an authority complex because he was an ex-cop. In Season 6 we did a flashback to see Lahey get fired from the police force. And it was really the Boys’ fault. So Mr. Lahey was good but the Boys have driven him nuts.”
S101: Were you tempted to give the Boys a happy ending in Countdown to Liquor Day?
“One of the conventions of the show is: the Boys get out of jail but, by the end of the season, they go back to jail. So the viewer goes, ‘How are they going to end up back in jail?’ Yes, I was tempted to do a happy ending or, to do a more ironic ending where the Boys go to jail but it isn’t as bad, and Bubbles has some new hope for the future.
“Jail’s been complicated: sometimes they like it, sometimes they don’t but this time around, it’s not as bad as it might seem. So it is kind of a happy ending, but still serves our convention.”
S101: Technically Lahey and Randy are the Boys’ nemesis but when the chips are down, they always help each other, even if it backfires on them.
(Mike laughs)
S101: What’s the reason for that?
“I’m glad you noticed that. Lahey and Randy are the villains of the show but you can’t help but love them, and the Boys can’t help but love them. It’s like the Coyote and the Roadrunner from Looney Tunes: if the Coyote disappeared the Roadrunner would be upset or vice versa.
“Julian is our hero, and he has to make heroic choices. It’s about togetherness in the park, and everyone kinda watches out for each other even though some people in the Park are f****d.” (Everyone laughs)
S101: I know I’m treading in spoiler territory, but why give J-Roc his happy ending?
“When people see a film they want a little hope at the end. You don’t want a dismal ending – okay, maybe once in a while but not too much. Success is one of the themes of the film. J-Roc has always been sticking to his guns, he’s gonna make it, and we see that he does. He never gives up.
“It’s nice to see success happen as one of our subplots. We shot that concert scene at Massey Hall and there were 3,000 people there out of their minds when Jonathan Torrens hit the mic.
“He was there with his new wife, she’s never seen him rap or anything like that. He brings her in, they’re hanging out, he says, ‘Just a second, hon, I gotta go do this,’ CLICK!
“He walks out onstage, goes, ‘Yo, yo, yo, whassup,’ He starts rapping and the crowd goes wild. Jon is very musical: he plays classical guitar and he loves rap. He’s a good drummer so he has a sense of rhythm and he writes these really funny, complicated raps. The one in the movie is called ‘Can’t Not Be Feelin’ This.’ It’s on iTunes: I’m not trying to sell the song, but if you want to hear his rapping ability check it out.
“So, that night at Massey Hall, he turns it on, raps, goes offstage, turns it off, goes to wife saying, ‘Okay, honey, let’s go home.’ It’s like (snaps fingers).”
(In Part #2 of this exclusive interview, Mike Clattenburg discusses playing to his actors' strengths, and how to get a musical icon into a dress.)
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