Swift Current man makes movie debut

A young man from Swift Current has made his film debut.

Sean Savoy, 21, has a small speaking role in the Hallmark Christmas film Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater, which was released Nov. 14.

After dropping out of the University of Saskatchewan, Savoy moved to B.C. in 2018 to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor.

“It’s so surreal to think that I’m even in Vancouver, or that I have an agent, or anything like this has happened … It’s crazy,” he said.

He plays an attendant at a Christmas tree lot near the start of the movie.

It may not be a major role, but Savoy is still glad and excited to kick off his career in movies.

“I sometimes have this warped perception, because I’m comparing myself to my friends in Vancouver. To them, I’m just picking up small, one-day roles, but then I realize it’s this big jump. You have to look back and shake hands with yourself and say, ‘I got here to this point, so it’s kind of nice,’ ” he said.

“I’m doing this to … be a part of the story, serve a story, even if it’s one line or one scene. Hopefully one day, it’s the entire movie or the entire series if I fit into it well.”

One perk that he’s quite excited about is that his name is now listed on IMDb, a popular online film database.

Being in a film is something he has worked towards since high school when he developed a passion for acting in Swift Current Comprehensive High School’s drama program.

There, he played roles like Romeo in Romeo and Juliet over his four-year run. Not only did it help him develop his love for the craft, he also learned a lot from his teachers.

“I don’t think that we realized the quality of teaching that they were giving us in high school … I got such great foundational lessons in high school that I see people in their 20s are just learning out of college,” he explained.

“It really made me feel like they were preparing me for a job in (acting) … Looking back, I always want to honour them and give them credit … Those were some of the most special times in my life thus far.”

Getting started in film is never an easy task, but Savoy had an extra challenge to deal with: COVID-19 hitting the country.

He lived in Vancouver with his girlfriend, Faith, for around eight months after he left university.

That was when he started putting in the work. He signed up with an agent, did many auditions and gained some experience in how the process of seeking out a role works, all while making a living at a retail store.

Then the lockdowns started.

Many productions were shut down, and auditions slowed to a trickle.

He returned home to Swift Current to live with his dad, something that he now sees as a blessing in disguise.

“It gave me enough time to meditate on it, to evaluate what I was going to do … It was this really-needed break from everything,” he explained.

Eventually, he made the move back to Vancouver, though he still hasn’t had an in-person audition since the initial lockdown. Instead, he tapes auditions through a studio he’s built at home.

“It became a whole different ballgame,” Savoy said.