‘We all need comedy right now’: Sask. actor Kim Coates laughs it up in new rom-com

Saskatchewan actor Kim Coates has been a staple on entertainment screens for many years. Many recognize him from his roles including Tig on Sons of Anarchy, Brigham Young on American Primeval, and Bruegel on The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Coates was born in 1958 in Saskatoon, and attributes his love of acting to a play he saw at the University of Saskatchewan that led him to enroll in a drama class, kickstarting his acting career.

Coates just recently joined The Evan Bray show to discuss the new rom-com Solo Mio about a man who decides to go on his honeymoon alone when he is left at the altar in Rome, where he stars in with comedian Kevin James, as well as his love and connection to Saskatchewan.

Listen to Kim Coates on The Evan Bray Show:

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Evan Bray: What is Solo Mio about?

Kim Coates: A couple of years ago, my boy, Kevin James — we’ve done four or five things together, three movies and some sitcoms and he’s a really good friend of mine — said to me “Kimbo, I’m writing a romantic comedy for you and me.”

And I went, “Yeah, sure you are.” He says, “No, I’m writing one for you to star in with me.” I said, “Yeah, sure you are.” Well, he did, it’s called Solo Mio.

We filmed it in Rome last year for two months. We were in Rome for seven weeks and then Tuscany for a week. It opened Friday and was the second biggest grossing film of the weekend, and it’s a pretty rough weekend with the Super Bowl and the Olympics and stuff.

With what the world’s going through, they need a romantic comedy, and it’s so funny and so heartfelt. I still tear up. I’ve seen it six times now. I laugh my head off. And yes, I know I’m in it for crying out loud, but I’m almost as funny as you in this movie. I’m not kidding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ON-xZFZIA

Bray: It looks great. The trailers look good, and the chemistry works on camera.

Coates: It’s a breeze with him. He’s like a brother, and he loves ad-libbing so much, and so do I. And he co-wrote the script with the Kinnane brothers. There are eight of them. Chuck and Daniel directed it, and they got some of the brothers who do editing and music and co-wrote it, and so they’re an incredible team.

Kevin and I finish each other’s sentences. We just love hanging out. He calls me the greatest actor he’s ever worked with, and I call him the greatest comedian I’ve ever worked with, but he can flat-out act.

This is the biggest part he’s ever had, and he’s so amazing in this picture. It’s just so fun to watch him. It’s a great film for him.

Bray: It must be nice for you to do a project like this.

Coates: I love it all. I love drama. I love comedy. I love dark comedies. This film made almost $8 million this weekend. It’s a romantic comedy. I’ve got a pimple on my face that never went away for two months. That’s comedy right there. We all need comedy right now. We need a break from the stress that we’re all going through.

Bray: We always appreciate that you make time for Saskatchewan, and you’re doing it again later on in February in support of the great Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon.

Coates: It’s a charitable nonprofit organization, the Persephone Theatre. It’s where I got my equity card, way back in 1981. Heather Cant and Breanne Harmon and Jeff Rogstad and Caitrin Hodson reached out to me a few months ago. Do you want to come home and do a fundraiser? And I said, “Of course, I do. ”

The VIPs are all sold out, but we’re still going to fill that theatre if we can. It’s $100 bucks, and you get to come to Persephone and give back to the arts, which is what we all need to do right now. The arts need to thrive in this incredible time that we’re living through on Mother Earth.

Persephone is doing such a great job with that theatre, so we’re going to raise some money for them. There’s going to be a pre-reception for everybody, some drinks in the lobby, we’ll go in, and we’re going to pack the theatre, and I’m going to be on stage, and Rogstad and Hodson are going to ask me questions. We’ll show a reel of some of my film and television work on the screen behind.

We’re going to laugh, tell stories, and then there will be a Q and A with the audience, and then when it’s over, I’m going to take pictures, selfies, tell some more stupid stories, and we’ll talk about the Riders and the Hilltops and the Blades. Feb. 21, what else is there to do? It’s winter.

Bray: Are you working on a movie right now?

Coates: I’m starting a new movie called Remnant. It’s a horror film. I’ve never really done a true horror film before. I’ve played vampires, Resident Evil, and some dark science fiction stuff like Silent Hill. But this is a horror film, and I still can’t believe I said yes to doing it. It’s just been way too much.