Welcome. We'll be starting the JAM! chat with Don McKellar today at 1 p.m. ET. You can come back at that time, or submit advance questions now. Just type them in and and hit Ask My Question. If you want to refresh the chat room, set a refresh rate (if you want one), and hit Refresh Chat. Thanks!

Don McKellar: Yes I like blue !

Don McKellar: fsdsf

Don McKellar: testing.

Don McKellar: Okay, we're ready to begin.

adrian suva: Any chance we'll see Don McKellar in the next star wars movies?

Don McKellar: Hi, kids. I'm happy to be here. They've asked me to play the young Jabba The Hut, but it's in negotiations. Please keep that to yourselves.

TC Fan: So is Russell's apartment in Twitch City actually yours?

Don McKellar: It's Curtis, actually. How much of a fan are you, pal? No, it's not. We shot at an apartment at my neighbourhood, and actually Bruce McDonald took some photos of my apartment to show to the set designer. But since then I've moved to a luxurious new pad, down a block.

Karen Becker: Hello Don! I am eagerly awaiting the next episodes of Twitch City. Are there going to be more after these seven? P.S. I absolutely loved the Drowsy Chaperone. Will you be playing Aldolpho when it has its run at the Royal Alex next year?

Don McKellar: Well, Karen, after the last six, I said there wouldn't be any more. I didn't think we'd get the cast together or the money from the CBC, but it was so much fun and tehre was such a nice resposne, we decided to squeeze out seven more, so who knows ... As to your other question, Aldolpho, I don't know. The play's goinig to be remounted in June and probably over the summer and I'll work on it but I can't say for sure whether I'll have the time to do the part. I would love to if I could, though. It may be the last time I get a chance to sing in public.

Elaine Hsu : What's the prognosis on your script for Yummy Fur? Are there still talks of putting the script into production?

Don McKellar: Yummy Fur is the script I wrote quite a while ago for Bruce McDonald based on the legendary comic strip. It's a pretty great script and we have lots of people interested but it's been harder than they thought to raise money considering the enormous amount of excrement portrayed. I still have faith though, if we can get the budget down. It's expensive shit.

Ryan: I read while back that you were thinking of working up an adaptation of Tom Robbins' "Still Life with Woodpecker". Is this true? If so, what prompted you to choose this book, and what can you tell us about your adaptation? Looking forward to the new season of Twitch!

Don McKellar: I don't know where you heard that. Someone was talking to me about it but it didn't get much beyond the casual discussion stage.

Toronto: Your Twitch City character is obsessed with TV. What do you think is the single most influential TV series ever?

Don McKellar: That's a good question. (Long pause while Don paces the room.) Future kids will be able to say "Twitch City", but as for me I would have to say those vintage PTL Club sponsorship drives.

anita (janita banana) chan: i notice many of the films you have starred/written/produced etc. have a lot to do with music. (ie thirty-two short filmes, red violin, the soundtrack to highway 61.) will this be a concious reoccuring theme/element in your future works?

Don McKellar: Wow, you guys are all such browners. I don't think it's been conscious. I like music a lot and I have pretty wide tastes and I listen to it all the time when I'm writing, so I don't think it's anything I can avoid. I don't have any directly music-related films coming up.

Elaine Hsu: Don, one of the guys from Sloan told me you attended their recent show in T.O. -- did you manage to catch any other bands during the Canadian Music Week festival?

Don McKellar: Yeah, Elaine, actually I was hanging out with those Sloan boys after the show, and Chris told me you were there too and that I should meet you. I have seen your site by the way, Elaine, and I'm really proud of it. When we were shooting Twitch City, I went out for dinner with Callum and Molly one night, and they were talking about their fans' sites, Molly about hers and Callum about his 500. Then I went home and sulked for awhile until my parents of all people phoned me up and told me they saw a fan site for me with pictures of them on it. And so I checked it out and was amazed. It's so slick and tasteful. BUT, back to your question, no I didn't have a chance to see any other Canadian stuff, though I did see the Lambchop/Yo La Tengo show from the night before, which was an amazing show.

~Anne~: Question for Don :- What was it like kissing Callum Keith Rennie in Last Night, and how many takes did it take?...

Don McKellar: This is the question I get asked more than all others. I know all you ladies are jealous out there. We got it pretty well on the first couple of takes, but of course I kept asking to do it again and again. It was a revealing experience for both of us. I'm big enough to admit that, although I don't think Callum is.

Toronto: I heard Bruce McCulloch isn't back as Rex Reilly, but he's being replaced by Mark McKinney. Is that some kind of Darren-Bewitched thing?

Don McKellar: That's exactly right. We though we would pull a Darren. I never thought we'd be able to get the original cast together but miraculously we had this brief window when everyone was available, except for Bruce, who was shooting Superstar. So I thought it would be funny to replace him with another Kid and barely make reference to it. On top of that, Mark's performance is totally different. I think you'll like him a lot.

Toronto: Jennifer Jason Leigh is on the show this season. How did you manage to get her on the show, and is it true Don shot a love scene with her? Tell all.

Don McKellar: Well, I may have shot a love scene ... but it's in the show. Seriously, though, she saw the series when she was up in Canada shooting EXistenZ and she asked me if I would put her in. And then I thought she'd be perfect for this kind of Single White Female-ish idea I had. (If it makes you feel any better, the scenes do get a little steamy.)

Ruthie Biermann, New Jersey New Jersey: Last Night is an excellent film (it should've won a Writer's Guild Award in the US), so different from the Hollywood blockbuster type end-of-world-productions. How did you come up with the idea to write a film about the end of the world that featured a few souls and how they would choose to spend their last few hours on earth? It was a surprisingly humorous and uplifting film. Thank you for your time,

Don McKellar: Well thank you, Jersey girl. I was commissioned by these French guys to do a film about the end of the millennium and I immediately decided to take it all the way and put the planet to sleep. I think the tone of the film and the basic story was something lodged deep in the back of my head from growing up watching disaster films in the '70s.

Andrea Hazard, Paradigm Pictures: if you had the opportunity to with and/or direct any living actor, whom would you most like to work with?

Don McKellar: I don't usually write parts with actors in mind (although Jennifer Jason Leigh is apparently an exception.) Normally I think it restricts the writing if you succumb to your preconceptions about an actor's range. I think with Sam Jackson, for instance, in Red Violin, he never would've accepted the part if I wrote it with him in mind. So, respectively, I will avoid your question.

Neil: Hey Don! Last Night was brilliant! It's one of my favorite movies! Anyways, most Canadians respect our writers more than our film makers and actors (eg, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Douglas Coupland). Do you plan to write any books (or have you already)?

Don McKellar: I haven't written any books yet, you will all be pleased to hear. The idea scares me, frankly. That's like REAL writing. However, I think that a lot of Canadian art has been influenced by the success of our literature, myself included. Here's a little-known fact I bet even Elaine doesn't know. In high school I took a writing class with Margaret Atwood and her husband, Grahame Gibson, as the instructors. You see, I'm legit.

Jennifer: Hi Mr. Don McKellar! I live in Taiwan, I'm your devoted fan, and I REALLY REALLY WANT TO READ YOUR PLAYS!!! ALL!!! Have you published your plays yet? Where can I find them? PLEASE let me know!! Devoted fan, Jennifer

Don McKellar: Hi, Jennifer. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come to the Taipei Film Festival this year. I really love that crazy town. No, my theatre stuff hasn't been published. I was talking to a publisher about the prospect, but I got kind of busy.

lynsey: Do you have any plans for a new movie?

Don McKellar: Lynsey. Get ready for big exclusive announcement. I am currently adapting a novel called "Blindness" by Jose Saramago (who incidentally won a Nobel Prize last year for literature). It's a big, scary great book, and I hope to direct it later this year or early in the next.

"Jamie Rosen": In the film "Last Night" your character wanted spend his final hours alone. What would you (Don McKellar) do in a similar situation?

Don McKellar: I don't know. There's a lot of me (Don McKellar) in all the characters in that film. Of course I'm closer to Patrick now that I've played the part, but when I was writing it, I was identifying with all the characters. So probably a bit of everything.

Lorraine Stobie Scotland: Are there any plans to sell Twitch city to a Uk company? I love the show but have to rely on Canadian friends to send me copies

Don McKellar: Nice to hear from a fan in the mother country. Actually I think there was some discussion with folks over there, but I'm not sure how it was finally resolved. The show is now playing in a number of different places throughout the world: Italy, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia, and the U.S. in May or June. I'm not sure if the show has been aired yet in those locations, but I'm going to try and get them to provide some information about this stuff on the Twitch City website (twitchcity.com). Expect some updates there pretty soon.

Whitey: Any plans for a DVD version of "Last Night?" Any deleted scenes or a narration track?

Don McKellar: I think there's an American version coming out, but I don't know when or what'll be on that. I'm sorry, I'll try and do my homework next time before I go online.

Ruthie B.: Did you always want to do this when you were a kid or did you have other aspirations as a child?

Don McKellar: Do what, Ruthie? Online chats with my lovely fans? I never dreamed it could be this good.

Craig: Which Kensington Market bakery do you prefer?

Don McKellar: I prefer the bagels and cookies at My Kensington Bakery.

Karen : Don, what motivates you to be involved in so many creative pursuits?

Don McKellar: It's not something I can help. Ever since the Grade 1 Christmas pageant, when I took over the part of the "true love" in The Twelve Days Of Christmas, after Tony Summers got sick at the last minute, I knew that showbiz was in my blood. I fronted my own theatre company in high school and paid my way through university with that, and slowly and accidentally, I found myself in the middle of this fabulous career.

Darko Lisak: What's your opinion of the tendency to a future in digital filmmaking? What's the feeling in general about this in the Canadian indie film community? It appears to be some- thing that American, even Danish (wasn't "The Celebration" done in digital?), indie filmmakers are keen to adopt. Personally, I don't think the image quality is there yet. (Looking forward to your next film!)

Don McKellar: Well, I think it's true that the image quality isn't really there yet. But on the other hand, you can do lots of cool stuff in post-production. Personally I think it's really exciting. The biggest impediment to a career in film has always been money, and I'm looking forward to the whole industry cracking open. For myself, I'll keep shooting in film until the quality gets up there, but those distinctions are becoming more and more blurred.

Stephanie: Hi Don, Will you be watching the Academy Awards this year, and do you have any predictions and/or favourites? Cheers an all the best!

Don McKellar: Well, Steph, I'm a sucker for a good awards show. Or even a bad one. In fact, I'm trying to decide whether I'll go down to the Academy Awards this year; I have an invitation.

Girls on the 7th Floor: Don, we hear that there is a new comedy award show. And that you are nominated for 3 of them. Do you still enjoy or get excited by the whole "award zoo" scene?????

Don McKellar: Well, you're fast, girls. I just came from the nomination announcements (for the Canadian Comedy Awards).To be honest, I think these award shows are always kind of ludicrous, but they can be entertaining for the showbiz squalour. Sometimes it's actually pleasingly disillusioning to see those things from the actual theatre.

Sylvia Chiaramonte (Belgium): Hello Mister McKellar, I'd like to congratulate you for everything you have done... thank you for sharing it with us. I'm french speaking and I'd like to tell you that your French in Last Night is wonderful. Do you speak French fluently? Thank you very much.

Don McKellar: Have you really seen Last Night? My French was horrible, and I was trying my best. I can read French pretty well and understand it, but I get awful shy speaking it in public. I'm impressed that you could understand what I was saying.

Alexa: Hi Don, do you spend much time on the internet anymore? Have any favourite pages/lists/chat rooms?

Don McKellar: I'm falling a bit behind on my Internet studies, although as you mentioned, I've been online forever. Since I'm sitting here in the CANOE office, I think I would be a bad guest if I didn't give them a plug.

Leah: what were your thoughts on the Genies this year? How did you feel about them expanding the critera so as to include more foreign productions? (i totally love your work and can't wait till next week when the new TC episodes air!)

Don McKellar: It was confusing, I will admit. But I think it's reflecting the way films are starting to be made in Canada. It's harder and harder to make a film outside of Hollywood without relying on an international co-production. In my heart, of course, I'm always rooting for the Canadians.

*Leora in London: did you get another nosebleed this christmas?

Don McKellar: I don't know how she knows this, but last Christmas I had this weird affliction where my nose wouldn't stop bleeding for a week. I had to have my sinuses packed with compressed bandages. Someone came up to me at a party and asked me if I would sign an autograph on a Last Night poster, just as my nose was erupting. And I signed it in blood. Was that your poster, Leora? It hasn't bled since, but I've named my personal company Bloody Nose Productions.

marcus: Other Canadian artists that have influenced or inspired?

Don McKellar: I watched tons and tons of movies when I was growing up, and tons and tons of TV. But I think the filmmakers who influenced me most were the people I had the good fortune of working with early in my career. Bruce McDonald, Atom Egoyan, Patricia Rozema, Francois Girard ... It's a very good education, seeing a good director at work.

Marshy: Don who was the guy who asked: "You got any beer?" to Satan in Highway 61? My friends and I still quote that line to this day. HilariousF! What ever became of him?

Don McKellar: His name was Johnny Asquith, a great guy. I haven't seen him for awhile. I think he was making films in the Far East.

Matthew Marsh: Hi Don, I just wanted to let you know that after seeing Highway 61, I started following your career and have seen most of your projects. It has also opened my eyes to other great Canadian movies by such talents as Atom Egoyan and Bruce MacDonald which I otherwise would have missed out on. You are a credit to the Canadian film industry and I just wanted to let you know that you have a fan for life. Keep up the good work. Matt Marsh, Ottawa

Don McKellar: Geez, Matthew, I'm tearing up here. We'll have to go on to the next question or I'll short the keyboard.

Elaine Hsu: Actually, I read about the Margaret Atwood trivia bit in an article from a while back... heheh! And thanks for the kind words. :-) Is there any possibility of your paintings appearing in a public gallery? As an art student, I think it would be fabulous to see.

Don McKellar: I'm impressed, Elaine. I can't stump you. Yeah, I paint, too. I was talking awhile back about doing a show in Toronto, but once again I got distracted by other stuff.

Lynsey: Does it creep you out that these people know so much about you? It creeps Me out.

Don McKellar: I'm way beyond the creeped-out stage, Lynsey. I'm very flattered that people bother. I'm also very flattered that you're so protective. But I can handle it.

Don McKellar: Sorry, we're running out of time. Just a couple more questions.

Doe: Don, did you have a mentor growing up and part 2, are you mentoring any young talents these days in order to nurture the creativity here in Canada?

Don McKellar: I think this whole mentor concept is pretty new. I didn't know a lot of Canadian filmmakers when I was growing up, except maybe David Cronenberg, and he's not exactly a guy you look to as a mentor. I think it's great now that people starting out in the business can look to Canadian filmmakers, and I hope I'm as supportive as I can be to the youngsters.

Leah: okay, my friend couldn't make it to the chat today because she has a class right now but she was wondering if you were ever picked on as a dork when you were younger? please don't take offense... she finds your dorkiness cute!!

Don McKellar: I was one of those scrawny kids who learned to use his dorkiness to his advantage, and hence, a star was born. I was a bit of a class clown in high school, which was probably good training, in retrospect. So I want to encourage and nurture all you dorks out there. If you want to look to me as a mentor, feel free.

Don McKellar: I'm told that we're out of time. I want to thank you all for sending the heap of messages here. Please watch the new Twitch City shows premiering next Wednesday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV, followed by back-to-back episodes for the next three weeks, 9-10 p.m. I think you'll like them. I'm proud of them myself. Tell your friends. Love you all. Farewell. Your pal, Don.

Don McKellar Moderator: Thanks, all. We'll be posting a full transcript of the chat shortly.

*(I don't know if Don really knew, but that was in fact the wonderful Leora Kornfeld, who interviewed Don on her former CBC program Radiosonic. Another note: I also found it amusing that after my last query, Don replied to a fan's question regarding "creepy" fans who know too much about him. Hmmm...)

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