While I am a latecomer to the Good Witch franchise (I somehow missed the movies over the years and only discovered the franchise as a result of the weekly series), I have found a special place in my heart for this Hallmark Channel original series. Season four was, in my opinion, the best one so far, and on the season four finale, I caught a glimpse of Cody Ray Thompson (who played Ryan Gathwright). Shortly thereafter, I reached out to Cody for an interview, and I am honored to be able to share this fascinating actor with my readers today.

RH: Cody, thank you so much for making the time to chat with me today.

CRT: Ruth, thank you for reaching out. It seems like it’s the busiest day of life, but I’m glad to have a little bit of time now to chat with you.

The reason I reached out is that I happened to see you pop up in the season four finale of Good Witch. And upon further research, I saw your name pop up in a couple other works I recognize, including what is one of my favorite shows, Designated Survivor. And also Murdoch Mysteries. 

I actually have done a lot of U.S. shows because there’s a lot being shot up here in Toronto. So it’s been a pretty good deal for me to get on a bunch of productions up here.

I know you’re listed on The Strain, but I didn’t know that was even showing here in the States. I thought it was just a Canadian show.

I think that shows on FX in the States, if I remember right.

There’s so much content out there it’s hard to keep up with everything sometimes. And I love getting to feature actors who have at least appeared in Hallmark works and aren’t necessarily the high-profile actors.

That’s wonderful, Ruth. There are a lot of working actors here in Toronto, but a lot of these lead roles still go to Americans. I’m always happy to see a Canadian get a lead in a show, but a lot of us are still working hard and only getting guest star roles. It is almost like a glass ceiling you have to break through here. But I’m not complaining because obviously, it builds up my resume and gives me a chance to get on set with these higher profile actors.

And it also helps me to be able to get comfortable. I think that’s a big part of this job, especially in Canada, where not all actors have a ton of opportunities. I think that anyone who has a chance to work on set for any extended period of time, it gives you that opportunity to feel more comfortable on set and give you that experience. I think it gives actors the ability to do better work. When you’re a day player and you’re just starting out, a lot of the jobs last for a day or two. The analogy I always use is that you’re like a new kid at the school, and while you can do well in the subjects, in terms of making friends and getting a lay of the land, it can be such a nerve-wracking experience that you just have to dive into it. But at the same time, you’re expected to perform at the same level as everyone else. Ideally, if you have good series regulars on the show, they’re going to be very gracious hosts. I’ve actually been very lucky that way when I’ve been a guest and the series regulars have been incredible.

For example, Catherine {Bell} was really great on Good Witch. In fact, the entire cast was very sweet and inviting. I found that it was a very easy set to work on. When you’re first starting out, I can understand how it can be kind of an uphill battle for actors ’cause you’ve gotta be on your A-game, but at the same time, you’re a little bit like a foreigner on set because you’re not there all the time and you don’t have the sort of rapport that everyone else has. I think you get used to it, and you have to find your own comfort on those sets. But I think it’s a blessing if you don’t have that sort of familiarity, you can sit back and observe and really take it in a bit more. It lends itself to the gratitude when you do get to work as an actor. As much as I feel strange and a foreigner, I can take this objective step back and really be grateful for the experience.

I think you said that quite well, and I understand exactly what you’re saying. So, Cody, how did you get started in acting? Was it something you always wanted to do?

When I was younger, I was in plays and that continued on into junior high and high school. But for me, even though I took it quite seriously in school, in the back of my mind, I think I allowed myself to be talked out of doing it professionally by other people. I had this idea that it wasn’t necessarily a career, even though it was something I really loved.

I remember that when I went to University, I think I was originally enrolled in Chemical Engineering. Then I took a year off because I got cold feet. I went back for civil engineering, but then I got cold feet again. I took another year off, and then I ended up going back to take physics for a semester. I like those kinds of classes, but I didn’t like the fact that the program was so cutthroat, and it didn’t feel like anyone was invested in anything. I remember I had one elective in philosophy, funny enough, and I ended up switching my major to philosophy. This was all at the University of Calgary in Alberta where I’m from. So I was in philosophy for about three years. I got to a point where I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with it.

]So I remember it was New Year’s Day in 2008, and I was still hanging around with a lot of actors. I was very involved in the community, though I wasn’t acting myself. I just decided that I may just as well go for it and see how far I could go. I auditioned for a play in Calgary called Boy Blue. I got in, and this play was part of the Calgary One-Act Festival, and I ended up adding on that drama major at the University of Calgary. I finished quicker too because I got a few good roles in a lot of the main stage plays, which counted as year-long credits. So with both of my majors, I managed to graduate a year early in 2011, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Drama Distinction and also with my Bachelor’s in Humanities and Philosophy. I then got lucky because right out of school, I got an internship at a good theater company in Calgary called Vertigo Theater. It was a paid internship, which is sort of unheard of. I did two shows with them, and I was under a ten-month contract. It was a perfect launching platform for my career. At that point, I was really into theater. Theater felt to me like the end game. My ideal was to be out in Ontario working at Stratford.

Through the years, I was still auditioning for a little bit of film and TV, but I was doing mostly theater. But at the end of my internship…in Calgary, there’s about two months where you can audition for shows. They tend to cast everything at once–basically April through June. If you don’t book anything within that time frame, you basically wait till next April. I got close on a couple of things, but I didn’t book anything. There was a big part of me that didn’t feel like waiting around.

So because I felt a lot more serious about this, I just decided to pick up and move to Toronto. It was a fairly quick decision that was made over the period of a couple months. It was more of an intuitive decision of going to either Vancouver or Toronto, and I just felt right about going to Toronto. That was back in November 2012. I got on with an agent fairly quickly here, and things shifted immediately to film and TV as soon as I got out here. My first audition was for a little indie horror film called Antisocial. And I guess the rest is history from there.

Antisocial

Very interesting what you say about philosophy. I honestly thought as you were telling your story that you were quite well-spoken, and maybe you come at acting from a different perspective because of your philosophy training. And I just seemed to sense there was a lot more to you than just acting. And it looks like maybe I was right. 

Well, sometimes it’s a little bit tricky in this career because a big part of acting is learning how to switch your brain off. You have to go into more of an instinctual, intuitive mindset where you somewhat relinquish control. I find that sometimes I almost get caught in my head too much. That can be a little bit dangerous in acting because when you’re thinking, you want to control the outcome. I’ve really had to work against that intellectual part of my brain because good acting is very reactive, instinctual, and emotional. It doesn’t reward intellectual thinking as much.

Now, I think it’s a big part of the job; I don’t want to discount that. You have to do your research and be very thoughtful with some of the choices and digging within characters. You need to understand how things come across and hopefully understand a character’s point of view of the situation or maybe how that character would react to a situation. But when you actually get in the moment, you kind of have to throw all of that away and really be in the moment where you are really listening. You have to try to react from a place that isn’t a place that you’ve pre-conjured. It’s got to be from a place where you’ve almost taken the training wheels off and you’ve got your hands off the handlebars a bit. I find that my best work has been in situations–especially auditions–where I walk out of it feeling like I have no idea what happened. Those are the auditions where my agent will call and tell me that I’m on hold for a role or I’ve got a callback. Sometimes I really do have to work against my own personality to some degree, and that’s sort of an interesting battle at times.

I’m right with you because I’m rather academic myself. I’ve had to learn to relinquish control of things. I can plan out my writing ahead of time and even plan out the questions I’m going to ask. But some of my best interviews are ones where I haven’t been well-prepared or as prepared as I thought I should be. 

I get that. Those moments where it sort of goes off the rails a little bit… those are the gems. I think sometimes you feel like you don’t want to deviate from what you think is right, and yet when you get those gems that might even feel like a mistake, they end up being some of the best moments sometimes. A scene I always reference is the scene from Midnight Cowboy where Dustin Hoffman almost gets hit by that cab and he yells, “I’m walking here!” Those are those real moments that you can never plan for, and yet when they’re captured on film, they become iconic. I really think that’s what we should be pursuing within the arts. I was telling someone recently about that old idea of Greek theater where acting really originates where the actors became vessels or mediums through which something greater channels through them. I know that seems sort of hokey to some degree, but I think the kind of pedagogy beneath that is there is the sense of allowing yourself to be open to a moment and seeing what comes out of it rather than putting that moment in a box. It’s one thing to feel these things over and over and conceptualize it. It’s another thing to put them into action.

With Richard Jenkins
The Shape of Water

Well, I think it’s rather smart of you to have moved to Toronto. I have a lot of acting friends out in Vancouver, but I know things are certainly picking up in Toronto a lot too.

I agree. A lot is going on. They’re building a lot of studios, and I think sometimes when big productions come to town, it tends to draw other productions. I think it gives the city of bit of credibility. I think that the two major things that helped from a creative standpoint are… Guillermo del Toro. He’s really set down his roots, and I got lucky to work with him twice. On The Strain and The Shape of Water. But now he’s got a place here, and he really loves Toronto, and he seems to love shooting here. He shot his last three films here. The Strain is shot here. I think he’s working on developing another series that will be shot here. I think when you have a name like that connected to a city, it potentially draws other productions.

And the other big one obviously is Star Trek Discovery. They’re completely taken over Pilot Studio, which is our big studio here in Toronto. And I also think it helps that the Canadian dollar plays a big part in American productions. They’re going to automatically save twenty-five percent of the budget just from the currency difference and you’re going to get the same production look of the city along with full production crews. And then a lot of productions incentivize because there’s such a bottom line of saving and coming in under budget.  I think a lot of productions are looking at ways of saving as much money as they can, so there’s real appeal from a financial standpoint as well. But I think what eventually comes along with that is more than the financial benefit. The more you’re shooting here, the more it creates the infrastructure in the city that makes it a credible place to shoot.

I think the same thing happened in Georgia, for example. The tax credit that was provided there really incentivized a lot of productions so the productions moved out there. I understand that they are shooting more things in Georgia than they are LA. I think it’s become a real destination for production companies to come shoot there because there is that infrastructure. It really rewards filmmakers to go shoot there.

As I was looking through your credits, I noticed a movie that I should have seen but have not. I have lost count of how many people I’ve interviewed who have been a part of this production. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. 

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles

Oh yes, that was a mini-series, and it was sort of my first guest star role. Before that, it was just a couple of really small roles, but that one was a full episode and more of a significant character. I got to work pretty closely with Michelle Fairley from Game of Thrones and Christina Ricci. That role was a little bit of a meatier role for me to be able to get into. That’s how I got my manager in LA since my manager saw me in that role. So that project was a little bit of a game changer for me. I think I auditioned by tape if I remember right, and one of the local casting directors really pushed it to these American production companies to get me in it. I really have her to thank since she went to bat for me. That was such a fun, fun project.

That’s what I understand from others I’ve talked with about it. And I know it got a lot of attention. It’s one I really need to sit down and watch very soon.

I know it’s tough with all the content out there. Even as an actor, ironically, I don’t have a lot of time to watch film and TV. There’s certain shows you end up gravitating towards. But there’s a ton out there right now, so it’s difficult to keep up.

It looks like the first series where you had a recurring role was Damien. 

Yes, that is correct. This show was originally supposed to be on Lifetime or something like that. It was on A & E, but it seems like I remember Lifetime being the parent network. I think it was originally slated to be six episodes, and originally I only had a really small role in the first episode. The show takes place thirty years after The Omen where Damien Thorn has grown up. It’s like something happened with his memory where he doesn’t really remember what happened during his childhood, but through the course of the series, he comes to terms with the realization that he’s the Antichrist. It’s a take on a new sort of anti-hero because it’s this guy trying to resist the idea that he’s the Antichrist because he’s actually a good person. So he’s a man being pulled both ways. I played this character who went to school with him, and I’m this rich, smarmy, silver-spoon-fed lawyer character who does a favor for him in the first episode.

Damien

Because A & E liked the show, they decided to extend it for four more episodes, and that’s when they decided to bring my character back for another episode to basically get slaughtered. {laughs} But it’s funny because I became pretty good friends with Bradley James and Omid Abtahi, who played the leads in the show. We used to hang out a lot together, and it became this running joke that they were going to bring my character, Cray Marquand, back to the show, but none of us expected it. So then Bradley reached out and said, “You know, we’ve joked about this, but they’re actually bringing your character back to get killed.” Unfortunately, the show got canceled after that first season. It was in a tough spot. But it was a great experience to work with a couple of good directors. There was a really good interrogation scene that was fun to shoot in the second episode I shot.

That’s so nice when you were not expecting to come back and they brought you back. I hear about that happening a lot to the actors I’ve interviewed.

Murdoch Mysteries

Well, I think it’s sort of the Canadian way. I think it’s the way a lot of Canadian actors get to book recurring roles or bigger roles. It’s sort of like sneaking in the back door. We always say in this industry that you never know what work will get work. You might not even get a role on the same show. Maybe it’s a director who ends up directing another show or a showrunner, and they bring you in for that other show. Or if your character comes back when you don’t expect it.

So you mentioned that you were in The Shape of Water. While I haven’t seen this movie as of yet, I do believe it won an Oscar.

Yes, it won Best Picture this year. And while the role was small, it was cool to be a part of that. I think I had four days total on that movie. It was a big scene, and I played a guard. I got to work with Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg, but that was a cool opportunity. I had the audition and then a callback for Guillermo. And luckily I had worked on The Strain, and his producer was the director of my episode. I actually brought that up when I was in the room.

And that was a funny little scene. The scenes for the audition call for the guard to be sipping on some soup, and so on my way to the audition, I decided I was going to try to bring this in. So I went to a Tim Horton’s and bought some chili or something. So I got to the audition, and the casting director, Robin Cook, I explained to her how I had brought this in because the scene calls for it. I asked if I could bring it in, but she was like, “No, it’s gonna stink up the room, and I don’t think it’s necessary.” So I left it to the side. Guillermo got there, and we chatted a bit and ran the scene once. He said, “I really wish there was a soup.” And I went, “Oh, Guillermo, I actually brought chili. I can go out and get it.” So I went out into the waiting room and grabbed my chili, came back into the room and ran my scene with it. The Tim Horton’s chili is what got me that role! {laughs}

When you were filming the movie, did people seem to think it was going to be a big movie?

With Richard Jenkins
The Shape of Water

You know, I’m not sure. Guillermo hasn’t had Oscar attention since maybe Pan’s Labyrinth. It was a more dramatic film, but it didn’t feel like a huge film. It was still an incredible cast. You knew looking at the cast that it probably would get some attention. You can’t really project in the future how these films are going to do. And because I had such a small role, I really didn’t know about the whole project. You can’t conceptualize it the way that Guillermo might. You’ve got some ideas and you think it’s good, but I had no idea this film would win at the Oscars. You’re doing the best work you can and buying in as fully as you can.

So much to do with the awards and the acclaim of films is how topical and relevant it is. I think the film resonated in a time that needed that message. And sometimes those things can be hard to predict. For example, within a year of shooting a film…I shot that two years ago. There were eight months of post-production, and I saw it at TIFF before it even came out in December. I saw it almost a year ago originally. It goes to the festival run, and I think it gained a bit of momentum there. Then it got released in theaters. Then by Oscar time, it builds up the hype and momentum. I don’t think anyone expects that, and then it just breaks its way through. By the time it got to the Oscars, I could definitely see The Shape of Water winning. But it’s hard to make that same prediction when we were shooting the film.

So I noticed you were in a film that I somehow missed, but it’s available on Amazon, and I’ve now added it to my list. Girls’ Night Out.

Oh yeah, that was shot in Montreal. There’s a production company in Montreal called Incendo Productions, and they make three to five movies per year. They tend to be a lot of the same archetype like a female-led thriller. Usually, it’s an actor who is doing pretty well in the States who plays the lead female. I think I had auditioned for about eight of their films and my joke with the casting directors was, “Well, here’s number nine.” They always liked me, but they had been waiting for the right role. And this one was the right one. It was a fun shoot in Montreal.

I try to follow all the Lifetime Movies, but this is one I missed. I always follow Hallmark, but sometimes I miss the new Lifetime ones. Some fans don’t like Lifetime, but then others don’t like Hallmark. 

You know, the viewers all have their own tastes, and it’s okay that we don’t all agree on what is good. What I am always hoping for is that there is enough viewers out there enjoying that particular film. You hope that you are connecting with some of the viewers. I mean, The Shape of Water got some polarizing reactions. There are those who really enjoyed the film, and the message spoke to them. So they understood why it got an Oscar for Best Picture. But there are others who say, “It was about this weird fish man.”  The human experience is subjective to some degree, and film is supposed to reflect that. And I think that’s the great thing about film. Not every film has to be for everybody. That’s why there’s so many different stories out there.

With Good Witch, were you aware of this particular series before being on it?

Yes, I had auditioned a few times previously for other roles in Good Witch. So I knew it was around, and even back when I first started auditioning for the show, I had done my research. I knew it had come from a series of films, and they had turned it into a series. Although I had gone out for other roles on the show, I was waiting for the perfect one. And when I auditioned for the show this time, I wasn’t sure that my audition was all that great from my end. And I was so glad I booked it and got to be a part of it. I think because the cast had been doing it so long, there was a real sense of ease with it. They were funny and also a good group to hang out with.

From Good Witch

I’ve been following the show pretty closely the past four seasons, and season four was by far the best season. At least in my opinion. And you were a part of the season four finale. Even though the wedding didn’t ultimately happen for the leads, it was pretty cool the way the story ended. And we have an official season five that will be happening, and the Halloween movie has already been filmed and will be premiering soon. I think it would be great if they could bring your character back.

Photo: Seann Gallagher, Kylee Evans, Sarah Power, James Denton, Catherine Bell, Catherine Disher, Tessa Mossey, Cody Ray Thompson Credit: Copyright 2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Shane Mahood

Yes, that’s right. And Tessa Mossey, who plays Kylee’s {Evans} character’s sister, there’s that idea that they could come back for the wedding or after the wedding. I would definitely love to come back at some point. I think it’s also a great theme that they did the Marines. I know that Catherine was on JAG, and in doing research, she was around a lot of Marines. I think she has a big respect for the military. I think she was really excited about how this episode handled the situation. I feel like the storyline really honored that part of the audience who have to deal with that. Whether it’s wives of military husbands or whatever, I think this adds a nice little touch to the show.

I thought it was fantastic the way the finale ended. And Hallmark tends to do a really great job of honoring the military, past and present. It was great to see this brought into the show because they have never really done anything like that on Good Witch, as far as I know.

I agree with you. And it would be cool to be on the other end of it this time. We would happily be wedding guests or whatever else they need.

So do you have anything else upcoming that you can mention?

Yes, I have two things. I have a pilot coming out of this new show on NBC. It’s called The InBetween. I’m doing a guest star role on the pilot.

I’m also involved in this new show coming out on Netflix called The Umbrella Academy. It’s supposed to premiere in February, last I heard. I have a recurring role on that show. I am really looking forward to that one. It’s a very well-done show. A very good group of actors on that show as well. It’s based on a comic. It’s a two-part comic. It’s not just a classic superhero thing. It’s more that he is disgruntled because of these powers. The father passes away, and there is a reunion of these siblings. They don’t necessarily have the best relationships with each other, so it’s potentially going to connect with those who don’t necessarily connect with their own families. I think that emphasizes the more flawed parts of the relationships that we have with our family. It’s really important.

Are you looking at doing any writing or directing in the future?

Yes, actually funny enough, I recently finished shooting a short film of mine that I wrote and directed. It’s called Dead Weight. It’s a dark comedy about this guy named Hal. His best friend Terry calls him for help to get rid of the body of his landlord who he killed as a way to get out of paying rent. So it’s these two guys trying to ditch this body. Then there’s a subplot of this ex-detective who ends up stumbling onto the scene of the crime when she goes to make a house call about a bounced rent check. The Cohen Brothers were a very big inspiration for me. Like Fargo, for example. It’s these situations that are larger than life with these quirky characters. I think it is important…that’s the trend now. If these up and coming actors are not working, it’s the thing to put their own voice out there. And I think for me, it’s a story that you don’t necessarily see on Canadian screens. It’s very important for me to be putting my voice out there. As grateful as I am for getting cast in these wonderful roles, there are certain parts of my voice that I want to put out there. For example, I don’t get to go out for a lot of comedy. To be able to write my own comedy and put it out there is a different way of connecting with the audience. I’m really looking forward to that.

Good for you! That’s great to hear, and I wish you all the best with that endeavor. I hope you get a lot of positive attention.

I think we honestly will. We have a good DP. I’ve gotten to see some of the stills, and it looks incredible. We’re targeting Sundance for 2019. Then we’re going to try to do the whole festival run next year. I really am excited about this project. I really believe what we have is special, and I feel that everyone on board bought into it. I felt really lucky, but the way everyone else involved feels about it also reinforces the way I feel about it.

I’m so pleased for you, Cody, and thank you for sharing about you and your career today.

Ruth, thank you for reaching out. It is my pleasure. And thanks to everyone who watched Good Witch and any of my other projects. I really appreciate the support.

As an actor who has been living essentially beneath the radar from the inception of his career, I couldn’t be happier for him that things are beginning to swing into action for him. After his intensive labor and stalwart determination, he is certainly getting to work on more high-profile projects and even booking roles that garner more attention for his career. While he appreciates each project with which he has been able to be involved over the years, there is nothing like being able to put your own voice out there and ultimately have people appreciate and connect with you as an artist. I am grateful that Hallmark featured him in Good Witch last season, and as more productions (Hallmark and otherwise) come to his area, it is my sincere desire that these new projects will come to value the unique giftedness and perspective that Cody brings to each of the characters he is enlisted to portray. 

If you have not had the opportunity to watch the season four finale of Good Witch, I do encourage fans of the show to look it up as soon as possible (I assume it is available on various streaming services such as Amazon and Google Play), and one never knows what the future may hold with Hallmark after such a memorable performance as Cody’s. I would also invite my readers to check out all of his links below and keep a sharp eye out for both upcoming projects he mentioned which have yet to air. While Cody may have been professionally undetected for some time, I tend to believe that in due time, a network will inevitably snatch him up and permit him to display the aggregate of the talent he has been fastidiously refining over the years. Furthermore, I am convinced that whatever production utilizes his full capabilities will only reap the massive rewards of working with a consummate artist who possesses talent beyond his years as well as a humble desire to cooperate and create something of which the entirety of the team can be most proud.

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