THE BLACK SHEEP INTERVIEW: JEREMIAH S. CHECHIK (THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG)

ALL KINDS OF RIGHT

It was a pleasure to sit down with director, Jeremiah Chechik, to discuss his newest film, THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG. Having previously directed films including CHRISTMAS VACATION and BENNY AND JOON, Chechik is no stranger to comedy. His latest film, his first in 15 years, was shot almost entirely in Alberta (including Banff and Canmore) and features great performances from its stars Ryan Kwanten (“True Blood”), Sara Canning (“The Vampire Diaries”), and Catherine O’Hara. And in case you were wondering, there are no vampires in it.

Upon first glance, the entire premise of THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG may seem a bit creepy. Leo (Kwanten) falls in love with Colette (Canning) at her wedding to another man. He then proceeds to follow her around, trying to convince her that he is the right guy for her. Chechik explains that while it may sound stalker-y on paper, when one sees the film, they will understand that it is nothing like that at all. “Catherine’s character [Tess] obviously helps this a lot by giving Leo permission to move forward with it,” Chechik explains of Leo’s quest for Tess’s daughter’s heart. “There’s a lot of moving parts; it tends to be a lot more nuanced and sophisticated than it is at first glance.”

Chechik, having been a fan of “True Blood”, was thrilled to work with Kwanten, who plays Jason Stackhouse on the popular HBO series.  “I’ve always been a fan of someone who can take a single character and yet pull comedy into dramatic scenes, drama into comedic scenes, be kind of a sexual creature and yet be vulnerable,” Chechik gushes. “He does that all in a single character. So that’s impressive, and very different than the character he plays here.” Chechik assures me that the feeling was mutual, saying, “He loved the script. When we met I just knew ‘this is the guy’. Ryan is Leo, I mean in real life, he is very much like that. He does wear his heart on his sleeve; he is kind of uncensored. The first thing he said to me was ‘I’m this guy! I know this guy, I’m this guy!’”

Upon hearing of Chechik’s strong admiration for Kwanten, I inquired whether he had him in mind when he first read the script. Chechik explained why he tries never to do this. “I really think about the uniqueness of the character on the page. I try not to put a face on it personally. Then I start to think ‘who would be good?’. You start to realize that there are people who get you really excited about what they’d bring to the part and Ryan just continually excited me as the right person, right persona, and right age. Luckily he liked the script.”

Lucky indeed. THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG opens across Canada on Friday, October 11.