‘North of North’ heads south
We catch up with the creators and stars of the hit comedy North of North and find out what to expect in the second season, including a trip south, and why they think their Inuit-led series resonates with viewers worldwide.
Sitting across from North of North’s showrunners, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok MacDonald, and executive producer Miranda de Pencier, you see three grateful women.
The first season of their uplifting comedy set in the fictional Inuit community of Ice Cove charmed audiences and critics alike. Airing on CBC Gem, APTN and Netflix (the latter reported the show cracked its top 10 in 33 countries and earned almost 9 million global views in its first few months), North of North earned a coveted 100 percent fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
A few hours after finishing this interview, the team won Best Comedy Series at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, one of nine wins from among their 20 nominations.
But, right now, North of North’s cast and creators are here at this downtown Toronto hotel to talk to the press about what happens next.
Season two hits small screens in September, starting with APTN+ on September 1, followed by CBC TV, CBC Gem and APTN TV on September 8.
One wonders if the team is feeling the pressure of high expectations.
“I felt so much pressure season one, making a brand-new thing and not knowing how our community would react to it, or whether the world would even care,” says Arnaquq-Baril.
“Well, the one pressure is we got that 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score in season one, so now it’s ‘aaahhh,’” adds de Pencier with a laugh.
“This season was a lot more fun and easier,” continues Arnaquq-Baril. “Not that it was easy, but we felt like we were going to die in season one [laughs]. This season we were really able to enjoy the process. To know who we were working with and how much they care about the show and care about the vision we have to try and make it what it is.”
“We are still leading with comedy and heart,” adds Aglok MacDonald. “I think a major thing for us is, as much as we love to laugh, we love to feel things and explore things that are real in our lives that aren’t just fun and antics but have real stakes to them. So that’s something we are maintaining in tone throughout season two.”
Moving beyond Ice Cove
Filmed in Iqaluit, Nunavut, the series follows irrepressible Siaja (Anna Lambe), a young wife and mother who makes the bold decision to leave her self-obsessed husband Ting (Kelly William) to carve out her own path in the world. Juggling childcare, the opinions of her harsh mother Neevee (Maika Harper) and working for the community she loves, Siaja is a combination of beloved TV characters Leslie Knope and Lucy Ricardo — a well-meaning community leader who gets herself into sticky situations.
The new season [SPOILER ALERT!] sees Siaja leave Ice Cove and head south in search of the sister she never knew she had.
For lead actors Lambe and Harper, the secret-sister plot development (revealed in the first season’s final episode) surprised them as much as it did viewers. The pair was on hand for the press day, not knowing they, too, would walk away as winners at the Canadian Screen Awards later that night. Lambe earned the prize for Best Lead Performer (Comedy) and Harper picked up the Best Supporting Performer (Comedy) award.
“So much of the plot was kept under wraps and you would find out as you went along with the scripts,” says Lambe. “So finding out about the sister reveal I was crying and shaking, and I remember texting Stacey and Alethea and Miranda and saying, ‘Guys, whaaa! Oh my god.’”
“It was so much fun to learn about that big revelation because we really didn’t know what was going to happen, as we were reading scripts as we went,” adds Harper. “And I think we were also learning our tone as well; we weren't quite sure about the tone yet, so all of it was a learning curve.”
One of the show’s strongest elements is the relationship between Siaja and Neevee. Siaja wants her mother to open up emotionally while Neevee purposely holds back her feelings. Theirs is a complicated mother-daughter relationship, giving the actors so much to work with and explore together.
“Siaja and Neevee are so different, such different characters, such different people,” says Lambe. “But the vibration they operate at is so similar in intensity and emotion. And they are so bound by love, and they just express it so differently. I feel us showing up always ready to match each other’s energy with complete and full trust in one another makes working together so easy.”
“I think our two characters are so vulnerable together, so whenever we work together we’re ready to play ball,” adds Harper.
Season two ranges from melodrama to “clownlike comedy”
Siaja and Neevee’s journeys will undoubtedly take twists and turns this season. We wonder what new avenues the actors were most excited to explore.
“I think you really get to see where Siaja gets her clumsiness from,” Harper says with a smile.
“I was really excited that I got to lean so much into the drama,” reveals Lambe. “Drama is my bread and butter. I love it. It’s what started my career and one of the things I really enjoy diving into.
“I know some people find it so lame, but I love melodrama, I think it’s great,” she continues. “So, getting to lean so heavily into the emotions of this season and having so much space for it, and then also doing the intense, almost clownlike comedy of it all. There’s so much range.”
Range is exactly what we’re seeing with the breadth of high-quality series being produced by Canadian creators at the moment. Shows such as North of North, Heated Rivalry, Empathie and others raise the bar for the shows that follow.
So, what is the secret sauce being poured into our shows that’s making them so good?
“I think Canada’s good at being funny and making people feel feelings and caring about each other,” says Arnaquq-Baril. “Canada invests in its culture, too. We have a publicly funded arts system, and I think that is why we punch above our weight on the global stage.”
