Meet the Londoners who had a hand in The Shape of Water
Actor John Kapelos, sound mixer Paul Gosse, and sound editor Nathan Robitaille have links to London
If you need a movie to root for during the Academy Awards Sunday night, why not choose The Shape of Water?
The Guillermo del Toro flick is an Oscar darling this year, with a whopping 13 nominations overall.
It also has a strong London connection.
The actor John Kapelos, who plays the theatre manager and landlord Mr. Arzoumanian, was born and raised in London, sound mixer Paul Gosse trained at the London-based Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, and sound editor, Nathan Robitaille is a graduate from the Digital Applications program at Fanshawe College.
Here's how they wound up working on the Guillermo del Toro movie.
John Kapelos, a.k.a. 'Oh, it's that guy!'
John Kapelos made his theatrical debut in a Grade 10 production of Guys an Dolls at London Central Secondary School.
He's has since built a lengthy IMDB page with credits including Suits, Republic of Doyle and Days of Our Lives.
Gen Xers might know him best as the janitor in the classic teen movie The Breakfast Club.
"Being in a John Hughes movie, they're defining films for people who love them," he said.
Kapelos said he's heard talk of remaking the movie, but would rather see Hollywood invest in new ideas—like The Shape of Water, for instance.
"That's why The Shape of Water for example is exciting. Because it is a film. It is filmic, it is cinematic," he said.
The movie is innovative largely because of its director, Kapelos said.
"Guillermo [del Toro] is his own production designer, so he does all his own drawings and sketches and sets. There are no filmmakers working with that vocabulary at their hands. Not even Fellini was working like that."
Despite being based in Los Angeles, Kapelos retains a strong connection to London.
"I could probably tell you how many blocks there are between Maitland and Victoria Street on the sidewalk and how many cracks on the sidewalk there are," he said.
"My memories of London are so vivid and real. It's a great place to be from."
Paul Gosse a Call the Office alum
Paul Gosse is from Toronto originally, but moved to London to attend the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART).
The idea at the time was for him to learn how to record his own hard rock records. After graduating in 1991, Gosse said he was a "mainstay" at Call the Office, playing in a band called Boris is Back.
When the band fell apart, he moved into boom operating, and doing sound for reality shows and TV series. Some work on another del Toro movie, Pacific Rim, led to the Shape of Water gig.
He's now working on the upcoming horror movie Descendant, which is filming in Toronto.
"The work that I did on The Shape of Water definitely opened some doors for me," he said. "There's no question about that."
Nathan Robitaille a Fanshawe College graduate
Nathan Robitaille, 39, was born in Penetanguishene, Ontario but is currently based in Toronto and works for Sound Dogs.
He's nominated for best sound editing in the film.
It's a testament to his roots as a graduate of Fanshawe College's Certificate in Digital Applications in 2000. The program is now called Audio Post Production.
Robitaille says school was a struggle for him but he always excelled in the arts. He hopes this nomination shows those who supported him through the years that it was worth it.
"It's lovely to be able to tell the people who you apprenticed under that you appreciate what they've done and that you don't think they wasted their time. It's another thing to show them, " he said.
Despite all the Oscar buzz, Robitaille doesn't expect this experience to change the way he chooses his next project.
"I think I'll just keep focusing on that creative integrity and hopefully there's some magnetism involved in this whole Oscar racket," he said.