Yellowknife-born actor Dustin Milligan on what's next after Schitt's Creek

A Yellowknife-born actor is showing his range, from playing a veterinarian on Emmy award-winning show Schitt's Creek to voice acting for a new kids series.

Dustin Milligan played a key role on Schitt's Creek, a show that chronicles a formerly-filthy-rich family as they are demoted from their opulence to lead normal lives in a rural town — their only remaining asset.

Schitt's Creek just wrapped up its final season and is up for 22 Canadian Screen Awards.

The popularity of the show couldn't have been predicted, but seeing its success has been "pretty wild" for Milligan.

"As a Canadian actor there is always this sense of 'yeah, you do the Canadian work in order to pay the bills and keep yourself busy until the larger American jobs come through,'" he said.

But, when Milligan was presented with the opportunity to work with Eugene Levy, who plays Johnny Rose and Catherine O'Hara playing the role of former soap opera star wife Moira Rose, he says taking the role was an easy choice.

"I looked up to Eugene and Catherine a lot as a kid and to work with them — it was a no-brainer. You never know what a show like this is going to do in terms of the final outcome and how the audience is going to receive it," he said.

"Truly an unexpected dream come true." 

He added the actors are both "kind and generous with their time and their talents."

From sitcoms to kids' TV

Milligan is on the up after the hit comedy series and has a few projects on the go.

Among them is Rutherford Falls, an upcoming American TV sitcom that focuses on the relationship between a fictional Native American reservation and the residents of a neighbouring small town in upstate New York. 

He is also starring in a new show kids' show, Super Agent Jon Le Bon!.

The show is fun and goofy, and the super agents help to deceive villains while delivering an environmental message.

"A lot of the hijinx we get into are related to environmental issues — global warming, climate change as well as friendships, bonding and teamwork," he said. 

"It's a high energy show. I think it's a lot of fun for kids, the young at heart," he said.

Raised by a northern community

Milligan said the support of his teachers at Mildred Hall School in Yellowknife and community members have been a guiding force in his career.

"It may be cliché to say, but, I do believe in that adage of it takes a village to raise a child," he said. 

"I believe it was a large group of people over many, many years that continued to encourage me over the years in those moments when I needed it that has led my to pursue this job," he said. 

And, he says, the longer he's been away from the North, the more he realizes just how much he loves Yellowknife.