Nobody could ever accuse Paul Gross of resting on his laurels. Whether it鈥檚 acting, writing, directing or producing on the stage and screen, he always seems to have a project on the go -- sometimes two or three at the same time.
鈥淒ue South,鈥� 鈥淪lings and Arrows,鈥� 鈥淐hasing Rainbows,鈥� 鈥淢en with Brooms鈥� and 鈥淧asschendaele鈥� are just a handful of the movies and TV series that have made him one of the most recognizable names in Canadian showbiz.
And he鈥檚 particularly popular with women. Gross doesn鈥檛 deny his good looks, but he鈥檚 not comfortable being described as a sex symbol.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what that means,鈥� he said, looking uncomfortable after being asked the question by W5鈥檚 Sandie Rinaldo. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e supposed to do with that.鈥�
Sex symbol or not, Gross鈥檚 off-screen life is mostly off the radar. He shows up for big events like the Toronto Film Festival, but prefers to keep a low profile. No gossip, no scandal, no fodder for the tabloids. In a business littered with broken families, he and actress Martha Burns have been married for 21 years.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 point to myself as being the reason why we鈥檝e remained together for so long,鈥� said Gross. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 really her strength. And it鈥檚 been a source of enormous strength to me, too.鈥�
Another source of strength for Gross is his parents. His father, Bob Gross, was an officer in the Canadian army and that made for a nomadic childhood as the family moved from base to base in Canada, England and Germany.
But it was his grandfather, Michael Dunne, who inspired him to create Passchendaele, a $20-million epic based on the stories he heard from Dunne about the First World War.
鈥淎nd ever since that time,鈥� said Gross, 鈥淚鈥檝e had this kind of abiding interest in the war, and then gradually, as I got older and started to write I thought, well, I should try and do something with this.鈥�
Not only did Gross write the screenplay, he also produced, directed and played the lead role in the movie that won, among many other awards, the 2009 Pierre Berton award for history.
Despite his solid box-office record north of the border, Gross has never really cracked the unforgiving world of Hollywood.
鈥淓very year for many, many years now I鈥檝e been sent pilots, every pilot season from U.S. networks,鈥� said Gross. 鈥淎nd I thought this year, 鈥榳ell, maybe I鈥檒l actually have a look at it.鈥� And it was the nature of the part that drew me.鈥�
The part was certainly intriguing -- Darryl Van Horne, a mysterious charmer who suddenly arrives in a sleepy New England town in the television drama, 鈥淓astwick.鈥� The series was inspired by John Updike鈥檚 classic novel, 鈥淭he Witches of Eastwick,鈥� which itself was turned into a movie in 1987 starring Jack Nicholson.
鈥淓astwick鈥� seemed to have everything going for it -- sex, money and a whiff of evil.
But Gross spotted trouble right away with his character. The network behind the series, ABC, was reluctant to refer to Darryl Van Horne as the Devil.
鈥淔or my money I think it鈥檚 a completely insane way to go,鈥� said Gross. 鈥淏ecause a show like that has a brand. People come to view it with certain expectations and when there isn鈥檛 any devilry and there鈥檚 very little witchcraft. And so, I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥榳ell, that鈥檚 not what I wanted,鈥� and they move on.鈥�
And viewers did move on -- in droves. After scathing reviews and plummeting ratings, 鈥淓astwick鈥� was cancelled in November 2009. Its final episodes were broadcast in January.
Gross鈥檚 early analysis of 鈥淓astwick鈥檚鈥� flaws prepared him for disappointment, so the cancellation didn鈥檛 come as a surprise. And he hasn鈥檛 given up on Hollywood. He has other projects in the works, but has no illusions about Tinseltown.
鈥淗ollywood is a very strange place,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it is mostly about the business. And people I鈥檝e known who went down there, their personalities, their core, gets kind of distorted.鈥�
You could never describe Gross as distorted. The words that come to mind when you meet him are more like 鈥済rounded,鈥� 鈥渇ocused,鈥� or 鈥渨ell-balanced.鈥� And he seems to have a clear sense of the negative effects of working in show business.
鈥淵ou can get untethered quickly in this job,鈥� he said. 鈥淧articularly if you start to think that going to awards shows and going to kind of black tie events is what you鈥檙e doing. And it isn鈥檛. Most of this is just really hard work.鈥�
At the age of 50, there鈥檚 no indication that Gross is giving up on a lifetime of hard work. Among his new projects, he鈥檚 the executive producer of a new Canadian series called 鈥淐rash and Burn鈥� and he鈥檚 starring in 鈥淕unless,鈥� a satirical western that鈥檚 due for release this spring.
If you pushed him to make one choice from his palette of talents -- acting, writing, directing and producing -- Gross said he鈥檇 probably choose writing. But he has another ambition which might surprise you, one that has nothing to do with theatre, television or the movies. He鈥檇 like to be a Formula One racing driver.
鈥淟ike most guys, I think I鈥檇 be very good at it,鈥� he said and laughed. 鈥淥ddly, most men think they can be just as good as some of the guys who do it for a living. And I鈥檓 pretty sure I could be.鈥�
