Karine Vanasse is the star of CTV’s Cardinal, coming up on its fourth season which is currently in production. During a busy press day, I got the opportunity to chat with the Quebecois actress about Cardinal and acting. {The interview took place before Season 3 aired}.
Number one, congratulations on the success of Cardinal! What can fans expect to see from the upcoming season?
I really feel like everything that the fans have been loving since season one is just being explored in a deeper way [such as] the relationship between Cardinal and Lise. Their relationship is twisted, it’s sad, it’s really interesting, so I feel like we’re just definitely back in the Cardinal world, and we’re staying true to that. You know, it’s just nice when a show is evolving, but then once again staying true to what it was at the beginning.
And your character specifically has done some evolving over the past two seasons, so where do you see her going?
I don’t know, I feel like the Delorme that we see now—even within the same sequence, there’s a scene in episode one where we see her taking the lead when Cardinal is dealing with some really emotional stuff, he has to go through a situation that’s just overwhelming to him. She takes over, and she seems to be managing just fine. But we have a glimpse of her just breaking, for a really short moment. And then (snaps fingers) okay, she’s back on track. It’s good to see that vulnerability from her and to see that she’s not always that tough girl that we saw in season one. She breaks sometimes. Any time you play a character, you do feel empathy for them at some point. That’s the whole challenge [as an actress], to feel as close as you can to this character, to this person, and to try and touch their souls, and to then build your craft from that place.
Cardinal is based on a book series, does the book version of the character inform the characters on the show at all?
Cardinal himself, is actually quite true to how he was in the books. The whole world of Cardinal has been quite true to what Giles Blunt created. But Lise Delorme is not as much in the books as she is in the show. So from season one Aubrey Nealon, the writer of the show, has expanded her a little bit. She’s a lot more present so the writers and showrunners have to give her some storylines that weren’t originally part of the books.
Is there pressure in acting in an adaptation like this, especially when there are already people who love the books?
I feel like the pressure comes more from wanting to feel like the author recognizes his characters and that we are adding dimension to it and building from what was written and what was his vision. We just want him to be somehow pleased.
Something I feel really sets the show apart is the atmosphere it creates. Is that something you feel when on set and really work to create?
It’s really interesting how when a DP is working really nicely with the light or how the sun is lighting not only your face but the whole room, it’s informing you on the tone that they want to create and the emotional tone that they want to give to a scene. Sometimes when we do scenes in the middle of the forest, and there are all these big tall trees, you see what they’re trying to convey with the scenery, and you’re being part of that. I felt it while we were doing it.
You’re a Quebecois actress and you’ve done both French and English speaking roles. Do you as an actress feel like there’s a difference between doing a French-speaking role vs an English speaking role?
I feel like it obviously depends on the project, but the language itself doesn’t resonate the same way for me. Sometimes there’s a history with the words in French that I don’t have certain words in English since I was raised in French and English came much later on in my life. So I don’t relate to the words the same way. That would be the main difference.
Do you have a preference?
It’s just different, depending on the role. It would be interesting to play the same character in French and in English. I sometimes get to do that when I’m doing, for example, Cardinal, where I’m dubbing myself for the French version. And of course, she sounds different. Her energy is different. My voice is not the same in French as it is in English; it tends to be lower in English, I tend to speak faster in French. It’s working from a different physicality almost. The intentions are similar, obviously, but the way you would incorporate an emotion in a line changes since the words are different. The evolution of emotion in the lines are not necessarily the same. The fabrication is different. I just have to make sure when I’m doing the dubbing that I’m not too attached to the English version even though it’s me! Sometimes I’m like “no no no that’s not how I played it!” but I have to say to myself “that’s how it was played, now explore something different” and in the end, it will convey the same thing but with a different approach. The path ends up being a little different.
Speaking of French roles and English roles, while you’ve been doing Cardinal there have been other projects that have come out for you–there was Blue Moon, there was Malek. When it comes to doing multiple projects either at once or in a row—is that how you prefer to work or is it just something that happened?
I love going from one project to another! What I’m grateful for is that, for example, Blue Moon was one of the most successful series in Quebec. She’s a tough one that character–she swears, she’s all muscles and tension and anger, she’s reactive, she’s violent—and people in Quebec know me from that, they’ve seen that kind of work. But then people here don’t know anything about Blue Moon, so they know me for Cardinal, while in Quebec they haven’t seen Cardinal as much. Then in the States, they’re like, “oh, so what have you done since Revenge?” It’s just great that I can go from one group of viewers to another and play with different characters a little bit more that way and surprise audiences more. It’s a great chance that I have to get to work sometimes in Quebec and sometimes in English Canada and sometimes in the States. It makes it very varied and I like that.
On that same wavelength, is there anyone–whether it be French or English or American–that you really want to work with one day?
SARAH POLLEY! I remember meeting her for the first time when I was younger, we were nominated in the same category in the Genie Awards, and I was so intimidated, I was really impressed. I love her work and the choices she’s made.
Is there any kind of project that you’ve not yet done that you would love to try and do?
I mean, just the fact that Cardinal is about to start shooting season four and that I get to keep coming back to this character, that’s the first time it’s happening to me. Usually, I do one, two seasons, three seasons at the most, but to do four seasons with the same character? I’m grateful for that specific experience. And I love playing her! And the audience really do get her now and are ready to see that hidden side of her personality that we haven’t noticed yet. We get to add different sides to who she is and she becomes more multidimensional every season.
Has it been fun seeing the audience response to Cardinal in general?
Yeah, it’s been great. I feel like new fans are coming in too, especially lately international fans have been coming in. And word of mouth is really strong. I also feel like since Cardinal is only six episodes per season, someone could decide now to watch season one and two and then be able to catch up with season three.
Do you have any upcoming projects or plans that people should be looking out for?
I took a few months off, so I’m back to work, we start shooting season four of Cardinal in two weeks. But I don’t know what’s next yet. We’ll see! I’m ready to be surprised.
