By Mike McCarthy
Who knows a Canadian that can’t ice skate or play ice hockey…raise your hands. Not many of you raised your hands…well meet actor Greyston Holt, star of SyFy channel’s Bitten. Greyston is a Canadian native that couldn’t ice skate until he got cast on the film Slap Shot 3: The Junior League. Greyston has had small arcs on hit shows like Smallville, Fringe and Psyche but now he is in the final season of Bitten. There is always potential for a spin-off or for another channel to pick up Bitten but according to Greyston the writers have written the ending beautifully, and we can’t wait to see it. Check out Greyston and his castmates every Monday nights at 11 PM on SyFy Channel.
Wingman Magazine: It’s the third season of Bitten, congratulations on that so far. What can viewers expect from Clay this season?
Greyston Holt: This season, Clay is very conflicted. He is stuck between his loyalty to Jeremy and his love for Elena. Jeremy and the Pack have taken sort of a hardline when it comes to the Mutts this season, who are the bad werewolves. Clay is not really sure of his new path, and Elena wants to go down a completely different path. He is sort of just torn and stuck right between the two this season, and ends up doing some soul searching to decide on the right path.
Wingman Magazine: I have seen a handful of episodes of Bitten and most of them have some sort of partial nudity or sex in it. Usually involving you or Laura Vandervoort. How awkward was it the first time as opposed to now in the third season?
Greyston Holt: Funny enough, it’s more awkward now than it was before. Laura and I have become really good friends and are in a completely platonic relationship, like brother and sister. When we started out, we didn’t know eachother very well and as actors you get put into these situations often. When you get to know someone really well, it gets to be like, “I have to go kiss Laura (Vandervoort) now,” right after we were goofing around on set. So it’s hard to elevate it to that intimate level that it should look like. It’s a lot of fun. It’s better that, than us being uncomfortable with each other. We have both talked about that pretty often this season, about how awkward it can get.
Wingman Magazine: One of your first jobs was Smallville as a blind meteor infected “freak” which just so happens to be the name of the episode. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Greyston Holt: I think it would be the ability to transport anywhere in the world on a whim. I love to travel, I love food and culture and if I could snap my fingers and be in the south of Spain in tapas in an instant, I would be pretty damn happy.
Wingman Magazine: How much of a family atmosphere is it on set? Does everyone hang out in between scenes or when you aren’t shooting?
Greyston Holt: We all usually hover around set, chill, talk and hangout. We’re all over the place, we are vagabonds as actors, but whenever we are in the same city we always make a plan to get together. Whenever there is a few of us in Toronto, where we film and where Greg (Bryk) lives, he always organizes a Pack dinner. Greg and his wife always cook us a fantastic meal and it’s nice to do that.
Wingman Magazine: You didn’t get into acting until senior year of high school. What was the first part that you had that really hooked you?
Greyston Holt: It was a series that I did called Durham County. I had a passion and love for the craft in general, but it’s hard to see it as a profession when you first get started. The jobs are few and far between, and the roles are small, but the first series I booked as a series regular was a Canadian series called Durham County. It had a lot of critical acclaim in Canada, it had beautiful writing and it was the first time I felt part of something that I could dig my teeth into and felt I could make a living doing. It was shot in Montreal and at the time I was living in Vancouver but it was an on location experience and I really felt like a professional. I really learned a lot on that show. It’s hard to get excited on bit parts, where you get one line, but you are working.
Wingman Magazine: You were in Slap Shot 3 a few years back. Were you a fan of the original film before you were cast in a sequel? Being from Canada you must’ve known how to skate prior.
Greyston Holt: I had heard of it, but I had never seen it. I also had never played hockey or skated before, which is extremely odd for a Canadian. But on the island that I lived on, Salt Spring, there was no skating rink and soccer was the go to sport. So when I booked the job, they asked if I could skate and I lied through my teeth. They gave me a skating test afterwards, and were all like, “oh, well you need a little work.” They wanted me enough that they put me through two weeks of training. One week of skating with former Olympic skater, Karen Magnussen, who taught me real skating. Then I had to train with an ex-NHL player, who taught me hockey. So after a two week crash course, I was pretty good and I could rip around the ice, shoot the puck, skate backwards. I knew enough to make it look good, the trickier stuff they had a stunt double. That is probably the most unknown fact about that movie is that I couldn’t skate. Fake it until you make it.
Wingman Magazine: You are big into fitness and keeping yourself fit. On your cheat day, what is your meal or meals of choice?
Greyston Holt: Anything and everything. I love Asian food, so Vietnamese like a big bowl of pho or any Japanese pho: Sushi, tempura, ramen. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth so anything hearty, and carby. And of course beer.
Wingman Magazine: We are about the same age…who were you top 3 celebrity crushes when you were younger?
Greyston Holt: My first celebrity crush ever was Ariel from Little Mermaid. Do cartoons count? It was the first time I saw someone on screen made me feel feelings. Do you remember the show ‘Boy Meets World’? Topanga from that show was so cute. And Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell.
Wingman Magazine: Out at the bars…would you consider yourself a good wingman to your friends?
Greyston Holt: I am a fantastic wingman. My girlfriend is an amazing Wingchick. Having a wingchick is so much better than having a wingman. An attractive woman hooking you up with other women is great, and my girlfriend is so good at it. I am a good wingman sure…I am terrified to approach single woman (haha). I have zero game, and it’s a wonder on how I landed my girlfriend. I am the guy that will sit at the bar and shyly look at a girl and hope she comes and talks to me.