Jason Priestley talks about a major shift in how talent scouts are portrayed Gerry McNamara in his new limited series, Börje – The journey of a legend.
“I said it [the director] Amir Chamdin“Amir, I look nothing like Gerry McNamara, not even close. “He has brown eyes,” Priestley, 54, exclusively said Us weekly on Monday, April 29, about taking on the role of real scout. “And he said, he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s cool. What do you want to do about it?’ I said, ‘Well, I appreciate the hair and the makeup and the eyes and teeth and everything.'”
Priestley explained that the many steps required to become McNamara changed his approach to the project. “And it became a real character piece for me because I had to do my hair and makeup for hours every morning,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun competing against Gerry. He had a pretty specific voice and so I was able to mimic all those things.”
Filmed in 2022, Börje – The journey of a legend makes its U.S. debut on Thursday, May 2, with the first two episodes, followed by two episodes per week. The series is broadcast on the streaming service Viaplay and tells the story of the deceased Börje Salming, the famous ice hockey defenseman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Priestley portrays McNamara, the respected talent scout who brought Salming to Canada to jump-start his NHL career.
Ironically, Priestley worked closely with McNamara long before landing the role Begin was offered to him. In 2023, the actor interviewed the talent scout for a documentary about Harold Ballardwho owned the Maple Leafs from 1972 until his death in 1989. The personal experience helped Priestley figure out the mannerisms needed to bring the character to life.
“Gerry, he speaks with a Southern Ontario accent and his voice is a little nasal, so all of my dialogue had to be in that tone and tenor, which was fun,” Priestley said UsHe pointed out that the challenge of portraying a real – and largely still living – person made the project even more exciting.
“I always have a lot of responsibility when [I’m playing real] People, especially like Gerry McNamara [who] is still alive,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure everything we did was great and exceptional because I didn’t want to endure Gerry’s wrath when the project was over, and that’s always the case.”
Priestley added that he has played “several historical figures” throughout his career, but expectations are lower when those people are no longer around. “I mean, the good thing about them is that they’re all dead,” he quipped, “but you do have some weight when you’re actually portraying real people.”
Although Priestley’s role is certainly pivotal, the series primarily revolves around Salming (portrayed by Walter Skarsgard) himself. The hockey legend, who was the first Swedish player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, played professionally for 23 seasons – including 16 with the Maple Leafs – before retiring in 2016. He died in November 2022 at the age of 71 after a career that spanned years. long battle with ALS.
Just a few months before his death, Salming was able to visit the set of Journey of a legend in Stockholm. There, Priestley had the opportunity to meet the legend, whom he watched every Saturday night while growing up in Canada.
“When we were filming the miniseries, Börje was already sick, so he actually came to set one day while I was there, which made me really excited to meet him,” Priestley recalls Us. “He was a guy I looked up to so much throughout my childhood. It was quite remarkable and he was a beautiful guy. He was taken from us far too soon.”
The first two episodes of Börje – The journey of a legend Premieres on the Viaplay streaming service on Thursday, May 2nd, followed by two episodes per week on May 9th and 16th.