I know from helping to audition prospective Kennys that, with Corey Lof (“Kenny”), it’s best to just let him at it. Seriously, magic happens and needs no preamble. So without further ado, Corey Lof describes last year’s season finale.

“Me and Kate and Kate and I, and probably Kenny’s biggest scene to date, not to mention the first official coming out for Rose, shot outdoors, so the weather has to be perfect, oh and Jason wants the world to freeze, the people in the background, the trees in the wind, the cars on the road: they all have to stop dead when Rose finally says it, “Kenny, I’m Gay.” Shouldn’t be a problem right?

“We were lucky that that Saturday, which also happened to be the Saturday after my Friday college graduation.  Turned out to be one of the lovely spring days that we wait all winter for. Weather, check. We were also lucky that the TTC was running on schedule and we all made it on set in one piece and on time. That’s always nice. And a fun, and crucial, and life saving fact; this scene was actually the scene that Jason had me read when auditioning for the role of Kenny. Now why that is so life saving is, because this was the audition scene, I had already stressed and worked and burned those lines into my head about three months back, so the fact that it was my graduation the night before, and an after party followed that, and there was little time to work the lines the night before, did not kill us or me or the crucial scene in the final episode of season one. The day could not have went smoother. Kate was awesome, and prepared, and heartbreaking and hilarious as always, and Jason – well, Jason was there and ecstatic and professional as always, armed with his razor sharp vision and zip off shorts. And as it turns out, freezing the busy Toronto traffic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is not as impossible as it sounds. There really is a such thing as movie magic, or webseries magic I guess in this case. The day was a blast, we wrapped early, and the end result turned out great. So enjoy, again, and again, and again until season two airs, where we have a whole other lot of great episodes for you to enjoy.”

I managed to catch Lindsey Middleton (“Vanessa”) literally hours before she boarded a plane to Germany.  Lindsey’s character receives by far the strongest reactions.  I love this episode because we get to see a glimpse into Vanessa’s world. We also get to see her charming side during the chemistry lesson.  Lindsey took some time to talk about the filming process:

“The episode ‘Chemistry with Vanessa’ was a lot of fun for me to shoot; well, every episode is always fun to shoot. This day was a little tricky as I had to memorize all these science terms verbatim, and I really had no idea what I was talking about! It was also the first day I had ever met Wendy (“Vanessa’s Mom”). So basically she came onto the set, we shook hands and then she turned on her sassiness and scolded me for the next two hours.  It was a pretty funny way to meet someone.  Also, I think Jason (our director) did a beautiful job with the dream sequence. There was about 7 of us squished into this tiny room holding lights and hanging cameras off crazy contraptions but Jason always keeps the energy upbeat and positive, which is what I like best about working on Out With Dad. Basically, I’m extremely happy with how the show is coming along and I can’t wait to keep filming more and more seasons!”

Today’s commentary is brought to you by me, Kara Dymond!

“Tea with Dad” has a very special place in my heart.  For one, I got to hold a camera and shoot some footage.  Shooting in the rain was a new experience for me and certainly brought cast and crew closer together.   I felt like a voyeur peeking at our wonderful actors share a moving moment on the front steps.  And while we made tea inside, I reminisced about cuppas I’ve had throughout my life.  The ones with friends, whispering about our secret crushes. The ones with family, recalling memories of  loved ones, especially the irreverent ones!   The steaming mugs revitalizing me in England, where I came down with a cold while visiting my pen pal.  There is something about tea that grounds me in these moments.

But beyond that, the episode speaks volumes in so little time about the unconditional love between Nathan and Rose.  Whatever happens between them, they can always come back to this – a cup of tea, a few words or no words at all.

Ever the romantic, I was on set when we filmed Nathan’s blind date.  In fact, I was one of the extras, and had trouble paying attention since I was riveted by the scene unfolding between Will Conlon’s character, Nathan, and Kelly-Marie Murtha’s character, Angela.  Blind dates. Always entertaining, always tense, always exciting. Even the scripted ones!  Kelly-Marie shared some insights on the filming – and real-life – experience:

“When I was asked to reflect on my episode “Blind Date with Nathan” (my episode!! like no one else was in it!) I had a hard time coming up with one or two things when everything about it and the experience was amazing! But I got to thinking about blind dates… We’ve all had them at some point – the anticipation, the wondering how it will turn out, meeting a complete stranger and hoping that something will click – and I realized that my coming to set was my blind date!  I had only met a few people at the audition, so coming to actually film the scene was in effect a blind date – the anticipation, wondering how it will turn out, meeting strangers – including Will (“Nathan”) and hoping that we would click.  Well All I can say is – BEST BLIND DATE EVER!!  Working with Will was incredible – considering we didn’t know one another, the chemistry we had was so wonderful and that really comes across on screen.  We clicked! And working with Jason, as an actor, was so refreshing.  His ability to let you know what he wants and then to just trust you and just let you go is very rare. Put all that together along with the beautiful story and you have a hit!! I told you Jason!! ”