The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor It takes a special kind of courage to work in mining, to leave the safety and security of the surface land for the murky depths of the earth. It also takes a certain kind of bravery to leave behind the stability of a good job in search of a dream that has eluded thousands before you. But on both counts, Jared Abrahamson is just that kind of person. The Flin Flon native is swiftly making a name for himself in Hollywood, just a year and a half after moving to Vancouver to pursue a career in professional acting. 'Acting is something that was always in the back of my mind since I can remember,' says Abrahamson, 24. 'I never knew how or when it would happen, but I had a vision.' That vision subsisted even as Abrahamson found steady, well-paying work in mining not long after graduating from Hapnot Collegiate in 2006. He hired on with mining contractor J.S. Redpath, working on a raise bore drill for six months at 777 mine. He then made the leap to Major Drilling, spending the next year on the diamond drills of Trout Lake mine. 'Nostalgia' 'I really liked working in the mine,' says Abrahamson. 'There's a feeling of nostalgia down there. You can't compare it to any other job. I wouldn't trade that for the world.' But Abrahamson knew deep down _ no pun intended _ that there was more out there for him. When he was still in high school, he had learned a tough lesson about just how short life is when a close pal, Shayne Pearson, died in an automobile accident. 'You gotta get out there and live. Take some chances, roll the dice,' says Abrahamson. Abrahamson decided to walk his own talk in 2009 after a friend moved to Vancouver to study acting. 'That's when the light switch went off,' he says. 'I started getting focused and banking my money to make the move myself.' After hoarding enough cash, Abrahamson relocated to B.C., spending a year studying his desired craft at the Vancouver Film School. See 'Seven...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 After graduation, with his bank account in need of replenishing, he returned to Flin Flon to work for Major, but continued to make regular trips to Vancouver. Another seven months passed and in the summer of 2010, Abrahamson was ready to make Vancouver his permanent home _ and to break into show business. Aspiring actors are a dime a dozen in places like Vancouver, known as Hollywood North. It's been said every waiter and waitress in the city is just waiting for that one audition to work out. Abrahamson faced the same long odds. But rather through sheer talent, luck or a bit of both, his path to stardom proved meteoric. 'I had no idea it would only be a couple months before I booked my first job,' says the son of Paul Abrahamson of Pelly, Sask., and Rebecca Abrahamson of Saskatoon. That first job wasn't as some extra in an obscure independent film, either. Rather, Abrahamson had snagged a lead role in Finding A Family for the Hallmark Movie Channel. With the poise of a veteran, he took on the role of Alex, a sharp teen who enters an orphanage after his mother is critically injured. Like Abrahamson, Alex has a seemingly impossible dream: to attend the high-profile (and very costly) Harvard University. And like Abrahamson, it is up to Alex to take the steps necessary to achieve his goal. In the dramatic film, which first aired last October, Abrahamson shared the screen with the likes of Kim Delaney, best known for the small-screen hit NYPD Blue, and Sarah-Jane Redmond of Da Vinci's Inquest fame. Less than two weeks after TV audiences were introduced to Abrahamson, they got a another look at him when his second movie, a horror entry entitled Possessing Piper Rose, aired on the Lifetime network. This time he played Dylan Maxwell, with renowned supermodel and veteran of the X-Men films, Rebecca Romijn, as his stepmom. Abrahamson also has a major role in another made-for-TV flick, Seattle Superstorm, which is now in post-production. His first foray into theatrical releases comes this August with his part in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Day, the third installment in the hit series based on the exploits of a wisecracking kid. And another big break may be just around the corner. Before the holidays, Abrahamson was in Los Angeles to shoot a pilot episode of a potential sitcom for American network ABC. In The Manzanis, he portrays the son of television vets Kirstie Alley of Cheers and Michael Rispoli of The Sopranos. 'I learned so much on this shoot. This was the big one,' says Abrahamson, who expects to know what will happen with the pilot by spring. All of this is not too bad for a young man whose previous acting experience, as he admits, 'was no acting experience.' 'Respect' 'I had never done any theatre or anything like that,' he notes. 'I've definitely grown to have a huge respect for the theatre, though. It's where all the greats come from, and if the timing and project are right, I'd like to take a crack at it.' While Abrahamson has enjoyed a rapid rise in the entertainment industry, nothing was handed to him on a silver platter. 'It wasn't the longest process, but I feel I paid my dues in one way or another,' he says. 'I mean, right after I graduated film school, I went back to the drills. Major scooped me right back up and sent me out to Snow Lake and Tawow (also in northern Manitoba) to work on the surface drills. I was back and forth from Vancouver to the North for seven months making my stake.' Though acting is on his long-term radar, Abrahamson knows actors can fizzle out quickly. Indeed the credits of films and TV shows are littered with names that prompt the question: Whatever happened to that guy? Should that occur in the case of Abrahamson, he does have a second career to fall back on _ and it's not mining. That would be mixed martial arts fighting. He hasn't competed in well over a year, but in his day he was good enough to earn modest amounts of cash stepping into the cage. 'I'm still very active in that sport. I always will be,' says Abrahamson. 'Martial arts are in me. It's more than just fighting, it's who I am. My coach Sal Ram says it's his religion and I can relate to that. I still train and spar as much as I can.' Indeed Abrahamson draws parallels between his love of fighting and his love of acting. 'In a way they're the same. Both are an art form where your instrument is your body,' he says. 'I use the same mental preparations before going on set that I did entering the ring.' Abrahamson's fighting mentality should serve him well as he continues to build on his showbiz success. 'At this point I'm hungry,' he says. 'I'm just over a year into the business. I haven't even got started yet. I'm still a cub in this industry. I'm gonna work hard and pray for the best. I'm grateful for how things have been going but I'm also aware of how quickly they can go the other way. Nothing's promised. You gotta fight for your spot. 'I'm from Flin Flon and what might have seemed like a pipe dream is now a reality. Don't ever listen to the word 'no.' If you want to do something, get out there and do it. No one can dictate your future but yourself.'
