Actor, director, producer, writer, voice artist, and rugby player…if you can accuse Lorne Cardinal of anything, it’s of making the rest of us uncomfortably envious of his heaving resume. Best known as Davis Quinton in Corner Gas, the actor is adding yet another line to his list of credits this year with the role of Nelson Skye on the FBI spinoff, FBI: Most Wanted. Find out more about the actor with these ten little facts.
1. He never set out to be an actor
Cardinal wasn’t the kind of kid that spent their school days dreaming off a career in Hollywood. Acting never crossed his mind until far later, and he spent the first few years of his working life as everything from a darkroom technician to a photographer. His earliest ambition was to play rugby, with the hope that the success he enjoyed on his high school football team would eventually lead to a place on Team Canada.
2, He was the first Indigenous student to get an acting degree
After graduating high school, Cardinal, who was born January 6, 1964, in Sucker Creek, Alberta, enrolled in an acting course at the University of Alberta. In 1993, he became the first Indigenous student to ever graduate with a B.F.A degree in acting from the school.
3. He wants Indigenous people to ‘breakthrough the white ceiling’
Speaking at the Vision Quest conference and trade show in May 2019, Cardinal spoke about his desire to see more Indigenous people ‘breakthrough the white ceiling’. It’s an achievement he’s managed to spectacular effect himself… even if it wasn’t always an easy task. When he started his career, Cardinal faced almost constant rejection, as he shared with the conference’s audience. “There was still a lot of the attitude of I could only audition or read for Native parts,” he explained. “You know, I’d go approach an artistic director and say ‘I want to audition for you’ and [they’d say] ‘we’re not doing any native-themed plays this year.’” “That attitude is changing — slowly, but it is changing. And the more that we have trained Indigenous people in schools, in theatre schools or in technical schools — it makes it easier,” he went on to say.
4. He wasn’t always such a confident public speaker
These days, Cardinal spends almost as much time speaking at conferences, schools, and public events as he does acting. He wasn’t always such a confident public speaker, however, with his first few speeches ending in near-disaster. “It was terrifying the first time I public spoke in grade three — I passed out. And then when I tried it in grade 7 I threw up,” he said. “So I’ve had a little love-hate thing with speaking in public.”
5. He’s campaigned for Sacred MMIWG
According to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous females are 16 times more likely to be killed or reported missing than their white counterparts. It’s a topic close to Cardinal’s heart, and one he’s campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of. “My big hope is that people don’t forget that it’s still happening, it’s not a done thing, it’s not in the past,” he’s explained. “There’s still murdered and missing women in this country, and more so with our people than in any other group. I just don’t want people to forget or think that it’s over. That’s another reason why I wanted to be a part of this campaign, to bring that message across that it’s still going on, and it still needs to be answered.”
6. He’s been awarded an honorary degree
Cardinal has worked extensively on stage over the course of his career, appearing in the likes of Kevin Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes, Michel Tremblay’s For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, and Marie Clements’s Copper Thunderbird. In recognition of his contributions to the theatre, he’s even been awarded an honorary degree from Thompson River University.
7. He’s got a refreshing attitude to success
In a world where your status is judged by the size of your handbag, Cardinal’s attitude towards success is a breath of fresh air. In the actor’s eyes, it’s the small achievements in life that really count. “We get blinded by bling and the doctor in the TV reality show and other nonsense that’s out there and we think that’s success, but that isn’t real,” he’s explained to Say Mag “Planting a garden, running a marathon or quitting smoking is real–these things take dedication and focus, and those achievements need to be recognized. That is being successful.”
8. He’s always got time for his fans
According to a lot of people in the biz, Tom Cruise is “The Man” when it comes to spending time with his fans. As it goes, he might have some stiff competition from Cardinal, who never passes an opportunity to say hello and pass a few pleasantries with…, well, anyone. “It doesn’t take any time to shake a person’s hand and let them know ‘I see you’,” he’s said. “As a celebrity you have responsibilities. To open the doors for others so that they don’t have to go through the same challenges that you went through.”
9. He craves tranquility
As an actor, Cardinal’s life is all go, go, go… which probably explains why he relishes his quiet home in Squamish, where he lives with his wife Monique Hurteauon, so much. “Just to sit by the water and listen to the river and hear the wind in the trees, nothing helps me more than that, than being grounded and being with family again, taking the dog for a walk,” he explained to Squamish Chief.
10. He doesn’t take his job too seriously
Cardinal has no grand ideas or pretensions about his job. For him, the job of an actor is simple: to make a grim world a little brighter. “Our job as actors is to not be so serious,” he told Cornergascorner. “(It’s) to provide entertainment and tell stories to take people away from maybe harsh realities and give them a place to escape and smile a bit.”
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