Canadian actor Brendan Taylor has amassed an impressive list of acting credits in high profile shows such as ‘Fargo', ‘Arrow' and ‘Bates Motel'.
For his latest role, Taylor is starring as Rickie Kananen in Lifetime's ‘Monster in the Family'. Part of the network's ‘ripped from the headlines' series, the film tells the true story of a family ripped apart when one of them unveils a dark secret that changes everything.
I caught up with Brendan to talk about the film, find out about the challenges of his role, and to discuss his love of cooking…
Your role in ‘Monster in the Family' is a tricky one to play as you have to be both unsuspecting lovely and also quite menacing. What was it like playing the character of Rickie?
It was a fun role and it was a challenging role. I like those more complex roles like that. The easiest way to describe it is it comes to really understanding and getting in touch with the trauma that they went through, the full story of where that goes. It doesn't justify (his actions) , but it explains the behaviour of what he ends up doing and his behaviour with his family, I think he really desperately does want to have a normal life and a normal family and he craves that love, and he craves that relationship with his nephew. There are very much signs that he just wished things were normal and it's getting in touch with that and the behaviour around it is what is normal to him. Unless you've been through that level of, not just trauma and abuse, but being terrorised by the person that's supposed to protect you… not just abuse, but who takes pleasure in it . Who knows what that does? The fact that he's got it that much together is almost impressive in itself.
That's what creates such a moral dilemma for the viewer. You're sympathetic with Rickie up to a point, and then you can't defend him any longer when his character goes through a transition. What was that like to play?
The transition happens, not from his own doing. It just unravels and people pok e and prod until the reveal and he' s got no choice (other than) to just state what happened. It was with the best intentions for him and his family and what he thought he was owed because it was the bare minimum of what he could have to try to have a normal life. If you think of a great show to compare (the movie to it would be) something like ‘Dexter,' which is very popular, and he's a serial killer who's killing people. Killing is bad but he's killing people that (the audience feels deserves it). That's what makes it so fascinating. I'm sure you could find people who would be like, ‘I'm fully on board with it' and what does that say about us?
This film is a ‘ripped from the headlines' story and it's based on events that actually happened and people that existed. What's it like to portray someone who is a real person, and what sensitivities and considerations coming along with that?
The nice thing with this, in terms of research we had is anyone can find the actual court depositions online about the whole case. With a movie like this, it is always based on a true story so you're never trying to imitate someone necessarily unless it's like a biography where you're trying to fully depict (someone) perfectly. Other than the court evidence you don't really have much else to go on with. It's not a public person other than this crime. You just go with what you think you know about them and based on the circumstances and what you do know, the only way you can, honour a real person like that is to just try to see their perspective, as wrong as it might be. Honouring it still might end up seeming immoral but honouring in the sense of just really trying to tell it from their perspective and not skew it in any way. Through that honesty is what you connect to as an audience. There were some descriptions in the actual script that more showed an indication to play it a certain way but thankfully Jess (Harmon) , our director was just like, ‘be there present and let the words do it, and that'll be more honest then we'll have different versions of it versus what's just written and see what makes sense, in the edit later'.
You've got a fantastic scene partner in Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Rickie's sister Stacey. You share a lot of screentime together. What was it like building that relationship with her?
Elisha's fantastic. When I found out I got the role, I honestly didn't even know how big my role would be in the actual movie in the end, nor did I know who was cast as the other person. When I found out I was really stoked. I grew up watching Elisha in movies. I was fully blown away at her level of professionalism and fluency with a film set, and blocking and storytelling and her input. She just took charge in the best way of trying to serve the story. She's really trying to make things make sense. She's super vulnerable at any given point. We both came as prepped as we can and it's so fun to play with someone who's just game and has no ego about it. That's what made it cool. We didn't spend a ton of time talking about it. She had her own process but we definitely had moments in between shots where we would look at the script and really talk through where we think we're at with it, and then, cross reference it with Jess, to see we're all on the same page. It was very collaborative and that's how I like to work.
What would you say was the most challenging aspect of making this film?
It's always tricky when they're shooting movies out of sequence. You never shoot chronologically. We had some pretty heavy scenes early on in the shoot and some lighter ones later. Thankfully some of the heavier parts of the climax was shot towards the end of the shoot. That makes things harder. You wish you had weeks and weeks to prep for these kinds of things, but we really didn't, to really hammer out every possible detail. With acting, the more specific you get, the better end product you can potentially have. The last scene we had with the truck was a very intense day. Hours and hours in this sort of the peak heightened emotional state of both of these people. If characters are sad and angry, and you're storming around sad and angry on set, you're doing it wrong. What you should probably feel is tired and just spent and used up in the best sense for what you've given to it. Maintaining that and not knowing when that's going to end (is challenging).
You've been in so many things over your career so far including ‘Bates Motel' and ‘Arrow'. What's been your favourite role?
‘Bates' was really fun. Freddie Highmore is just the sweetest awesomest actor. ‘Supernatural' was really fun for the scale of that show and how popular it was and in and around that, the fandom; being involved with that and going to one of the conventions here in Vancouver. Jared and Jensen are masters at what they do and just the funniest, coolest guys. One that really stands out though is ‘Fargo' season two. Even though it was a smaller role. That season in particular is one of my favorite seasons of any show I've ever seen and I happen to have a part in it, which is even more mind blowing. ‘Fargo' is one of my favourite movies, and the first season is amazing, but season two is exactly like my world of humour and style and edginess. I just love the Cohen Brothers vibe. I got to hang out with Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Ted Danson and Patrick Wilson. It was super cool and surreal to talk to those people in the worlds that they're in.
When I was doing my research I discovered that you're very handy around the house, and you love to cook. What do you enjoy cooking?
Yeah I really got into it. I renovated my home and got a nice stove. I really got into wok cooking and Asian cooking. I dabbled a little bit in Indian cooking. I actually did an Indian cooking class in India in Orchha, which is a small town near Agra, near the Taj Mahal. They're the trickiest ones – Indian cooking and, east Asian cooking – with the amount of different things that go into it and getting the balance. At the cooking class this mom and her family set up the table and show you how to make lentils and curries. I'll try those recipes from time to time.
Could a travelling and cooking show be in your future?
That would be cool. I would be down to do that at any point. I've gotten to travel quite a bit. For me food goes hand in hand with traveling. You just have to go to the local places and try what's there and being inspired by that. I've been to Bueno Aires, Argentina four times to shoot things and I got to try local Argentinian food.
Christmas isn't far away now. I know not everyone loves it, but I do! What is your Christmas looking like?
I've come around to Christmas and enjoying it again. I feel like I loved it when I was younger than I dipped out but I've come to appreciate it and love it a lot more now. I'm actually spending a lot more time in, in L.A. these days so I will be going back there in a couple of weeks. I think I will be coming back to Vancouver for Christmas.
How is your professional life looking over the next few months and into 2026?
I'm shooting a commercial here, and then I'm doing one in Toronto next week. Hopefully I'll build a bit of momentum from this film. I'm feeling pretty optimistic and it's a big life change for me, having been here in Vancouver my entire life, born and raised. I did live in Paris during University, which was a life-changing year. Then I came back and, got into the film industry on the other side of camera in set decoration. Then I pursued acting here in Toronto and I was based here, so I stayed here. It's time to expand the horizons a bit hence why the move down south. I'm feeling pretty good about it.
Seeing as you're currently starring in a ‘ripped from the headlines' film, what ‘ripped from the headlines' film would you love to be a part of?
Wow, that's a good question . I'm really liking this vibe that Lifetime is doing with these ripped from the headlines stories and making them real genuine dramatic films to highlight these big stories. I just watched ‘Chaos', the documentary about Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders. That would be cool to be involved in. Then I started watching ‘ once upon a time in Hollywood' because I felt like I needed to know more about that. I imagine they made several movies about Charles Manson but that whole situation was very fascinating and endlessly weird. So many questions around that.
Brendan Taylor can be currently seen in Lifetime's ‘Monster in the Family'. Find out more about the film at https://www.mylifetime.com/movies/monster-in-the-family-the-stacey-kananen-story.
