CTV’s Spun Out is the multi-cam sitcom about the inner workings of DLPR, a public relations firm staffed with people who can “spin everybody’s problems but their own.” The series is led by Kids in the Hall alum, Dave Foley. We recently caught up with one of the series stars, Al Mukadam, to talk all things Spun Out.
Al Mukadam: To be completely honest with you, when I heard they were doing an American style multi-cam sitcom in Canada, I was a little skeptical. They’re just not the norm over here. However, when I read the script and initially auditioned, I found myself having a lot of fun with it. And then when I tested for the network with what ended up being the rest of the cast, it was amplified enormously because I got to play off a bunch of very different kinds of funny people. And Dave Foley was one of those people.
Nelson is a hoot. He’s a lot of fun to play because he’s irreverent yet solution oriented and always looking for the absurdity in any situation. He also happens to be gay, and very early on the creators of the show told me that the character was based on an actual PR guy they met but had no idea was actually gay. And I liked that, because it was a realistic and grounded approach to having a gay character on a broad comedy sitcom – it wasn’t dated, campy or offensive. He’s just a guy who’s really good at his job and happens to be married to another man. His sexuality doesn’t define him – I found that to be a really refreshing place to play from.
It’s kind of crazy actually. I mean when you think of all the things that can go wrong when you’re in front of about 500 people watching you do your thing. But then they do go wrong and somebody flubs a line and the cast and crew and then the audience all crack up at it. So it’s exhilarating and exciting and nerve wracking and yeah, I love it. It’s an amazing part of the job that’s damn well electrifying.
I think because I’m always dancing around during the week of rehearsals before the live show on Friday nights, the writers have taken notice of that and every other week I’ll read another scene where it just says Nelson dances…So either they’re ridiculing me and making me the literal dancing monkey, or they think it’s funny. Either way, I love it. It’s fun and I’m clearly the best dancer on the cast.
Dave is a legend! He’s so funny and so effortlessly so. It’s not much of a class is in session-vibe, but he’s really cool and just leads by example. The one thing he did say to me was – don’t be afraid to play the silences. I’m still working on that one.
Spun Out airs Fridays at 8pm EST on CTV.