Local actor and electrician featured in Hallmark movie airing tonight

“So it’s just sort of their antics back and forth getting to know each other and me kind of popping in and out. So [I have] a supporting role as the father of the male lead.”

This is not Coe’s first role on the screen.

Born in Vernon but raised in Calgary, Coe had a dream of acting at a young age and decided to pursue that goal after high school.

He was involved in a TV show that was shot in Calgary, and following that he moved to Vancouver.

“That’s where I really built up my resume. I did four episodes of X-Files; I was a guest star on The Outer Limits; guest starred on Stargate; did a whole bunch of stuff on the show Millenium with Lance Henriksen. Then I got into some stunts as well, did a little bit of stunt work and ran the gambit,” Coe explained.

“I did a film (Eye See You) with Sylvester Stallone. Not one of his greatest films, but you know, I was there.”

Harrison Coe has acted in a number of TV shows and a few films. He now lives in Vernon where he works as an electrician, but has recently decided to get back in front of the cameras. (Submitted photo/Harrison Coe)

After completing these and other projects, which are listed on his IMDB page, Coe moved to Toronto where he continued his career for a while. He met his now-wife, who was from Vernon, while in Toronto and they had a child, so they decided to move back to Vernon.

Coe enrolled in the journeyman program at Okanagan College and having completed his apprenticeship hours last year he now works for Capra Electric.

However, it seemed the acting bug had not let go of Coe, as he was still performing in live theatre productions at O’Keefe Ranch and Powerhouse Theatre, the latter of which spring-boarded him into the role in Fixing Up Christmas after his director encouraged him to get back in front of the cameras.

Since then, Coe has been involved in three Hallmark movies and the CBC miniseries Bones of Crow, which is about the residential school system.

He told Vernon Matters it’s been hard trying to balance the work-acting-life combination, especially because an actor usually wouldn’t be involved in so many productions in just one year.

Coe said he’s been fortunate as his bosses don’t seem to be too affected by him taking time off to go film for three or four days at a time, but does note that it has been stressful on him because he doesn’t want to be away from work and appear like his job is not his main focus, which he says it very much is.

He added using his vacation days to not escape work, but instead go do his acting job, has been stressful.

Coe noted there has been a lot more filming taking place in the Okanagan recently, and he has a few ideas why that may be the case.

“I think it’s a really diverse landscape. There was a film shot here not that long ago, Dangerous, and it was supposed to be on the coast but they used the lakes as the ocean, I’m not sure how they got by that, but of course digital effects can help with things,” said Coe.

“There’s a lot of fun terrain, and especially for the Hallmark Christmas stuff, it’s easy for them to get into a small town and shoot, and there’s mountains, there’s lots of lakes obviously. A lot of these [stories] happen in small towns, and Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton all offer a great opportunity for a small town.”

He added that being close to Vancouver is an added bonus that makes the Okanagan an appealing place to shoot a film.

There are also a few production companies that have established themselves in the Okanagan, which is helping bring in more local work.

He told Vernon Matters these factors have led to more interest in Okanagan as a filming location for films and television shows, which bodes well for actors looking to get their foot in the door locally.

“So it’s not just a Hallmark thing, and there’s definitely a lot of opportunity for local actors, especially because of the pandemic, they really hunkered down and looked for local talent and it’s easier for them to hire locally instead of flying somebody in. They all, especially the Hallmark movies, have a very specific budget, so the cheaper they can get their actors, the better I guess,” laughed Coe.

Fixing Up Christmas airs on CityTV at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10.

by Liam Verster

Local actor and electrician featured in Hallmark movie airing tonight

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