Interview With "Goon" Star Jonathan Cherry

Inarguably, hockey is the national pastime, if not obsession here in the Great White North. Michael Dowse’s (FUBAR, It’s All Gone Pete Tong) raucous comedy, Goon, celebrates everything that is the game. Co-written and starring Jay Baruchel, the cast includes one of Shalom Life’s “Top 20 Under 40”, Jonathan Cherry. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, and playing again September 13, we were able to catch up once again with Jonathan Cherry.

Sarah Bauder (SB): What drew you to Goon?

Jonathan Cherry (JC): I love sports and I love comedies, so Goon being a sports comedy was a perfect fit. I also was, and am a huge fan of all the people involved. Seann Scott, Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg, Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, and a big fan of the director Michael Dowse. Needless to say, the prospect of possibly working with these people in this capacity provided the fuel/chutzpah to make sure I got the part. It also needs to be mentioned that two of my closest friends developed, and produced the movie- David Gross and Jesse Shapira.

SB: Goon deals with the hot-button topic of violence in the game of hockey. What’s your opinion on the fighting component to the game?

JC: Well, the movie doesn’t exactly "deal" with it, it celebrates it! I think it’s a great part of the game. I’m a fight fan. It’s unique to team sports, as well as ensemble comedy, which I think is awesome.


SB: You play Marco in the film, can you tell us a bit about the character?

JC: He’s a small town Canadian simpleton who loves three things: his mom, his hockey, and his painkillers. Oh yeah, and he’s a goalie.

SB: What sort of preparation was needed for playing Marco?

JC: I had to learn to skate from scratch. There was somewhat of a mini training camp a couple weeks before the movie. I also had to take a couple months to grow the most beautiful mustache since magnum- true story, it was gorgeous. I also watched a lot of FUBAR and Anvil to come up with the fabulous non-specific Canadian accent I have in the movie. He’s from an unknown region of Canada, ha-ha.


SB: Did you have any experience playing hockey prior to the film?

JC: No hockey experience, except street hockey when I was little.

SB: You’ve mentioned in the past that Goon turned you into a hockey fan, is there any team that has you’re undying support?

JC: I've always loved the Leafs. Undying love is saved for the Raptors- kinda sad, but true.

SB: What’s up next for you?

JC: Next for me is TIFF [Toronto International Film Festival] Waiting to see what kind of love Goon gets.