There are times when Gladys McNab says its not hard acting as an old person. At 87, shes got the role pretty down pat. But the other week, when she was cast as an old woman with Alzheimers for the new television series Almost Human, a bit of acting was required.
It was in a beautiful mansion in Deep Cove and I spent the day watching the boats go by. I was having a ball, she says with her trademark grin. I tried to look like I had Alzheimers but the director said, Gladys, you look like you could get up and direct the scene.
Little wonder. For McNab, a surprising career as an extra in film and television has been like being paid to have fun. She was in her early sixties and working at Royal Columbian Hospital when a friend told her shed read an ad in the paper calling for extras on a movie set. When the friend went to sign up, she also signed up McNab. It was an absolute love affair, she says of her first exposure to the film and television industry. It was like being a child again and lets pretend.
Since then, shes had numerous roles on television series including MacGyver, Stargate and The X-Files. (MacGyver was her favourite until she was doted on by everyone on the Almost Human set; however, MacGyver actor Richard Dean Anderson remains a sweetheart.)
A few years ago, she was thrilled to be featured in a union commercial for the Royal Columbian Hospital, especially since she believes strongly in the unions positive influence.
But McNabs positive spin on life is a choice. The two-time divorcee has experienced many hardships and had to start over in life a few times. You have to make up your mind, this is what Ive got and this is what Ill do with it, she says. In her family, We dont get down. We reinvent ourselves.
Which is why she wishes people in other professions could get the opportunity to live at someplace like the Performing Arts Lodge (PAL.) A member of ACTRA, shes one of the founding tenants in one of the rent-geared-to-income apartments.
I love PAL. Im a country girl at heart, raised in Calgary when Calgary was a cowtown. I lived in the Valley before I moved here. My age was starting to get to me. I tried living in an apartment [in Langley] but I almost went crazy. Im basically a private person and I couldnt stand it. Then, through another miracle, I bought a trailer in a trailer park [near Surrey.] When I heard about PAL, I thought, that should be an answer for me.
She had a hard time adjusting at first because she had left friends and family behind, but she says she picks up on peoples energies and theres good energy at play at PAL. She volunteers on several projects and loves getting dressed up at Halloween to give candy to the visiting children, including those from the Bayshore Garden Childrens Centre downstairs.
Three years ago she gave up her car and thought that would be the end of her TV and movie career. But then her agent arranged it that shed get transported to her jobs. (At Almost Human she had her own dressing room where she a nap.)
Shell always be grateful to the coworker who signed her up as an extra 25 years ago (and who never was on screen again). There was a gift, Gladys says of her friends act, and its results. I never would have signed myself up and its been a delight.
