Patrick Sabongui flipped a lot of burgers on his road to network TV.
The Vancouver actor is currently appearing weekly on The Flash, The CW’s hit superhero series about the fastest man alive that premiered this past October. Sabongui plays Captain David Singh, the titular character’s beleaguered boss.
Before he was cast as Captain Singh, Sabongui logged dozens of acting and stunt credits, and held down at least 17 non-showbiz day jobs.
He’s been a sous chef and a camp counselor. He’s taught rock-climbing. He’s driven cabs. He’s mopped a lot of floors.
“I’ll watch TV and watch somebody mop and go, ‘that guy’s never mopped a hallway in his life,’” says Sabongui during a recent chat over espressos on The Drive.
But even when Sabongui was punching his timecard at non-showbiz day jobs, he felt fulfilled as an artist, because he was doing what he needed to do in order to pursue his craft.
It’s a point of view that he’s fostering in the next generation of Vancouver actors and actresses via Fulfilling Young Artists (FYA), the mentorship program he runs with Psych actor Sage Brocklebank.
FYA pairs early-career thespians ages 18-24 with established actors. The aim is to help the young artists figure out what it means to be fulfilled as an actor.
It’s a critical question in an industry where soul-sucking auditions and long stretches between gigs are par for the course.
“If you’re not fulfilled as an artist, even if you do book, and you get on a show, eventually you’re going to cash the cheque and go, ‘So? I don’t believe in this, it’s not my material, it’s not my creative voice, I’m working, but I’m still jaded,’” says Sabongui. “Fulfillment is that thing that continues after the job is over.”
Sabongui’s journey to fulfillment began in Montreal. The son of academics, Sabongui grew up curious, creative, and highly physical. He pursued dance, sports, theatre, stage combat, and an array of martial arts, including Shaolin kung fu, jeet kune do, capoiera, jiu jitsu, and kali.
He earned a BFA in drama for human development from Concordia University, after which it took him three years to get into grad school.
Sabongui credits his then-fiance (and now wife), Helix star Kyra Zagorsky, with finally getting him into a post-grad program.
“She coached me up on my third year, and I did one unified audition, and I got 19 offers,” he says. He completed his MFA at the University of California.
Post-grad, Sabongui and Zagorsky settled in LA, and Sabongui pursued stunt gigs and acting roles in 24, E-Ring, and Afghan Knights.
It was while filming 300in Montreal in 2005 that he befriended artists from Vancouver’s stunt community. “They were supportive to each other, and they shared information and jobs, and it wasn’t cutthroat and it wasn’t competitive,” says Sabongui.
So when Sabongui and Zagorsky were on the hunt for a city in which they could put down roots with their two young children, Vancouver – with its career opportunities, welcoming stunt community, and family-friendly feel – was their first choice.
And it was a great decision (Sabongui’s long list of Vancouver-based stunt and acting credits includes Continuum, TRON: Legacy, The Cabin in the Woods, and Godzilla), save for the fact that the American-born Zagorsky is now in Sabongui’s hometown of Montreal for six months of the year, filming Helix.
“The irony doesn’t escape me,” laughs Sabongui.
As Captain Singh on The Flash, Sabongui is blazing trails. Singh is the first openly gay character in the DC Universe, a fact that finally made its way to the screens on Dec. 2, when Captain Singh referred to an as yet unseen boyfriend.
As to what else viewers will see of Singh’s personal life – well, only time will tell, says Sabongui.
“Right from the beginning, [executive producer] Andrew Kreisberg was clear about, ‘we don’t have to hide the fact that Singh is gay, that’s just who he is,’” he says.
“You also have to keep in mind that they’re planning for the show to go on for a long time, and so there’s no rush, I think, to get to the relationships that are established in the comic books.”
Sabongui currently shares the bulk of his scenes with Jesse L. Martin (Rent; Law & Order) and series star Grant Gustin.
“Both of those guys just blow me away and elevate my game,” he says. “Working with these guys, you get the full effect of the performance right there on set, live. You lock on their eyes and it’s fireworks.”
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8pm on CTV. Find more information about Fulfilling Young Artists here.
MORE FROM PATRICK SABONGUI
On his wife, Helix star Kyra Zagorsky: “She’s always had integrity. Always. Even in grad school. She was eight months pregnant, working on a play, and the play was about to open. She was in California, I was in New York doing my showcase, and she called me and she was in tears. She said, ‘I can’t do this, he’s threatening to kick me out of the play,’ and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And she’s like, ‘he wants me to play this scene yelling at Timon [from Timon of Athens] and I would never do the scene that way.’ And I was like, ‘Then just do it. You’re eight months pregnant. You’re upset.’ And she’s like, ‘No, it’s wrong, my character would never do it this way,’ and I’m like, ‘He’s going to kick you out of the play,’ and she’s like, ‘I don’t care, I’m not doing it.’ That integrity that she has, she refuses to play [the role] incorrectly. I admire that so much. I don’t know where it came from. It’s something I learned from her. I don’t know if I’m there yet. I have to consciously ask myself, if I’m asked to do something that compromises my ethics, I’ve got to stop and go, ‘wait, I’ve got to think about this.’ I don’t have that reflex. She does.”
On pursuing dance in his youth: “I was part of the dance program in our junior high and high school in Montreal. I was always athletic and I played football and did all of the tough guy stuff, and I practiced martial arts since I was eight years old, so I had a very physical and active childhood. I was very secure in my masculinity, so when I got to high school, I just dug dance. I just loved it and I did Swan Lake, I did tap numbers, I did that ballet every season. It was awesome. I was aware of the dance stigma, but I was always game to challenge that. It’s something that’s stayed with me, is to challenge stereotypes, and maybe it’s because I had a nurturing childhood and my folks were very supportive, but I never felt insecure in what I believed in, or what I enjoyed. My son is the same way. He loves pink and there’s no such thing as a girl thing or a boy thing. “
On learning stage combat in the theatre: “It’s a skill set that I think every stunt person can benefit from, and very few have. There are a couple of stunt guys out there who came from the theatre world, and I think in terms of selling a fight, they come with that skill set already in tact. Everyone else who comes from another discipline or martial arts, they’re amazing athletes and they have all of these incredible skills, but faking it ain’t the same. It’s something they have to pick up and learn. And on stage, you become hyper aware of where the audience is, and the angle that’s going to sell for your hit, because even if you learn how to sell a hit and fake it, a fighter may not be conscious of, ‘well, it’s going to sell from this angle, but now the camera is over here so it’s not going to work.’ In the theatre, we’re taught to turn the fight, and you’re always aware. You’ve got to move it upstage or downstage to improve the sightlines, and that becomes second nature. You begin to feel and sense where the audience is.”
