Before actor Dustin Milligan's stint as Ethan Ward on 90210 or his turn in this week-end's new release Gunless, he was just another struggling actor slinging pie and skimboarding in ye olde Vancouver.
Dustin trying to high five Paul Gross
Let’s talk about your time in Vancity. What sticks out for you?
I always lived in Kits, right around the corner from Broadway and Alma…
Oh, right near True Confections.
Check this out – I used to work at True Confections. Not that one, the one that’s on Denman. Corey Monteith, who is on Glee right now, he and I used to be roommates and we both worked at True Confections because they are open late which meant we could audition during the day.
What was your favourite thing on the menu?
Banana Cream Pie … though I did start getting pretty tired of desserts real fast. I don’t even order it anymore! I like pies more than cakes.
Have you ever been to Savary Island in West Vancouver?
My mom always goes there on the way to visit my sister up in Whistler. That’s what she wants for lunch … or breakfast. She often is there and sometimes if I call her before meeting up in town she’ll say, “I’m at Savary Island getting pie!”
What do you like to do in Vancouver?
When I first moved here I was all alone in the city and had hardly any friends, so I used to walk all the way from True Confections on Denman back to my place on Broadway and Alma, or at another spot at Third and Trafalgar … or TRAfalGAR, sounds like a place from Lord of the Rings...
I loved walking from Kits, over the Burrard Street Bridge and always thought it looked very futuristic. Or like Tokyo, all the steel and glass shimmering … really, really beautiful.
So yes, that’s what I love the most about Vancouver – just walking around. I can walk anywhere I want, or skateboard. I love the greenery, the fact that there are parks everywhere and that I never needed a car when I was here. I could just bus or cab if I needed to get to an audition in a hurry but otherwise I could just get to everywhere on foot. All my fondest memories are just of walking at all hours of the night.
And never getting hurt…
(Laughs) I never got attacked or hurt at any point.
Did you see any good shows here?
You know who I saw at the Media Club and I am obsessed with still to this day is Wintersleep. You know that song (starts singing), “Oh, have you seen my ghost, seen my ghost …?” It’s kick-butt. They’re this band from Nova Scotia and I saw them here. Pretty melancholy but I like to jam to them.
Any other places around town?
I lived on 4th, near Kits beach and used to go to this place called but it used The Vineyard. I used to rock that place all the time. That was my Shopper’s Drug Mart, that was my Safeway, that was my Vineyard. My cousin was at UBC so we’d rock out at The Pit Pub, too. We’d go skim boarding at Wreck Beach, but I always wore shorts because I didn’t want to embarrass anyone else.
You used to be on 90210. What is your favourite postal code?
(Points to tattoo) X1A 2N2 or X1A 3C7. It’s from Yellowknife.
