The charismatic bank-robber in "Edwin Boyd" may have loved being in the spotlight but Toronto-raised actor Scott Speedman says it's a trait he doesn't share with his character.
"I think he and I are very different that way. He seemed like he really would flower in the spotlight. He really wanted desperately to be an actor and be famous and I think he would really enjoy it," Speedman tells me during a chat at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto.
"It's fine, I understand it, and I see certain people that are just very at ease with it. But I'm just not that way completely."
Speedman, who got his breakout role on the coming-of-age dramatic series "Felicity" in the late 90s, downplays the heartthrob status he garnered while playing the role of Felicity's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ben Covington.
"I never felt sort of defined by that. For me, I was never somebody that girls had posters on the wall and all that stuff. The show was very popular but it wasn't an overwhelming throng of fans or anything like that."
As a huge fan of the show myself, I tell him I have to disagree. (Especially now that I see how dreamy his blue eyes really are.)
"I think in a certain section of America we were very popular but it really wasn't as intense as some people think it was. Maybe it's just my denial," adds Speedman with a laugh. "But I was very able to sort of be off to the side a little bit."
No matter what his popularity was at the time, Speedman can't deny that "Felicity", which also starred Keri Russell and Scott Foley, was a great career opportunity.
"To be honest I didn't know how lucky I was to be a part of that show when I was doing it; it was a very good experience for me… I'd probably say if people recognize me at all it's usually from that and that's fine with me. That was a very, very special show to me."
He's since gone on to take roles in the "Underworld" films, Atom Egoyan's "Adoration" and Jacob Tierney's "Good Neighbours." He also received acclaim for his role as Boogie, alongside Paul Giamatti, in 2010's "Barney's Version."
"It's all little stepping stones. Two years before ‘Barney's Version' I wasn't really ready to take on that role and that sort of led me to do more stuff like ‘Good Neighbours' and this so I feel like I'm just getting going now artistically, and in the business," says Speedman.
In "Edwin Boyd" Speedman portrays one of Toronto's original gangsters, who led a series of "Hollywood-style" bank heists to provide for his family (and satisfy his need for fame) after returning from the Second World War.
Toronto's own Nathan Morlando, who is making his feature film directorial debut with "Edwin Boyd," says he knew all along he wanted Speedman in the title role.
"He looks like Eddie Boyd; he has Eddie Boyd's charm and charisma and after we met and he responded to the script, I knew and realized that he had the courage to go where this script was going to push him to go."
As well as "Edwin Boyd," Speedman is also appearing in vampire-flick "The Moth Diaries" at TIFF.
