I've had a couple of near-meetings with the cast of Road To Avonlea but, thus far, I've only actually met one of them; Michael Mahonen who played Gus Pike. Pike was originally only meant to appear in two episodes but critical and fan response to Mahonen's performance was so great that he eventually appeared in 28 episodes. Mahonen received three Gemini nominations for his work on Road To Avonlea. He also received one for the role of Lee Colgan in the CBC mini-series Conspiracy of Silence.
After Avonlea, Mahonen had many guest starring roles in both American and Canadian television series. As a huge Star Trek fan, I was thrilled to see him as Brone in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Nemesis."
In 2003, Mahonen began work on Sandstorm; a feature drama about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. He wrote, directed and produced the film with an entirely volunteer cast. I met him at the Wizard World convention in Toronto in 2010 when he was promoting Sandstorm.
Mr. Mahonen was wonderful to meet. He took the time to speak with me about Avonlea and about Sandstorm and we've since chatted a bit online. I'd love to work with him some day. He's a great Canadian actor and filmmaker who deserves to be well-known worldwide.
Requisite Films is the name of Mahonen's production company and the official website is the best place to find current news about his new projects.
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