A few of The GATE’s best video interviews of 2014

This has been a great, great, great year for me and The GATE. I think I can safely say that 2014 set all sorts of records for me and the site. From week to week there was always a lot going on, and even when it was hard keeping up, it was wonderful.

Looking back, there was our anniversary event in June with Young Rival and Rival Boys, another epic year at TIFF, lots of fun food and get togethers celebrating great spirits, and special previews of gadgets and gear, not to mention the MMVAs, and the list goes on and on.

Most of all though, the year was a big one for interviews. Lots and lots of interviews.

Since January I’ve interviewed dozens of people for film, television, music, and after 14 years of doing this, I was still geeking out all over the place. Being professional may mean I have to be calm and cool on the outside when I meet people, but deep down I am always going to geek out when I get to meet the likes of Tom Hardy for The Drop, or Benedict Cumberbatch for Imitation Game.

Actually, I can hardly talk about how great my year was without praising the Toronto International Film Festival for being such an amazing place to meet with stars and filmmakers. As always it was the highlight of my year, and this year was by far my best in all the years that I’ve been covering it. Aside from Hardy (and Noomi Rapace for The Drop as well) and Cumberbatch, I also interviewed international star Priyanka Chopra for Mary Kom, Jon Stewart and Gael García Bernal for Rosewater, director Jean-Marc Vallée and actress Laura Dern for Wild, and Dan Stevens and Maika Monroe for The Guest (not to mention the film’s writer-director duo, Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard).

That list alone is hard to top, but then there were all of my television interviews. Right at the top of this post is my photo of the legendary Guillermo del Toro, who I spoke to about The Strain, but I also interviewed Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, Taylor Schilling and Uzo Aduba for Orange is the New Black, Julie Benz for Defiance, I spoke with nearly the entire main cast of Hemlock Grove, went back to the set of Rookie Blue again, and of course I chatted one more time with Anna Silk for the final season of Lost Girl. Not to mention chatting again with Jordan Gavaris for the second season of Orphan Black. And that’s just the highlights. That doesn’t even include the video I captured during this year’s television Upfronts in Toronto, or the 20 other interviews I did over the year for Corner Gas, Haven, Helix, The Millers, the final season of The Listener, MasterChef Canada, Motive, the final season of Republic of Doyle, Saving Hope, Vikings, Remedy, and Bitten.

I have worked hard over the years to get to this point, and it feels good to know it paid off with my best year ever.

For film, I interviewed the one and only Iron Sheik for his documentary at Hot Docs, The Sheik, Dave Bautista and Michael Rooker for Guardians of the Galaxy, Scott Adsit for Big Hero 6, Billy Magnussen and Mackenzie Mauzy for Into The Woods, and, yes, even the Trailer Park Boys.

So, what am I getting at with all this? I just wanted to say thanks once again to everyone who reads the interviews or watches the videos. It’s because of you guys coming back again and again to The GATE that I get to do all this and pass it on, and I can’t thank you all enough. I also can’t help but say thanks to all of the publicists who make this all possible too. There are almost literally too many people to thank, but once again, thank-you for making all of this possible.

For now, here’s a few video highlights from 2014, to take you back to some of the best interviews of the year–at least the ones I got on camera. Stay tuned this next week for podcasts with audio highlights from throughout the year in film and television, and stay tuned for hopefully an even bigger and better year again in 2015.