Paul Rabliauskas Embraces His Inner and Outer Child in Season 2 of ACTING GOOD

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Upon hearing the term Baby One More Time, most people think of the famous Britney Spears song. But listening to comedian, co-creator, and star Paul Rabliauskas describe his character’s exploits in ACTING GOOD – as well as his own physical looks! – it’s possible that “Baby One More Time” could also be adopted as the unofficial slogan for Season 2, which debuts Monday, Oct. 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET on CTV Comedy Channel. “I look like a giant baby,” said Rabliauskas, without hesitation. “I think that’s why I’m here. People are like, ‘how did you get to this point?’ And I say, ‘I just look like a giant baby, so people want to take care of me, and nurture me.” The subject came up because of his character’s life situation, as Season 2 of ACTING GOOD begins. Paul has returned home to the fictional fly-in community of Grouse Lake First Nation in Manitoba, after a self-imposed exile due to his own questionable – perhaps even cowardly – behaviour. It becomes clear very quickly that Paul has not undergone any valuable self-reflection, and he doesn’t understand that he might have to actually earn the forgiveness of his family and friends, rather than simply being welcomed back because a requisite amount of time has passed. So even in this comedic setting, how does Paul walk the fine line between being an irresponsible jerk, and somehow maintaining a lovable side for the viewers? “I think the audience knows that my character is not mean-spirited, he doesn’t say mean things, but he has a complete unawareness of how life works, and how people work,” Rabliauskas said. “It comes from being babied and spoiled his entire life. There are people who are just backwards, who do things that are opposite to what is considered normal. And that’s true for just about every character in our show! I think that represents our community. When outside characters come in, our world seems so backwards to them. It doesn’t make sense, but it makes sense to us. And you see that in Season 2, for sure.” The forgiving nature of Grouse Lake First Nation eventually kicks in – grumbling and teasing aside – to the benefit of Paul’s character, which is a direct example of art imitating life, according to Rabliauskas. “As a community we protect each other, and that’s how I feel as a person, so it has definitely translated into my character,” he said. “People still love the Paul character because there’s a part of him that remains endearing. That’s where it helps that I look like a baby. A lot of moms want to look after me. That’s why it’s so easy for me to play the mama’s boy. He’s not your typical Brad Pitt, with everything going for him. He just shows up and hopes everything works out. And it usually does.” Not without some comic complications, though. Early in Season 2 of ACTING GOOD, Paul is being rejected by his mom Agnes, played by Tina Keeper, who is also a producer on the show. So of course, his logical solution isn’t to make things right, but rather to find a “new mom” to make his own mom jealous. “Tina Keeper is my TV mom, but she kind of takes on the mom role in real life, too – I like to call her my city mom,” Rabliauskas said. “So the chemistry between the two of us is actually real. Everybody teases me about it on set, calling me a mama’s boy. But it’s such an honour to work with Tina, as well as the rest of our great cast.” Finally, what did Rabliauskas learn about making a TV show in Season 1 of ACTING GOOD that he applied to Season 2? “Well, you have to remember, in Season 1, I had never really acted before,” Rabliauskas said with a big laugh. “So we can keep it as simple as saying, in Season 2, I know what my mark is now. I know where my eyeline is. So coming into this season, I think you’re going to see more confidence in the performance. Everything is a little bigger this year, in terms of the characters, and the gags we do. We can get right into the comedy. I’m really looking forward to showing people what we did this year. We get as absurd and as silly as possible, as fast as we can.” Go for it, baby! billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv