Jake Manley is at last a bona fide movie star. He lives in Los Angeles now, but he comes from right here in Oakville, Ontario.
His new movie Brotherhood isn't the first time he's been on the big screen. But it is his first time as a star - and this week, he's introducing his movie right here in town.
The film opened last Friday at Film.Ca Cinemas, which has an exclusive engagement since their reopening two weeks ago. Manley is appearing for a special event on Wednesday night where he's introducing the film and staying after for an audience Q&A session.
Manley also recognizes he's only one artist of hundreds who work on high-profile movies like this.
"I'm super proud of this film and everyone involved," says Manley in his interview with us. "Everybody really went above and beyond to make this a magical film that will be timeless."
The true story that inspired Brotherhood is a band of teenage boys in 1926 arriving at Long Point Camp. What begins as a summer adventure, however, turns into a dangerous fight for survival when their canoe capsizes in a freak storm on the lake.
Manley plays George Waller, one of the older boys at camp. He's best known for starring as Jack Morton in Netflix's The Order, but he's also appeared in several films. Last year he appeared in both Universal's A Dog's Journey and Roland Emmerich's war epic Midway.
Yet part of what makes Brotherhood a standout in his filmography is the camaraderie that came from the boys appearing in nearly every scene together. It got further intensified filming in Wawa, ON's Michipicoten reserve.
Jake Manley talks about his work in Brotherhood
"We were pretty isolated," says Manley, "and I think that lent to the whole experience. The cast (and crew) got to really bond and get to know each other."
Manley also says his favourite scenes were those when they were all paddling together in the canoe. "The war canoe wasn't easy to use," he continues, "and we trained for weeks before filming. Seeing these scenes of everyone in sync on the back drop of the beautiful lake was very rewarding."
Now that the film's been released, Manley gets to share it with his hometown audience. Film.Ca's event is special because it's the only local theatre playing the film. It's also where Manley and his friends premiered their first movies together while he was still in high school.
Even if you can't attend the special event on Wednesday, it will continue playing until at least August 13th. Manley calls it "a true prestige film."
"This is an important, true Canadian story that not many people know about. (Writer/Director) Richard Bell did an amazing job of bringing this story to life and there’s no better way to see it than the big screen.
Brotherhood is now playing an exclusive engagement at Film.Ca Cinemas.
Update: A second screen of seats has been added for Wednesday Aug. 5th's event. This will allow for added capacity while maintaining social distancing. Tickets are available at this link here.
