The upcoming movie ‘New York, I Love You’ features about, I dunno, a zillion high-profile Hollywood actors. Orlando Bloom? Check. Cloris Leachman? Check. Bradley Cooper, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Natalie Portman? Check, check, check, check. Even teen queens Blake Lively and Rachel Bilson make appearances, not to mention Susan Sarandon’s daughter Eva Amurri and The Beef himself, Shia LaBeouf.
The film is a collection of intersecting vignettes that take place all over, you guessed it, New York. As a patriotic Canadian, I couldn’t help but wonder about Canada’s role in this parade of Hollywood stars acting in an American production about New York. I do believe that, much like Kevin Bacon, everything can be traced back to Canada.
Sure, there’s the obvious – Canadian Hayden Christensen is in it. But there must be more. And there is. So, without further ado, here’s a breakdown of all of the Canadian connections to this film’s impressive star roster I can think of.
1. Rachel Bilson. The former ‘The O.C.’ star is engaged to Hayden Christensen, who was born in Vancouver and raised in a Toronto suburb.
2. Ethan Hawke. He delivered guest lectures at Montreal’s McGill University in 2003. More salaciously, he allegedly had an affair with a 22-year-old Canadian student while filming a movie in Montreal while he was still married to Uma Thurman.
3. Bradley Cooper. ‘The Hangover’ alum is currently filming ‘The A-Team’ in Vancouver.
4. Justin Bartha. Mr. Olsen Twin co-starred in ‘The Hangover’ with Zach Galifianakis, who, according to GQ Magazine, is dating a Canadian lady. (Apparently the secretive Galifianakis wouldn’t let GQ publish her name, so she remains mysterious. And possibly made-up. Regardless, Canada was mentioned, so the Canadian connection – though rather weak – still stands.)
5. Natalie Portman. The high-profile Canadian musician k-os released the single “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” earlier this year, featuring fellow Canuck Nelly Furtado. Sample lyrics: “I’ve been on the run/ shadow weighs a ton/ I know I found a recipe, for me/ but I can’t really make you love me.”
6. Eva Amurri. Ms. Sarandon’s daughter is in Season 3 of ‘Californication’. Californication stars David Duchovny, who spent five years filming ‘The X-Files’ in Vancouver before it was moved to the States. (A move that was widely attributed to Duchovny’s complaints about Vancouver’s weather and being too far away from his wife, Téa Leoni.) He recently did a commercial voiceover for Canadian grocery giant Metro. But enough about Duchovny, he’s not even in this movie!
7. Drea de Matteo. ‘The Sopranos’ actress co-starred in the 2007 Canadian flick ‘The Good Life’, which was filmed in Winnipeg and Argyle, Manitoba.
8. Robin Wright (Penn). ‘The Princess Bride’ star was married to Sean Penn, who became the public target of the Ontario Minister of Health Promotion’s ire after smoking a cigarette at a press conference at Toronto’s Sutton Place Hotel in 2006. The gov fined the hotel $600 for not enforcing the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Tsk, tsk, Mr. Penn. Apparently he didn’t get the memo re: smoking is no longer cool.
9. Cloris Leachman. ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ alum co-starred in one of the best movies ever, ‘Beerfest’, as Great Gam Gam. Gam Gam’s husband, Johann von Wolfhaus, was played by Canadian legend Donald Sutherland.
10. Olivia Thirlby. The actress co-starred in ‘Juno’, which was filmed in Vancouver, directed by Canadian Jason Reitman and starred Canuck wunderkind Ellen Page.
11. Shia LaBeouf. The Beef used to live with his parents at their home in La Canada, California, before moving to La Bachelor Pad. OK, this doesn’t have much to do with Canada, la country. So sue me.
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