Canada’s Evan Marsh is the guy you love to hate in award-winning film ‘Giant Little Ones’
Ever since he was just a child growing up in Woodstock, Canada, acting has been the only thing Evan Marsh was truly passionate about. As a young boy, he played sports and video games, hobbies he still enjoys, but nothing ever excited him the way acting did. He spent his early years mimicking what he saw on screen, memorizing his favorite movies and captivated not just by the story but by the way the people he watched were able to completely transform and become someone entirely new and different to themselves. There was never a moment when he decided to become an actor, he just knew it was his destiny for his entire life.
“I was drawn to everything about it from the scripts, to the accents, to the different characters and so on. I also have a tremendous respect for other actors and how they approach the job, so when we are able to come together on-screen, I enjoy how different actors bring out different performances in each other,” he said.
Marsh is now at the forefront of the Canadian film and television industry, recognized in his home country and abroad for his extraordinary talents as an actor. On the small-screen, Marsh has enchanted worldwide audiences in the new Netflix’ original Northern Rescue and the CBC hit Workin’ Moms, and most recently, fans can flock to the theatres to see Marsh in both the highly-anticipated DC superhero flick Shazam! and the award-winning coming-of-age drama Giant Little Ones.
Giant Little Ones is a powerful story that follows two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, who find their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party. It explores the themes of sexuality and labels, a discussion that is becoming more and more prevalent in society.
“I wanted to work on this project after reading the script as I felt like it was a rare combination of adolescent struggles without any clichés. I find as more and more ‘coming of age, teenage sexuality’ movies come out, I keep seeing the same story told over and over again and it feels like it was written by some 40 year old who is out of touch with what being 17 feels like these days. However, after I saw what Writer/Director Keith Behrman had written, I knew we had a winner on our hands,” said Marsh.
The film premiered September 9th, 2018 at the world-renowned Toronto International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Canadian Feature Film. It has been nominated for several more awards at many prestigious international festivals, taking home the top prizes at the 2019 Göteborg Film Festival and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. Marsh says he knew the moment he read the script that it would be a success and did everything he could to honor such an impactful story.
“With any younger targeted script, I always feel as though the casting matters much more than normal. I feel as though they did a tremendous job with casting their youth in this movie which is why it comes as no surprise that this movie has been such a success and has been so well received. The actors in this film bring such authenticity to their roles which brings the audience to the edge of their seats with conflicted emotions about love and loss. It is truly a wonderful film with an equally wonderful response,” he said.
Marsh plays the pivotal role of Connor, the main antagonist in the story. Though he is friends with Franky and Ballas (Josh Wiggins and Darren Mann) at the beginning, once rumors start to emerge of the two of them having possibly shared an intimate moment together, audiences quickly see a different side of Connor. With Connor’s toxic influence, the close relationship between Franky and Ballas begins to unravel. He is there for the audience to hate as at the beginning he is their friend, in the middle he sides with one of them, and by the end he turned against them both. This story would have something missing without the character of Connor, and Marsh knew just how to portray such a character.
“I found this role actually came quite easy to me. We have all met someone like Connor, who has to be the loudest guy in the room. So uncomfortable with his own sexuality that he has to make you feel lousy about yours. The more attention he can focus on you with insults and profanity, the less that is on him. I have met multiple versions of Connor in my life, so I simply melded them into one,” said Marsh.
Marsh put his heart and soul into Giant Little Ones, knowing the importance of sharing stories like these on the big screen. With all the awards and acclaim the film has received, for this Canadian star, the biggest reward of all is educating the masses on such a prevalent topic.
“This story is incredibly important to show kids that it is perfectly normal to feel any type of way about any person, no matter their sex. This story is about two incredibly close friends who share a drunken moment one night that changes life as they know it. What I love so much in the writing is there are so many movies about someone who is gay and they struggle with telling people. As much as those are necessary films, it isn’t always that simple and this film finds an interesting unique situation, not far off from what kids find themselves dealing with every day,” he concluded.
