I binged Sterling Point in about two days, staying up late on a visit to my dad’s to get through the show. The show was one of Amazon Prime Video’s hits of the summer, reaching #1 worldwide on Prime Video just one week after its release on Aug. 5.
In the opening scene, lead Annie Jacobson (Ella Rubin) gets rejected by the Wharton Global Youth Program. Soon after, she and her twin brother Connor (Keen Ruffalo) learn of their grandfather’s passing; he's left them with a cottage (and an island) in Muskoka, Ontario, or the province’s “cottage country.” For non–Canadians, Muskoka is about as bougie as summer in Canada gets, at least for its seasonal visitors. Real people do live there year–round though, tending to the boats of the rich and, after work, enjoying the region’s water and islands on their own motorboats. This is where Jacob Whiteduck–Lavoie’s character Ellis comes in: the son of Sterling Point’s primary boat shop owner.
Whiteduck–Lavoie grew up in a similar lake region—the Kitigan Zibi reservation in Western Quebec—so boats aren’t exactly foreign to him, but planes definitely are. His character first meets Annie at the Toronto airport where he takes her on a seaplane up to the fictional Sterling Point island to her new cottage. Annie is there for more than romance—she’s trying to figure out who her deceased mother really was, ultimately getting swept up into a whirlwind of family drama alongside the rest of the young cast.
She, Ellis, and Rory (Daniel Quinn–Toye) end up in a love triangle of sorts. Rory and Annie met in middle school, and Ellis is the kind, pretty boy who welcomes her to the Great North. This isn’t Whiteduck–Lavoie’s first romantic role—he plays Xavier Laveau–Roy in Premier Trio, a hockey love story—though it is his first in English. In Sterling Point, he’s kind, pretty, and more than welcoming to his American belle. Here’s what he has to say about the show.
What pieces of media last summer helped you get into your character? What were you listening to or reading or watching at that time?
It’s so funny because I got booked on this in a very short [amount of time]. The process … just went by so quickly. In a week and a half I taped, I flew to Toronto for a chemistry read, and then two days later Megan called me. She’s like “Do you want to be Ellis in the show?”, and I was like, “Hell yeah!” Obviously, no, I didn’t say “Hell yeah.” I was really emotional, but it went by so quickly, and my summer plans changed in a week … and then a week after Megan called me, I was already in Toronto for the first camera test.
So I didn’t have time to actually prepare and, you know, it was like “all right let’s go,” you know you’re Ellis … which was really cool and obviously I’m so so grateful. I think they were only missing Ellis at that point, so I was the last one cast … But you know what? I made this Spotify playlist that I went back to a lot during the summer, and obviously I added a bunch of songs. But I think music helps me. It just helps me creatively, and … I’m someone that always has music on 24/7. As soon as I wake up or I go to bed, I feel like music has such a big impact on me. I feel like that playlist definitely helped me.
Any artists in particular?
Yeah, I was like, “What would Ellis listen to?” You know, because that playlist is called Ellis, and I was just like, okay, so the dude grew up with no Wi–Fi. He doesn’t have a phone, so obviously he’s not super tapped into what’s popping right now. Yeah. So I was like, he has to be listening to some 2010 pop hits. You know, he’s still on the Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry. There’s a bunch of Jack Johnson in there, some electronic stuff, LCD Soundsystem. It just felt like he was stuck in those 2010s pop hits. I definitely went back to that for the whole process and summer.
Ellis is fairly quiet for the first six episodes of the series, and I think that makes him a really poignant character. You’re kind of the ‘yearner’ of the series. What’s the process like for acting so much with your face and body language?
Yeah, it’s definitely a challenge because you kind of have to let your expression and your eyes speak for you. You know, Ellis obviously isn’t the loudest one in the room. So, at times, I just had to … [and] I feel like I left that show a better actor just because of everyone I’ve worked with. I’ve learned so much from everyone, but yeah, just to be a lot more present in the scene and being a good listener. Like yeah, Ellis is a good listener. But I mean, [for] myself as Jacob, to act with your eyes and let your face dictate what your character is feeling, I feel like you have to be a lot more present and you have to be listening a lot more.
It’s not like I’m learning the lines, and [saying] “Okay, whatever, let’s do it.” It’s more like understanding what Ellis is feeling at that moment in the scene. But it felt very natural because I feel like I’m also like that in real life. You know, I’m not the loudest one. I feel like people have told me in the past that I’m a little hard to read because I’m just not that talkative in real life. So I guess it felt kind of natural to do that and to be a good listener.
For me, one of the things I found the most interesting with the show is class. Class is a recurring theme in Sterling Point. How do you think your character internalizes the class divide in Muskoka?
Yeah, I feel like for Ellis, he doesn’t. I don’t know … he grew up in Sterling Point, and you know he’s worked with his dad his whole childhood, and you know growing up without a phone and no Wi–Fi definitely shapes you.
I think, he’s a lot more internalized, and you know, he’s like this interesting introvert. Obviously we see the two classes in the show, and they’re obviously very different from each other, but I feel like he doesn’t give it that much importance. I think he just kind of sees the upper class as his clients because he works for them. But yeah, I don’t think he pays much importance to it, and obviously we see that head nod between Ellis and Rory at the beginning, and that just says a lot.
Ellis is a very quiet and kind character, but he’s also a fairly insecure and frequently jealous character. How do you think that would impact his relationship with Annie in the future? He was really shady when he took off those Chrome Hearts sunglasses after Rory complimented them.
It’s so much fun to play. Obviously, it’s so so fun to be an introvert and to get jealous when Rory was around. It’s hard to predict, we just got greenlit for Season 2. I’m just so curious about what’s gonna happen in the second season, and I really want to dive deeper, and you know, I feel like I have so much more to explore with him.
I don’t want it to be easy with his relationship with Annie. I kind of want it hard for him. You know, as an actor, I want to be challenged. I don’t want his life to be easy. I feel like his jealousy is definitely going to, you know … I mean, we’re going to have to wait and see what happens, but I’m always very curious. But I think that’s gonna play a big part in their relationship because I think he’s a lot more jealous than Annie, in my opinion. I feel like that could play a big part in what will happen in Season 2.
One last—far from serious—question, do you have a lash routine?
No I don’t.
Goddamnit.
They’re real. My mom used to always sing to me as a kid. She was like if you ever want something at some store, and they’re not letting you, just look at them with your eyes and say like “maybe it’s Maybelline,” and I used to. She used to always sing that as a kid. But no, they’re real. They’re real. They’re long. I think I got those from my dad, my dad also has long lashes.
As soon as I scheduled this with your publicist, my feed was full of edits of you. They were all about your lashes.
Nooo, not the edits! Oh my god! Yeah, they’re wild.
(He says, unconsciously batting his lashes).
