Billy Merasty brings lightness to Winnipeg-shot drama Aberdeen

These days, if you see Billy Merasty on a Winnipeg street, you're most likely to recognize him as Roger Laughingstick, the low-key zany DJ spinning platters that matter for the fictional Grouse Lake First Nation of the CTV Comedy series Acting Good.

In that context, it may come as a surprise to see him in the feature drama Aberdeen in the role of Alfred, the loyal two-spirit friend of the titular character (played by Gail Maurice).

In the film — which premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and is now screening elsewhere, including a run at Cinema City Northgate in Winnipeg, where the movie was shot — Aberdeen is a woman of barely controlled fury who attempts to navigate government bureaucracy in an effort to claim her grandchildren from the foster care system.

Whenever possible, the street-smart Alfred is there to cool Aberdeen's fire.

Merasty's portrayal likewise lightens the film's dark and gritty atmosphere with moments of lightness and humour.

Its co-directors, Ryan Cooper (who based the story on his own experiences on the streets of Winnipeg) and Eva Thomas, say they relied on Merasty to lighten the overall heaviness of the drama.

"He brings a light," Thomas said. "He sparkles."

Cooper credits Merasty with using his innate charm to keep the film in balance.

"I wanted to create pockets of humour that would break up the trauma we were all going through," said Cooper, who hails from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba's Interlake.

The first thing to know about Merasty is that, if you do happen to see him on a Winnipeg street, he is likely working. For the better part of 41 years, the Cree actor's home base has been Toronto, although he is quick to announce northern Manitoba as the place of his birth.

"I was born and raised on the land in Brochet, Man., at the northern tip of Reindeer Lake," Merasty, 64, said in a phone interview from his Toronto home. He was the ninth of 14 siblings.

"When I was 18, I just finished high school and I left and I came to Toronto, where I had two uncles, Uncle Tomson and Uncle René," he says, referring to celebrated playwright Tomson Highway and his likewise celebrated brother, the late dancer-choreographer René Highway.

In Toronto, he established himself as a theatre actor and one-shot playwright (with Fireweed, produced in 1992 in Toronto and Vancouver).

"Toronto has always been good to me," Merasty said. "I tried to live in Winnipeg three times, but it just never worked out for me. But I've worked in Winnipeg many times, in theatre, film and TV."