The Canadian actor talks about joining the new Audible Original podcast, while reminiscing on the legacy of Will & Grace…
By Stephan Petar
In November 2022, the Audible Original Mistletoe Murders captivated worldwide audiences with the mysterious murders in the fictional town of Fletcher’s Grove. Starring Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Raymond Ablack (Ginny & Georgia) and Anna Cathcart (XO, Kitty), the cozy-mystery holds an almost perfect rating on Audible’s site. The podcast is now in its fourth season and was adapted into a TV series by Hallmark.
Given the podcast’s success, it’s no wonder Audible is expanding the universe with Cathcart’s character, Violet Wilner. Middlebridge Mysteries follows Violet as she heads to university to study criminology. As she adapts to her new environment, she is instantly drawn to the mysterious circumstances occurring at Middlebridge.
“Violet has always been a great character and loved by the listeners,” says creator Ken Cuperus. “It made sense to see what her life would look like outside of Fletcher’s Grove as she comes of age.”
Teaching her criminology is the renowned, but demanding, Professor Bellows. The role is portrayed by Will & Gracestar Eric McCormack, whom Cuperus has been wanting to work with for some time. Professor Bellows is both a mentor and an obstacle to Violet. He sharpens her instincts, keeps her on her toes, and carries secrets that tie directly into her investigations.
In a Zoom interview with IN Magazine, McCormack shared more details about the show. “Here’s a guy that actually pushes her buttons, but he knows she’s smarter than the work she’s putting in,” he explains. “She’s ultimately his favourite student, but he’s got to kick her ass a bit. He sort of gets dragged down her crime-solving path, but he cares enough to do that.”
This isn’t the first time McCormack has played a lecturer. For three seasons, he portrayed Professor Daniel Pierce on Perception. He also pulled a bit of inspiration for his Middlebridge role from Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr., a character on the 1970s series Paper Chase. “It took place in a law school, and the teacher was played by John Houseman. We’d be glued to him,” he says, pronouncing Houseman’s name in an English accent.
While known for his television roles, McCormack is no stranger to the audio format, despite this being his first scripted podcast series. He smiles as he recalls a stint at Toronto radio station CHUM, when he was 14 years old, and at CBC Radio. He even narrated the audiobook version of Armistead Maupin’s Sure of You from the book franchise Tales of the City.
One difference between recording an audiobook and a podcast series, he points out, is that the podcast allowed him to channel one character, as opposed to voicing multiple characters. Recording the series also required a lot of imagination. He compares the experience to actors starring in a dinosaur movie who know the prehistoric creatures will come to life in post-production. “The fun of the job is coming up with all the other elements in your head, knowing that they’re going to be there later,” he says. “When I listen to this, it’ll be like, ‘Oh God, that sounds like it’s really on a campus.’”
When asked how Will, Grace, Karen and Jack from Will & Grace would do if confronted with a Middlebridge-type mystery, the actor admits it would be chaotic. “It’s actually kind of a funny idea,” he says. “It would be very funny because the only person focused on trying to solve the crime would be Will.”
Reflecting on the legacy of Will & Grace
McCormack’s most iconic role was Will Truman in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. The original series ran for eight seasons between 1998 and 2006, and in 2017, it was revived for three additional seasons. Throughout that run, Will & Grace received 83 Primetime Emmy nominations, with trophies awarded to each cast member. The series was a trailblazer, with many sitcoms building upon its legacy.
McCormack occasionally rewatches the show if it’s airing, and reveals that he is still surprised by some episodes. “The show was very alive, as scripted as it was, but on show night they’d throw the script out a lot and write new lines for us,” he explains. “A lot of the stuff that made it to air, the lines that became iconic or memorable, are lines we had never said before.”
With the revival, the streaming of episodes and the maturing of its original audience, the actor is noticing a shift in his dialogue with fans. “Years ago, it was, ‘My girlfriend really likes your show.’ Then within a few years, it was, ‘My wife and I watch your show together,’” he shares. “Now it’s 20-year-old gay guys going, ‘Oh my God, my grandmother, she’s dead now, loved your show!’”
When the original series aired, McCormack remembers the reception from the gay community being generally positive. However, he did note some criticism, with feedback that “he’s not gay enough. He doesn’t have enough boyfriends,” he recalls.
He says the best compliment he gets is when gay men tell him they were more like Will Truman than they thought. “I think it took time for young men to grow up and go to college and maybe become lawyers,” he says. “Like Will, they want to find someone, they want to find a husband, they want children.”
He acknowledges that the most common piece of feedback is how the show helped fans come out. “It’s not people going, ‘That show is funny.’ It’s people saying that it helped them with their mother or grandmother.… That’s my favourite thing.”
Listen to Middlebridge Mysteries and a new season of Mistletoe Murders on Audible.ca.
STEPHAN PETAR is a born and raised Torontonian, known for developing lifestyle, entertainment, travel, historical and 2SLGBTQI+ content. He enjoys wandering the streets of any destination he visits, where he’s guaranteed to discover something new or meet someone who will inspire his next story.
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