These are chat sessions with Kevin Sullivan and Mag Ruffman (Olivia King Dale and Alice Lawson) that took place at Avonlea MB. I received permission from Kevin Sullivan to use these chats. Do NOT takes this page and use it for yourself. If you take this and use it, you will receive a not-so-nice note from Sullivan.
March 8th, 2006
with Mag Ruffman
Question by Timothy: What were some of your comedic influences?
Answer: My comedic influences were anyone I'd ever found funny and lovable, including Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, Sandy Dennis, Mike Myers, and Judy Garland.
Question by Timothy: few years back, you mentioned in an interview about participating in an Avonlea float with Sarah, Gema, and Zach in California. Do you remember when that was? Was it after the first season?
Answer: I think it was between first and second seasons - it was The Hollywood Christmas parade.. The parade announcers kept pronouncing the name of the show as "Eh-Von-Leah". And we all kept yelling back at them "AVONLEEEEEE!!!"
Question by kchandler: HOW ARE YOU SIMILAR TO OLIVIA? HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?
Answer: Olivia is much better looking and more charitable. We do share similar taste in men.
Question by kchandler: ARE YOU MARRIED? DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY?
Answer: Very married, and loving it. Three cats, no kids.
Question by kchandler: IF YOU WERE WRITING SEASON 8 OF AVONLEA WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE
WANTED TO HAPPEN?
Answer: Sarah would return to Avonlea and start a home for wayward girls. Jasper and Olivia would also return and Hetty would begin coaching wayward girls in the art of elocution. Felicity would have had 13 children and Gus would be living in the barn to prevent further mishaps.
Question by kchandler: WERE OR ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR SPIN OFF OF AVONLEA, PERHAPS
THE DALES IN ENGLAND?
Answer: There are surely plans in the works. We must all keep our body parts crossed. (Especially Gus)
Question by EmilyofDreams: What is the funniest (or most memorable) behind-the-scenes moment that you remember about yourself or your fellow cast members?
Answer: The day they started up 5 airplane propellers to hurl potato flakes at us as we faked a blizzard in the woods. I still have potato in my eyes when I wake up in the morning.
Question by EmilyofDreams: What are some aspects of your character Olivia King-Dale that are similiar to you or what was your role in developing her character throughout the series?
Answer: I was kinda wild in real life at the time - so it was good that I had to go to work and get all proper and wear constricting underclothes. I didn't have much say in how the character developed, except that I had good chemistry with R.H. in an early episode (The Awkward Man) and that eventually wound up propelling our characters into marriage. Which was kind of fun because we'd actually grown up neighbours in Richmond Hill and I'd always had a crush on Bob as a kid.
Question by EmilyofDreams: What are some things you'd wished Olivia could have done during the series and didn't get a chance to do?
Answer: I so wanted a turn in that hang glider Jasper made. And I would like to have performed serio-comic songs in a sister act with Hetty. And I would like to have done some acting that could have been called 'luminous' by TV critics. And I would like to have had a skinny-dipping scene with Mrs. Potts and Eulalie Bugle.
Question by EmilyofDreams: Were there any episodes or storylines in RTA that you personally influenced? Did you have any ideas that were used?
Answer: No, my ideas, as you can see, are terrible.
Question by EmilyofDreams: What storylines would you have liked to have seen happen, had the series continued?
Answer: I think Jasper should've had his own radio show broadcasting around the globe from PEI and I think Hetty should've wound up with Clive Pettibone after Muriel's mysterious disappearance after the church rummage sale.
Question by EmilyofDreams: Many of us fans have batted around and proposed ideas to Kevin about an Avonlea: the Next Generation type of movie or tv series ;) What would you think about coming back for that?
Answer: In a heart beat!
Question by ol' gus: ASPER DALE: THE LOVABLE OL' JASPER! WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE EPISODE WITH RH?
Answer: I loved the one where we fell out of the canoe in the middle of a marital impasse.
Question by ol' gus: WHAT IN YOUR OPINION WAS THE WORST EPISODE? (IN THE WHOLE SERIES) WHY?
Answer: I don't remember any bad ones. I was bad in a few, but there were no episodes I remember as tanking.
Question by ol' gus: AND IN WHAT EPISODE DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU BEGAN TO BOND WITH THE CREW AS A WHOLE?
Answer: The first one. It really was the best working environment and such a lovable group of colleagues.
Question by ol' gus: WHO DO YOU MISS WORKING WITH THE MOST?
Answer: Digger
Question by ol' gus: AND WHAT WAS JACKIE LIKE WITH YOU OFFSCREEN?
Answer: We'd go out and eat fries together every night after work. We bonded over fries.
Question by ol' gus: IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO GO BACK AND RE-DO AN EPISODE, WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE?
Answer: There was one episode where I had the flu and had to keep leaving the set to perform flu-like behaviour (to be genteel). I looked wan and vexed in that episode. It was something about an antique show or something. Aunt Janet and Aunt Abigail were there. That's all I remember.
Question by ol' gus: PEI IS THE GREATEST ISLAND IN THE WORLD. HAVE BEEN THERE 3 TIMES (INCLUDING LIVING THERE FOR 9 MONTHS). HAD YOU BEEN TO PEI BEFORE YOU STARTED FILMING?
Answer: Yes, I starred in my own one-woman show in 1981 at the Charlottetown Festival. I love it there.
Question by Eki: Is "Mag" short for something or is it your given name?
Answer: Mag is short for Maggie, which is short for Margaret, which is the rather regal name I was given at birth but it didn't stick past about 3 weeks because I was not dignified even as an infant.
Question by Eki: Which of the characters you've played throughout your career was your favorite?
Answer: Aunt Olivia was the most fun of the parts I've played.
Question by shah1942: 1:who is your favorite character in RTA?'
Answer: Digger
Question by shah1942: 2:Do you still meet people who you act with them in RTA?
Answer: I see them all a few times a year. It always feels like coming home.
Question by shah1942: You are a great author ,why do not you wrtie a book of your memories of avonlea days,about all the things that happend at the moment of creating those wonderful sequences?(we still like to hear from RTA days)
Answer: I've never thought of that. I don't know if I remember enough, but it would be fun to interview the rest of the cast and relate the combined memories.
Question by shah1942: 4:As aunt oivia you spent a lots of time with talented little sarah stanly in RIAD TO AVONLEA and today we see
sarh polley as one the most active young actresses and film makers in north america, how do you describe sarah polley today and what do think about her?
Answer: I describe her as brilliant. I describe her as unique, wise, spirited and brave. I think only the best of her, and I am sure she is going to leave an enormous and valuable mark on the world.
Question by Whitney: 2. Have you read any Lucy Maud Montgomery? If so, what was your favorite book?
Answer: I liked her journals best.
Question by Whitney: 3. You were wonderful as Olivia King Dale, and I'm sure I can speak for every RTA fan when I say it would be awesome to have another reunion. Are there any plans in the works for a romp to the land of Avonlea?
Answer: I think 'plans' is too strong a word, but there are sparks of ideas and perhaps one will catch.
Question by UnaMeredith: I guess I do have a few question though, how did you hear about the part, were you the first choice for Aunt Olivia and how did you feel when you got the part?
Answer: I heard about the part from my agent. I was very nervous because I'd never done any straight acting, only comedy. I worked very hard on my lines and showed up with my rather short hair pulled into a pathetic bun. The audition was full of Aunt Hettys and no other Aunt Olivias, so I figured I was just early. I did my audition and Kevin seemed to be ignoring me so I figured I tanked. I moved to California. I am not making this up. I did. And when I got there I bought an answering machine and went out. The first message on my answering machine was from my agent. "Come back. You got the part in Road to Avonlea."
I came back.
~Mag then left the chat but came back on March 13th and answered the rest of the questions.~
Question by StarryEyed: Do you find it strange to be answering questions from people who love shows like Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables even though it finished airing over 10 years ago?
Answer: No. These programs are ageless, and they are attractive to people for good reasons. People like the feeling they get from the shows. They resonate with the emotional atmosphere and they want more of that feeling. As long as you want more of a feeling, you're going to stay connected to anything that gives you that feeling. So no, I don't think it's strange at all. I think it's admirable to want to feel good.
Question by Vance: Do you think it would ever be possible to make another RTA movie like Happy Christmas Ms. King? If so, would you be willing to star as Aunt Olivia again?
Answer: I think it would be possible. The actors would all need to agree to come back of course, which can sometimes be an irritating logistical issue, and they all need to be in the country at once. And there would have to be a compelling story, but that wouldn't be too tough because the characters are all so distinct and societal changes (in the roaring Twenties, for instance) would create interesting and diverse pressures on the characters. There would have to be compliance on the part of the network(s), and that is often tricky, and there would have to be sufficient funding to make it worthwhile for the producers and that can be the most difficult component. There also has to be massive inspiration on the part of the producers because it can be a slog getting through all of the pitching and funding and budgetting and negotiating and hiring and organizing and costuming and set-building and location selection and, and, and, ....you get the picture; it's an enormous undertaking. But it would be possible.
Keep the faith.
P.S. And of course I'd be happy to play Olivia again. More than happy.
Question by Ethel Mertz: I would like to see a spin-off series which somehow included both Olivia and Grace Bailey. This might require some kind of time travel. Or else you would have to be twenty or thirty years older than Grace. (I got this brainstorm when I saw you and Grace replace a kitchen P-trap.) What do you think?
Answer: I adore Kathy Greenwood, so I'm with you. We both had the same kind of role (the awkward spinster), so it would be fun. Perhaps a period (Forties) sitcom called The Maids, in which two women who work as welders try to get husbands during the 2nd world war when there are no men around. So mostly they end up taking care of their aged parents and daydreaming about being married to Spencer Tracy.
Okay, I'm on it!
Question by cool82: The two of you [Mag Ruffman and Jackie Burroughs] had such great chemisty in your scenes together. Did you get along well in real life and do you still keep in touch?
Answer: We were pretty tight in real life. We went out together almost every night after work and ate French fries and discussed life with alarming intensity. She's adorable and I talk to her once or twice a year. So we're not in close touch, but we don't lose track of each other either.
Question by cool82: Also another question about RTA, I read most of the interiors of the houses were shot in a studio but were they all because "King Farm" looks like a real house?
Answer: Yes, the interiors of King Farm were shot in studio, even though there is a real house on the farm where we shot the exteriors of Avonlea. People actually live in the house (the lovely Helen and Jack) so it wouldn't have worked to shoot inside their house, plus it's harder to light a real house than it is to light a studio set, which has the benefit of not having a ceiling so you can hang lots of Fresnels and scoops and Redheads (grip lingo).
Question by addicted2avonlea: I was curious of the temperature it would be sometimes during filming. You all looked like you were freezing to death, but, kept on smiling! And, did it really snow most of the time as well?
Answer: Yup, sometimes it was brutally cold. The reason we were smiling was because our lips were frozen to our teeth. After the first season we all bought technical gear (mountaineering underwear and socks) to wear under our costumes, and after that the winter shooting wasn't so bad. The coldest I remember it being was minus 30. Sometimes we had trouble talking because our faces were stiff. But it built character.
Question by cool82: I'm also interested in your book regarding BBQing. Is it available for purchase in the states?
Answer: I have a book called "How Hard Can It Be?" and it's available in the States through the usual online vendors, or at http://www.beyondword.com. It's not about barbecuing though; it's about home repair and do-it-yourself projects. The entire extent of my barbecuing knowledge, if written in large letters with a Sharpie, would fit on the palm of my hand.
Question by Miss Lewis: In Road to Avonlea, what episode do you feel was your best peformance and why?
Answer: I thought some of my best work was in the episode where I had to have a baby. I didn't have the first clue about how to have a baby and I still don't. So if you want to see someone totally faking an important life experience, that's the episode.
Question by Smudgesummer: How did your involvement in the repair show come about? Was it enjoyable?
Answer: I'd gotten married to a carpenter in San Francisco during a week off from shooting the first season of Avonlea. (Sounds sketchy, I know, but we're still married so it wasn't the spectacularly bad judgement most people assumed it was when I got hitched 3 weeks after I'd met the guy, whose name is Daniel by the way). Whenever Avonlea was on hiatus (about 6 months a year) I'd go help Daniel build houses. So I learned lots and eventually became a contractor. When Avonlea ended, the Canadian women's network contacted me to ask if I wanted to host a repair show for women. It was a lot of fun and I had some of the best laughs of my life, particularly when trying to execute plumbing repairs, because plumbing sucks (literally and figuratively). We shot almost as many episodes of A Repair to Remember (78) as we did of Avonlea (91), but in a total of about 8 weeks, as opposed to 7 years!
Question by 22angel: 1. What was it like wearing all the clothes that you had to wear? Were you able to take any "shortcuts" by not wearing some of the undergarments and such, especially in the summer??
Answer: Occasionally things pinched, and the wooly stuff itched, but most of the time I was happy in everything I wore. Yes, most of us had a day or two in summer when we 'forgot' to put on our corsets. You just had to stand up straight and ACT like you were corsetted, and that way you could more or less fool the wardrobe department. Some of them were on to us, but they had too much compassion to force us to put the corsets on in the heat.
Question by 22angel: 2. Did you have seamstresses make your clothes or where did you get them from? I absolutely love the clothes from that era.
Answer: Some of the clothing was original, rented from a company in England. It was very delicate and most of us were too big for it. Women at the turn of the century weren't as athletic as we are now, so their shoulders were small and for that reason I had trouble fitting into some of the period clothing. A very talented team of designers, cutters and seamstresses made sure that we had lots of custom made outfits. I was especially lucky to get some of the prettier things, especially the suits made for Olivia's career woman days.
Question by 22angel: 3. What was your favorite Avonlea outfit? (ETA: Now that I re-read some of the questions before mine, I think this first part was already answered) What was your most despised outfit?
Answer: My most despised outfit was the pregnancy bodysuit. Thankfully I only had to wear it for one episode. It was all padding and lead birdshot to give it realistic weight and it was hot as blazes. I'd had it with that thing by the time the episode ended.
Question by 22angel: 4. What happened to all of the clothing and props after RTA??
Answer: Some of it is still in the closets at Sullivan Entertainment! Some of it is for sale on eBay and some of it remains in the safekeeping of collectors.
Question by 22angel: 5. Did you like wearing the clothes and the hats? The hats are so awesome!
Answer: The hats raised our body temperature by 40% which was handy in winter, not so handy in summer. So it would be fair to say that we liked our hats in winter.
Question by kindredanne: Mag, are you surprised at the popularity of Road to Avonlea and the long-lasting impression it's had on it's fans? I mean, I watch RtA all the time, and I never tire of it, and I know many others who feel/do the same. Did you ever think, when making this show, that it would be sooo loved by sooo many, and that it's popularity would last this long?
Answer: I'm not surprised. We knew when we were making it that it was special, and it makes sense that people would respond whole-heartedly to the love in the labor.
I'm glad that Avonlea is still making people happy. I hope its effect lasts a very long time.
Question by JessthePrincessAustralia: 1. Do you still keep in contact with the other cast members?
Answer: Every chance I get.
Question by JessthePrincessAustralia: 2. Have you ever been to Australia?
Answer: No, but my brother has moved to New Zealand, so when I'm visiting him I will definitely have a good romp in Australia too.
Question by JessthePrincessAustralia: 3. When you signed up for RTA did you have any idea it would become as popular as it did?
Answer: No! We thought it would only go one season. It was a huge surprise to all of us when it got picked up after the first season, and then we all started hoping it would go on forever.
Question by JessthePrincessAustralia: 4. What are you current/future acting plans?
Answer: I'm waiting for my hair to go gray so I can do character parts. In the meantime, I'm about to launch an Internet how-to show. For news about that, please visit http://www.toolgirl.com.
I've also written a screenplay that takes place in the 11th century in an alternate timeline. The story is about a young princess who loses her youth, her parents and her kingdom on her 11th birthday. In order to reclaim everything she's lost she has to discover her metaphysical powers. It's quite fun. I'm also writing a young adult novel, and there are 4 others in the series.
Question by ol' gus: do you play any music instruments
Answer: I play guitar and piano by ear.
Question by ol' gus: whats your favorite style of music?
Answer: Hip hop, classical, musical theatre, Indian Bhangra, African drums, Australian didg, trance music - i.e. eclectic taste!
Question by ol' gus: do you sing to yourself?
Answer: Always, especially when I'm anxious. Or happy. Or bored. In fact, I sing all the time. I'm working on producing an album this summer with a few of my professional friends, with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 1. Do you still talk to some of the cast on a regular basis? If so who?
Answer: Mostly R.H., Jackie and Sarah. I was at Gema's wedding a couple of years ago and she was the most beautiful I've ever seen her.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 2. What was your best behind-the-scenes memory?
Answer: Jasper and I practicing our canoe dump at lunch before having to shoot it in the afternoon. We got in enormous trouble with the director because we got wet. But then we only needed one take when it came to shooting. He's probably still mad. His problem.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 3. Did you and the cast ever hang out anywhere?
Answer: Jackie and I used to spend a lot of time in a bar at Richmond and Sherbourne in Toronto. The Montreal Bistro. Cast members lived in such different locations that it would have been difficult to hang out after work, so the best place to goof around was in the studio lunchroom.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 4. Did you ever keep one of your costume pieces as a souvenir?
Answer: The wardrobe department gave me the linen hanky into which I had sobbed on the last day of shooting! But that's all I have.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 5. What was is like working with Lally Cadeau? I've always wanted to meet her, and know more about her.
Answer: She's a beautiful babe with a heart as big as a car and she's living in Stratford, Ontario where she is a major component in the acting company of the Stratford Festival.
Question by Avonlea is Home: 6. Do you plan to write any more repair books?
Answer: Nope, I think I've said all I need to say about home repair, at least in writing!
Question by Rose_petal: What's your favorite Color?
Answer: Red.
Question by Rose_petal: Whats your favorite food?
Answer: Chocolate.
Question by Rose_petal: Whats your favorite dish involving a potato?
Answer: Fries, the backbone of my diet.
Question by Rose_petal: Whats your favorite animal?
Answer: The noble wolf.
Question by kindredanne: Mag, how did you like your time working with the wonderful cast of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea?
Answer: Honestly, it was one of the best times of my life. The people were wonderful and the scenery was idyllic. It was a great working environment.
Question by kindredanne: Was it hard for you, not to mention all the others who made "the switch", to switch characters from Anne of Green Gables to your new characters in Road to Avonlea?
Answer: The switch wasn't hard at all; most of us had only played our Anne characters for a day or two of shooting, so in fact it was much nicer to have more lines to play with in Avonlea. We sunk our teeth into the new roles and never looked back
Question by StarryEyed: You were so good with the kids on Road to Avonlea, I was wondering are you married and do you have any kids of your own?
Answer: Nope, just two cats!
Question by StarryEyed: If Sullivan Entertainment decided to do another reunion movie, would Olivia Dale come back from England to be in the movie?
Answer: I think Olivia would come back if Sarah was getting married, or if Hetty had fallen ill, or if Alec got the gout, or if Felicity was expecting triplets, or if Cecily joined the circus. Or, really, even if the Ladies' Auxilliary needed a pie baked. Because Olivia, while she has adjusted to Oxford protocols and Jasper's brainy colleagues, misses the comaraderie and rambunctiousness of Island life.
Question by Starry Eyed: Also what was the funnest episode to do?
Answer: The episode with the bats, especially when one of them landed on the camera man's back in the middle of a take and shat all down his shirt.