Toronto.com

Hugh Dillon Humbled By Flashpoint Connection To Eaton Centre Victim

Jun 26, 2012

Not to trivialize the tragedy, but the horrifying shootings at the Eaton Centre on June 2 bore a striking resemblance to one of the weekly fictional scenarios on the Toronto-shot police series Flashpoint.

It certainly did to the family of the unidentified young boy who was injured, all of them professed fans of the show.

The 13-year-old, his mother and sister were given a VIP tour of the Flashpoint sets on Monday, the last day of filming for the show’s fifth and final season.

“They couldn’t say enough about how much they loved Flashpoint,” says co-star Hugh Dillon, who presented the boy with the sunglasses worn onscreen by his cop character, Ed Lane.

“When that young man was wounded, his sister was telling me she remembered (a) Flashpoint episode,” Dillon says.

“So now, when there’s a real horror show and some real tragic event, these people were able to get a little glimpse of what we do on the show — thanks to the real cops — and use it to save that young man’s life.

“That young girl calmed her brother down, slowed (his) breathing . . . just the things she’d seen on the show.

“Those moments I find humbling, because of what we’ve done. It transcends television.

“I can’t put that into words.”

Emotions were already running high before the family’s visit, as the cast and crew shot their final scenes after four years and five seasons of close-knit collaboration.

“It’s like any goodbye,” offers co-star Enrico Colantoni. “I don’t like them. Because it’s always bubbling up, how you’re really feeling, but you really just can’t sit down and weep.

“But I know I’ll see these people again. The community is small in Toronto and if there is work to be had, these are the people who are going to be there.”

Off the set, all around the Flashpoint production facility, things are being disassembled, torn down and stored away. In a hallway, racks of costumes are being offered to anyone who wants them, at a bargain $5 per filled green garbage bag.

Outside on the street, the studio’s Eastern Ave. neighbours are sifting through boxes of old props and furnishings, being given away free.

One of the show’s primary standing sets will, however, remain so: the city itself, which has never before been showcased on TV in such a compelling way (at least, not as itself).

“We made it so sexy and so cool,” agrees Colantoni. “And to a lot of people who’ve never been to Toronto, it sort of added to the mystique of the stories, like, ‘What is this new-age place . . . this crazy, futuristic world?’”

The show was not only a consistent hit here in Canada — an accomplishment in and of itself — but also in the U.S. on CBS and all around the world.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done for Canada in terms of what that means around the world,” adds Dillon. “People now recognize Canadians, not so much because of the snow and igloos and all that stuff, but now also Flashpoint. And that’s something.”

The show has often touched on real-life situations and none more memorably for Dillon than an episode from the first season, “Haunting the Barn,” in which Ed breaks down while talking to his mentor about post-traumatic stress.

“That was one that meant a lot to me personally,” he says. “It was important, because (series consultant) Jimmy Bremner, who actually trained me, he talks about post-traumatic stress and what it means to the real folks who are really dealing with this stuff.

“All of a sudden I realized it’s not just a show. It’s not just us trying to make a nice little cop show. There are deeper issues that really help people.”

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