Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie is already waiting for next summer. But who can blame him?
If Whiteduck-Lavoie were to have his way with the world, he would already be on the way back to the lakes up in Muskoka with his Sterling Point crew—as they frolic away in wooden cabins, soak in balmy evenings while watching great cinema, and boat around aimlessly, wind in their hair. There, they would film Season 2 of the hit teenage drama—one that he tells me he isn’t privy to the details just yet. “I don’t know anything yet. If I did, I’d probably be telling you. Typical oversharer,” he jokes.
By the time Season 2 wraps filming, two summers would have gone by since Megan Park gathered her cast and crew to film the first season. Yet the show feels as relevant as ever. So much is subsumed within eight episodes; familial and birth secrets; misunderstandings that have sisterhood, will-they-won’t-they friendships, and of course, the romance.
We meet Whiteduck-Lavoie’s character, the ever-charming Ellis, in the first episode—just about the same time as our protagonist Annie Jacobson does. There is an instant chemistry, if only from their obvious differences; to each other, the other is an enigma. Annie, your Type A, obsessive high schooler and city girl who seemingly has her whole life planned out, versus Ellis, the reliable, grounded guy who ferries people to and fro in seaplanes and boats for work, and doesn’t care for a phone signal.
As for why Annie’s given up her life in New York to discover the island that makes the show’s name? A mother whom she never really remembered, an estranged grandfather who left an island to her and her twin brother’s name in his will, and a letter from him with more questions than there are answers.
So to Sterling Point she goes. And it’s here that she falls a little bit more for life’s simpler pleasures, including the romancing of Whiteduck-Lavoie’s reserved and soft-hearted Ellis, as the truth about her family unravels in her life. And if you’re asking Whiteduck-Lavoie? “I feel like we resemble each other a lot. I too grew up as a shy kid,” he says.
In the wake of Sterling Point confirmed for Season 2, Vogue Singapore speaks to the Canadian actor about what made the show so compelling, how he hopes Ellis’s arc will be developed, and playing pickleball with his cast mates all summer.
What drew you to the show at the start?
For most of my career, I’ve been acting in French here in Quebec. We’re the only French-speaking province in the country, so yeah, I started off my career speaking in mostly French. I wouldn’t get a lot of these English-speaking auditions. They were pretty rare, but when I got this one, I taped right away and flew to Toronto for a chemistry read with Ella who had already landed the part. It went really well and three days later, Megan called and she was like “Hey, do you want to be Ellis in the show?” And I was like, “Hell yeah!” No I didn’t actually say hell yeah, I was really emotional actually. Not even a week later, I was already in Toronto for the first camera test. All my summer plans changed in a week because I think I was the last one to be cast. They were only missing Ellis.
It turned out to be a great match. What sort of character is Ellis to you now and how do you see his arc developing in Season 2?
For the record, I don’t know anything yet. If I did, I’d probably be telling you. Typical oversharer. Yeah, it was very real to dive into this character because I feel like we resemble each other in a bunch of ways. I too grew up as a shy kid and I see a lot of myself in Ellis. When I was reading his description, it oddly felt like I was reading a description of myself. But yeah, I’m excited to see where Ellis’s arc goes in Season 2. I don’t want life to be easy for Ellis. I’m kind of wishing for that. Obviously, you know Ellis and Annie end up together, but I want it to be rocky. I don’t want it to be all the sunshine and rainbows. I want to be challenged as an actor, and I want crunchier scenes. I feel like Ellis is obviously very timid and more reserved than Rory, but yeah, I feel like there’s a whole other world to discover within Ellis. I’m seeing an endless number of people online saying he’s just a rock, he doesn’t do anything, he’s just like sitting there, and he ends up with Annie. But yeah no, I really want to dive in deeper and explore more of that character, and I’m really excited to read the next episode.
Did you actually have to learn how to ride a seaplane for this?
For the seaplane, as soon as it takes off in the show, I’m not actually in it. I was actually riding it on the water though. But since I grew up around lakes, I was always driving smaller boats and stuff. So I did get my boating license for this, which was very fun. Painfully long though, it was a seven hour exam online. But yeah, good idea, maybe I should get my license for the plane too.
The script is one of the best parts of the show—and Megan gave you guys plenty of freedom to improvise on the go. What did that look like on set?
We obviously had the insane luxury to work with a director that just lets you do whatever you want and try anything you want, which is very, very fun for an actor. I was really nervous the first few weeks on the show, but getting to know Megan and her work ethic and just like the vibe on set though, it was like this big weight taken off my shoulders when she was like: “Oh, you guys can just do whatever you want. Like honestly, like I know you guys learned your lines and stuff but just go off script. I want this show to feel as right now as possible, and Gen-Z.”
She just wanted the show to feel very authentic, watching teenagers talk how they actually talk in real life, you know? But I won’t take credit for any of the improv and stuff because I didn’t improv a lot. I’ll give that credit to Ella and Amélie and Daniel and Bo and probably Nikko. Annie especially, had this natural flair for it. She would just rattle on and go off script. And it was fun to watch and fun to see what made the cut too. Because Ellis is such a yearner and ‘man of few words’, I felt like if I were to improv a line, it would just feel silly. So I kind of trusted the writers, and was just like, you know what? I’ll just deliver it.
It’s probably a difficult choice but if you had to pick, which relationship in the show was the most compelling, or interesting, to you?
Yeah, honestly, all of it. But if I had to pick, maybe Ramona and Oona’s. That break up scene had me sobbing. The reason why it feels so real is because they’re so talented. They were so good and they really got some of the best scenes of the show. I’m totally shipping Ram-oona. I also loved Joe and Ellis’s relationship. Obviously, I loved working with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, it’s insane. Another actor that I learned so much from on the show. And then Rory and Annie’s relationship too—they have some good scenes on the show, with the whole club scene too, and some other really deep and funny ones. Their chemistry in real life just shows on screen too because they’re just so natural with it. Oona and her little sister Maple too, are really cute and funny. Mabel, who plays her, is the sweetest. Obviously, too, Annie and Ramona’s scenes are the absolute best. It’s not even close.
Shooting this together over a summer—it’s clear that it means a lot to all of you. Any off-screen memories from spending so much time together?
We were basically always together from June to October. We’ve said this so many times, but because we were so close to each other in Toronto, and there was this park really nearby (Shoutout Trinity Bellwoods!).The park had these pickleball courts, and we’d always go on picnics there, or our first few times there, we played volleyball with some strangers. But then pickleball definitely became our thing. We would just gather at the pickleball courts and go back to our places with very tired legs. A lot of the best memories came from the last weekend in Muskoka. We actually rented out this cottage by ourselves just to stay there because it was our last weekend there, and it was so fun. We cooked together, we did bonfires, we were on the lake, we rented jet skis. We were living the lives of our characters a bit.
How this all begins, is with Gordon’s passing. Gordon’s described as the trusted adult that everyone looks up to and loves, much unlike some of the adults in the show. Similarly, do you have an adult or role model that you’ve looked up to in your own life?
Yeah, absolutely. It sounds kind of cheesy, but my parents, my mom and dad. But I’ll probably also say my little brothers too. We’re three boys—I’m the eldest in my family, the oldest brother. But they have more influence on me than I realise, even. I moved out of my parents’ house in 2020, so like six years ago. I’ve obviously been spending a lot of time alone, but the older I get, the more I want to go back home and spend more time with them. I feel like I cherish the moments that I get to have with them so much more know, you know? And they’re getting older and time is slipping away. The older I get the more I realise family is so important and that’s really all you have. So I would say my brothers are my role models; they bring so much to me, and I love them very much.
That’s so special, your brothers are really lucky.
I’m like the oldest one, so I should be the role model. I feel like I’ve had that ‘role’ forever, but I feel like they’re getting to an age where they could be making bad decisions and being bad kids but they’re not. They’re very good boys. I admire them.
So, let’s talk about the music on the show. It’s really good. Is there a particular song that you thought was really memorable?
There’s like a bunch of songs that I was hearing for the first time in the show. There’s a couple artists that I know already. Obviously Olivia Dean is so good, but Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Maggots for Brains’. It’s like the first song in the first episode. I feel like that album came out around the same time, so I kind of associate that song to the show a lot.
Whilst we wait for Sterling Point Season 2, what sort of roles are you hoping to try next?
As cheesy as it sounds, as an actor, I think the most beautiful part about the job is learning new skills along the way. It’s what I find very fun about this job; to be challenged in ways and doing things for a role that you wouldn’t think you would have done in normal life. Like getting my boating license. So I would definitely love to explore all genres, I would love to dip my toes in everything.
Last one for the road: where do you hope to see yourself in the next few years?
I don’t know. It’s so hard to predict with this job. Where you’re gonna be, or what you’re gonna be doing. Just like every other actor, I’m always taping. I’m sending in tapes, and it’s either you get the job or you just don’t get an answer, and that’s it. You have to get over it and not take it personally, and not be too hard on yourself. The right projects are going to come at the right time.
Maybe, you know, I won’t be in Montreal anymore. Maybe I’ll be somewhere else. I just hope that I’ll be thriving. I’m 23 now, and it’s a never-ending learning journey, this life that we live. So yeah, I just hope I’m going to be better, stronger, physically, mentally. I hope I’m going to be a better actor. Maybe we get 11 seasons of Sterling Point (laughs). I just hope I’ll be happy and in the right place. I have a very good group of friends, a very good team, and I love my family very much. So I’m really very, very lucky to have them. So yeah, I just hope I’m going to be happy.
