Gary Hilborn auditioned for Paul Schrader's O Canada in early 2023 and was cast opposite Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, and Uma Thurman. The SAG-AFTRA strike delayed production, but the film premiered at Cannes, marking his second time at the festival.
I can report that Jacob Elordi is just as dreamy in person as he is on the screen. You can't walk out on the world for being what it is. You're 18 and you're dismissing the world because it's not as idealistic as you are? It may turn out in a decade or two you'll discover you could have done more to help the poor and oppressed by staying in college and getting your degree. This is a film called O Canada. It was written and directed by Paul Schrader. I auditioned for this film at the beginning of 2023, and then I found out I was cast probably about a month later. At that time, I knew that Richard Gere was attached to it to play the lead character. I didn't know any— anything else. And then the film just kept getting pushed because we had the SAG-AFTRA strike. And then we had a table read, and I go in and I find my name card. Next to me is Jacob Elordi, uh, Richard Gere. Across the way was Uma Thurman and Michael Imperioli. It's a big cast. We all have a couple of scenes. The table read is one of the best memories because it was just so much fun to be there and the surprise of it all. We shot very quickly. I got to work with both Richard and Jacob, and yeah, it was a great experience. I've been in two films that were shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and this is one of them. It had its premiere there, which was a big deal for Mr. Schrader. He wanted to go back. So it's a lovely film, and I'm honored to have been a part of it.
