Actor Aidan Moreno is set to reprise his role as Rick Adderly, the first LGBTQ+ character on Canada’s longest-running hit drama series Heartland. The series returns this October 17th on CBC and CBC Gem. We had the pleasure to catch up with Aidan to talk about his acting career and release of his new album and more!
Aidan, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. How and when did you decide to fully embrace acting as a career?
Thanks for having me! I stumbled upon acting weirdly by accident, an off-chance moment spending the day as an extra on the CW’s Reign around 5 years ago. It was a long day of waiting around but just being on a set, the costumes, the cameras, it all just felt really exciting and strangely like home. So deciding to then try to forge it into a career happened at that moment. I knew it was what I wanted to do and over the 2 years that followed, really focused on learning, going to acting classes, preparing myself, and luckily, touch wood, things fell into place afterward.
Who has been most influential on your career and why?
I think everyone who has been a part of my life has been influential. Whether it was good or bad, it shaped me and my experiences. It those that help you as an actor understand what drives people, our emotions, and ultimately how to channel that into a character. If I had to say one thing, it would be time, the older I get the more I have to draw upon as an actor and that just makes booking roles, approaching them, and doing them justice that much easier.
Your resume includes roles in The Strain (FX), Murdoch Mysteries(CBC/Netflix), Jann (CTV), Let Him Go (Focus Features) starring opposite Kevin Costner. What have been your most memorable experiences on set?
My first role I booked was The Strain, a huge vampire-esque show on FX. It felt like such a milestone when I booked that role. Looking back, all I did was point at a bus full of vampires. But every moment in my career means something to me, because it’s part of the journey, and we can’t get to the destination without taking the ride. My most memorable time working on projects is usually spending time and getting to know the cast I’m working with. From dinner with Mr. Murdoch Yannick Bisson to creating friendships with my co-stars like Michelle Morgan, Lou on Heartland. It’s the connections beyond the actual job which make it for me.
You’ve reprised your role as Rick Adderly, the first LGBTQ+ character on Canada’s longest-running hit drama series Heartland. Please tell us more about your role and what we can expect for the show.
Finally some representation! The show is centered around family and the values of what makes one. So, to have an LGBTQ+ character is kind of a big deal. My first season it was alluded to, this new season we learn some more about Rick, his life, his family and still served with his typical sass and sarcasm. I hope he gets to come back for another season to really give the character justice and to show LGBTQ+ are and always have been a part of our families, and to show that I think is really important.
Please share your experience working on Heartland and to what extent it influenced your approached work.
Heartland is such an honor to be a part of. 15 years the show has been running which is unheard of. I thought going in, that the cast would be very tight nit like a family, and me being a new guy might be left aside. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Everyone and I mean everyone has and is so kind and embracing of Rick and I. I love getting to spend time with all the cast and crew and do what I love at the same time. Plus spending half the year in beautiful Alberta is a real bonus, the scenery, the Rockies, it’s just a picture postcard every way you turn.
You’ve released your new album My Kind of Trouble. Please tell us more about this project and how it came about?
Music was always my number one love growing up, I just never really truly thought it was a realistic option for me. Raised by a single mum who had to work every second and take care of me and my brother, I always just thought a more stable profession was in my future. But when acting began to work out, it then made me reconsider the possibilities of fulfilling my actual dreams, being creative, and following my passions.
Every song on the album I wrote after breaking up from my partner of over 9 years, the beginning of the pandemic and it was a lot of downtime. So I poured it all into this, every word tells a story, it was my therapy, and why I called it My Kind Of Trouble. It’s a fusion of my love for pop and a flavor of country from my time on the show and being in Alberta. From wanting closure, falling in love, to struggling with mental health, and feeling alone, the whole album is a journey of the ups and downs of relationships.
Can you share with us your creative process and your choice of material?
I know it would be awesome to say a great artistic process, but I’m one for feeling things out. I like to know lots of different ways to approach things, who doesn’t love options, but I’m always looking and learning different ways to approach my work. I learn my lines and scene work different every time, I think I wrote every song on the album in a different sequence, let’s just say I approach work the ‘Aidan’ way, whatever that means haha!
What has been your most satisfying achievement as an artist, and why?
Realizing not to try to be like anyone else, wonder what casting or a director may want me to be, and to actually just let me and who I am shine through and that will translate into the characters. When I realized that, it was the lightbulb moment.
What are you currently working on?
Heartland Season 15 premieres Oct 17th in Canada, Season 14 is on Netflix pretty much everywhere else give or take, I’m back for a special episode of CTV and Hulus comedy Jann for Season 3 which is exciting and of course my album has dropped, so check it out!
Where can our readers find out more about you?
My Instagram is @aidancmoreno and my album My Kind Of Trouble by AIDAN MORENO is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music now.
Images provided by Project Four
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