Deaner '89: Interview with Paul Spence

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Paul Spence is a Canadian actor, writer and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Dean Murdoch in the FUBAR movies and the TV series, FUBAR Age of Computer. If you’re Canadian, you have likely seen or heard of Deaner, “The Governor of Giviner”, at some point.

Deaner ‘89 is Spence’s new film about a young Deaner and his rocky path to glory. The film was written by Spence and ties in with his own life experiences, such as learning about his Métis roots and discovering Metal as a teen. The VOD date is Dec. 6, 2024.

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RMP: This is your first time writing a feature film alone. How did this change the process? Did you have someone to bounce ideas off of?

SPENCE: This was the fourth feature script that I’d written on my own although it was the first to be produced, so I’d gotten the hang of writing on my own. The key is to get a lot of different people who know you well to read it and offer their feedback. That way you can see what numerous people think needs help and try to work on those changes without moving too far from your initial idea.

RMP: Did the dialogue/storyline go through many changes during filming or did you mostly stick to the script?

SPENCE: The film followed the script for the most part, but Mary Walsh and Will Sasso added a few lines of improvisation.

RMP: How did you eventually learn about your Métis roots? What made you decide to add this to Deaner’s story.

SPENCE: Around 2010 my cousin in Saskatchewan started looking into our genealogy and found out that not only was my dad’s mom indigenous (we’d always thought so), but that both my dad’s parents were Métis, originating from the Red River Valley. This led to research that unearthed even more fascinating details - my dad’s great grandfather Andrew Spence was one of the Métis leaders who wrote a letter to Louis Riel to bring him back to Canada to help with their land rights issues.

My dad finding out about his family being hidden from him was emotionally charged, as his mother had always told him “You’re not an Indian”. By including some of his story in the script, I felt we could investigate the impact of what happens when you find out something so surprising about your past, but frame it in a fun and exciting story that remained true to the Deaner character.

RMP: The set of Deaner ‘89 is spot on. How do you create an 80’s set and atmosphere in 2023-24?

SPENCE: Manitoba was a great place to set the film, as many of the locations were already very close to what we wanted, and even shopping for 80s set decoration was great because stores are still full of that stuff. And importantly, our production company Eagle Vision has an incredible warehouse filled with 80s costumes and decor, so it was all of that together that really brought it home.

RMP: Will Sasso plays Deaner’s old-school Canadian dad, Glen. What made Will the man for the role?

SPENCE: I’d always thought Will was hilarious on MADtv and had started texting with him on Instagram around 2022. I quickly found him to be a genuinely good and nice person, but also totally over the top and hilarious. He’s since become a good friend and one of the funniest people I know. He was perfect for the role.

RMP: You’ve played Deaner in the FUBAR movies, FUBAR Age of Computer and now Deaner ‘89. Can it be hard to turn Deaner off when the cameras stop rolling?

SPENCE: I love playing Dean, it’s very easy for me to dive into the role, but it has always remained very much a character that I play. Setting the film in the 80s and playing a teenager made it all the easier to get into the character because everything around me was so authentically 80s and small town. So it was easy to just fit in.

RMP: Which Canadian city has the best music scene?

SPENCE: Tough call. Vancouver and Toronto have had, over the years, the most consistent scenes for metal, probably due to how many people live there, it’s just a numbers game. But Striker is one of the best metal bands in the country, and they’re from Edmonton. The Sheepdogs are one of the best rock bands in the past 30 years and they’re from Saskatoon. So it’s really a question of timing. Every Canadian city seems to have the potential to crank out a ripping band now and again.

RMP: Dokken or Van Halen?

SPENCE: Gotta go with Van Halen as they were the first band that really blew my mind. I listened to every album from the David Lee Roth era VH hundreds of times in my teens and early 20s. In fact, I barely listened to any other rock or metal. No KISS, no Metallica, no Iron Maiden, no Judas Priest, or any of the cheesier bands like Motley Crue and Poison… There was something so real about Van Halen. Especially those first four albums where it’s just three genius musicians and Diamond Dave absolutely ripping it up.

RMP: If you could sum up the message you hope the film conveyed, what would it be?

SPENCE: I end the film with the line, “You’re never too old to start giviner”, and I believe that. Whether you want to start a new job, get in shape, quit drinking, be a better parent, or make any kind of change, there is no time like the present. My dad had these self-help tapes by Zig Ziglar, a sort of early Tony Robbins who said, “You are what you are by what you do today, and you can change what you are, by what you do today”. It’s sort of cheesy, but it’s totally true. You aren’t defined by what you did in the past, but by what you do today.