Having a gun in your hand can give you the shakes, even if you know it's a fake.
Just ask Missy Peregrym, Canadian star of the Global/ABC series Rookie Blue, which premieres Thursday.
"It's funny, because I know my gun is fake, I know it's not going to really fire anything," Peregrym said. "But aiming it at somebody's chest, it's scary. You understand the power of that situation."
Peregrym was referring specifically to a scene in the first episode of Rookie Blue, in which her character, Andy McNally, endures a gun-to-gun showdown with an equally nervous young male suspect.
"Please don't make me shoot you!" Andy pleads. "This is my first day. I'm begging you!"
As far as first days go, Andy's is a rather eventful one -- as usually is the case with TV cops, right? But unlike some of Peregrym's past roles, there's no kind-hearted demon or sci-fi sorcery to save the day.
"That's totally true," Peregrym said with a huge laugh.
"I've been in serious situations in other shows, but not this vulnerable and honest. My character doesn't want to take a life. She doesn't know exactly what to do, and you can see it all over her face."
The 28-year-old Peregrym, who was born in Montreal and grew up in Surrey, B.C., caught the attention of TV audiences in recent years with roles on Heroes and the underrated Reaper. She also has a lot of science fiction on her resume, and she wondered aloud why that might be.
"I never meant to focus on sci-fi," Peregrym said. "Maybe it's because a lot of it films in Vancouver and I was just there. I have no idea, I'm making stuff up at this point."
But Missy, you're a strong, athletic-looking young lady, which would lend itself to sci-fi, wouldn't it?
"Probably ... you're totally right," said Peregrym, pausing to consider the theory. "I mean, my first role was Dark Angel. Then there was Andromeda and I was the tough chick. You're right, that's what it is.
"Anyway, it's nice now to be doing a show where the sci-fi is left out. I had fun doing that, but this is more true to me."
Rookie Blue is a Canadian series, shot in Toronto, that follows the lives of five new cops, played by Peregrym, Gregory Smith, Charlotte Sullivan, Travis Milne and Enuka Okuma. It's a relationship-show/cop-show combo, leaning more toward the former than the latter.
"This show is a step up for me personally," Peregrym said. "I'm more of a lead on this one, so I get to go into my character a lot further.
"I was excited to be back in Canada, because I love Canada. And to work on a project where we're showcasing talent from Canada, whether it's actors or directors, but we get to air in the States, too, is huge for us.
"I'm not interested in the high school roles any more. I want something that's more real and raw. It's more where I am in my life right now."
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