Peter Wingfield is in “Bliss”
The Bliss series is an engrossing chronicle
of eight encounters that celebrate the psychological intrigue of flirtation,
romance and sexual pleasure. Written and directed by women, this sensual series
focuses on the female perspective, as each entanglement gives insight into the
subtle gender politics informing each erotic encounter.
Peter Wingfield appears in episode 6, of the
third seaon, “Tying up Gerold,” along with Shary Guthrie and Katya Gardner. The
episode is directed by Mina Shum and written by Katherine Schlemmer.
The third season Press Kit describes the
episode: Mireille comes home one day to find her husband at the mercy of a
dominatrix. Can the marriage be salvaged with an erotic solution?
Mireille, a sophisticated interior designer
in her early thirties, returns home unexpectedly early from a business trip to
Indonesia to find her husband’s clothes scattered around their house.
Something’s wrong. Her heart sinks. In the master bedroom, Mireille finds
Gerald squirming with desire under the hand of a leather-clad dominatrix,
Vanessa. This isn’t the Gerald she married! Initially Mireille is crushed, but
ends up seeking out Vanessa’s help to save her marriage. Mireille finds herself
quite willing to enlarge the sexual menu at home, if necessary, and explore
exciting new terrain in order to give Gerald what he needs. Surprisingly,
Vanessa’s tools and toys hold their own intrigue for Mireille. Gerald, however,
won’t see Mireille as anything but his traditional, loving wife. That’s when
Mireille and Vanessa join forces to change his mind. They come up with a way of
preserving the matrimonial harmony at home while incorporating the unique power
dynamics of dominatrix-assisted sex into Mireille’s married life. But while
Mireille is ready for an extreme solution, is Gerald?
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
“We went to a real dominatrix,” recalls executive
producer and co-creator Janic Lundman. “We went to her loft in Old Montreal,
with an unmarked door. Inside, she had an operating table and tools and a
silver wall. It was all very clinical, austere and minimalist. This kind of
research is invaluable for authenticity, which is important to us. We wanted
everything to ring true so it wouldn’t distract from the main story—the
couple’s quest to create a new, sexual power dynamic.”
Using a stunt coordinator and the real
dominatrix as a consultant, Lundman and director Mina Shum and the rest of the
production team for Bliss—Tying Up Gerald
went to great lengths to make this episode titillating, but not caricatured.
“We didn’t want it to be too campy,” explains
Lundman. “And not too over-the-top. They’re real people going through real
events. The wife, Mireille, realizes that the crisis has brought out something
unexpected in her, and we need that revelation to be believable.”
Director Mina Shum was fascinated by the
character Gerald’s double life: “He has a private face and a public face, like
everyone else. It’s the disconnection between the private and public face that
keeps us off balance. I’m always interested in this imbalance…. After three
years of marriage, it was time for Gerald to incorporate his darker side into
his relationship, or the marriage would crumble.”
Actor Peter Wingfield, who plays Gerald,
agrees, adding: “The guy wants to get caught!” laughs Wingfield, who just
wrapped production with Shum on another production, The Shields’ Stories—Various Miracles. “Why else have the
dominatrix come to their home? He knows his wife could walk in at any moment.”
Wingfield also learned a thing or two about
the world of sexual domination while researching his role: “It’s not about
pain, as you’d imagine,” explains Wingfield. “It’s about the delicacy of touch
and the anticipation. There’s no pain involved and no blood. The physical
senses become heightened.”
Katya Gardner, who plays the dominatrix
Vanessa, was impressed with the scope of the production: “It felt like a
mini-feature, with the read-throughs, the rehearsals, meeting the dominatrix,
learning her tricks and shopping for an outfit,” recalls Gardner, who had no
previous experience playing a dominatrix. “I felt so sexy and powerful. They
died my hair black and gave us great manicures.”
Shary Guthrie, who plays Mireille, was also
tickled by the racy aspect to the script. ‘I’m not one to even wear high-heels,
but I absolutely loved the leather outfit,” she enthuses. “But the core of the
episode is about the crisis in the relationship. How will the couple
incorporate his fetish into their lives? The idea of one partner giving up
complete power is mysterious and unknown territory. [Director] Mina [Shum] was
brilliant at revealing that tension in a credible way.”
Wingfield’s challenge was to make Gerald a
married man with a kinky streak that would not pre-empt his love for his wife.
“Toward the end of the shoot, he was prone
and blindfolded, face down, on the table,” says Guthrie. “He was such a good
sport—always joking and keeping it real, but focusing on the seriousness of the
predicament. Any married couple can relate to their dilemma and the power
politics.”
Shum is sympathetic, too, to the couple’s predicament:
“He wasn’t having an affair,” insists Shum. “It wasn’t an affair. It was like a massage. Mireille could feel
threatened, but instead she reclaims the situation. That’s strength.”
U.K-born and trained Peter Wingfield, who plays Gerald, isn’t new to the production
team at Bliss. Wingfield delighted
the producers with his role as George in Bliss
I. His other outstanding credits include his role as Lyman in X-Men 2 for 20th Century Fox,
Baby Geniuses 2 for Sony Pictures, Edge of Madness, Highlander: Endgame,
and Uncovered: The Flemish Board. His
television film work includes lead roles in Touching
Evil, The Wedding Dress, the Gemini-nominated Miracle of the Cards, Return to Halloweentown, the Man Who Used to Be
Me, Alum Lewis: Death & Beauty, A Very Open Prison, Murder in Mind, Trust
Me, Degas and Picasso Fall Out, and Antonia
and Jane. His television series roles include leads, regular roles or guest
leads in John Doe, The Dead Zone, Just
Cause, The Chris Isaak Show, Night Visions, Queen of Swords, Stargate, Strange
World, cold Feet, Cold Squad, Highlander, Outerlimits, First Wave, and the
BBC TV productions Martin Chuzzlewit,
Over Here, The Men’s Room, plus Noah’s
Ark, Soldier, soldier, Medics and Murder
Most Horrid. Wingfield is busy this season filming the first three episodes
of Touching Evil for USA Network, as
he prepares for his role as a Russian scientist in the feature film Catwoman film starring Halle Berry.
“Tying Up Gerald” will air on The Movie
Network (http://www.tmn.ca/Mexcess/)
in Canada on February 28th at 11 pm and on Oxygen (http://www.oxygen.com/bliss/) in the US
on February 29th at 12 am (so Saturday into Sunday). Please recheck
your local listings to be certain.
Our Stargate thanks and credits the
producers GalaFilm (http://www.galafilm.com)
and Back Alley Film Productions (http://www.backalleyfilms.ca),
for the information, interviews and photos.
Return
to Peter Wingfield Interviews
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