'The Institute': Canadian Fionn Laird steps into Stephen King's eerie world with a role that hides deep scars

Yahoo

2 days ago

Laird brings depth and nuance to his role as Nicky, navigating trauma, power, and secrecy in adaptation of King's novel
Canadian actor Fionn Laird has stepped into the dark and fascinating world of the MGM+ series The Institute, based on the Stephen King novel, with the famed author an executive producer on the show as well. At the beginning of the series we meet Luke (Joe Freeman), a teen with genius intellect who gets snatched from his home and taken to a secret facility with a number of young people who have telekinetic or telepathic abilities.
The kids held in the Front Half of the facility are given "tests," before they progress to the Back Half. Once their work is done, they do go home, but not before their memories of the Institute are completely wiped.
Laird plays Nicky, a long-term resident who, rightfully so, is particularly skeptical of the authorities of the Institute, which includes administrator Ms. Sigsby (Mary Louise-Parker). And as it's hinted at early on in the series, Nicky has some scars and trauma he's holding on to.
For Laird, being part of a show based on King's writing was particularly appealing for the actor.
"When I researched the novel, it's a fairly newer one, ... but I like that it was kind of in line with classic Stephen King, like Carrie, which is my favourite Stephen King novel," he told Yahoo Canada.
"Then specifically with Nick, ... he's just very much the opposite of who I am, in many ways. And so it was kind of fun to explore this completely new variety of character that I've never really had the opportunity to explore before."
Nicky has a particularly impactful first moment in the show. After Luke arrives and he's meeting everyone else in the Front Half of the Institute, Nicky sits down at the table with them, entering with a tough attitude and a lot of bravado.
"It was kind of the first time we were also all acting together, the ensemble of kids, ... so it was kind of my first impression on all of them as well, not just in the show," Laird recalled. "I was like, I'm just going to ... be relaxed, really sit in my body and kind of feel myself as the head honcho in this situation."
"I remember, I took Birva [Pandya], who plays Iris, I took her glass of water the minute I sat down and took a sip of it. And I was like, you know, that sets the bar for what's going on. I was a little bit, I think timid at first going into it, but Jack Bender, who was directing that episode, ... he was like, just really get into it. You're all that, you're not just egotistical, you really are ... the head of the pack ... in this situation."
But with that comes Laird's brilliant work to move through the show as a character that's holding secrets about his past. While he's not talking about his trauma, it's informing everything from how he speaks and thinks, to his physicality.
"It's slowly revealed to the audience, what he's been through and why ... he has this kind of standoffish attitude towards not only the staff, but even Luke when he first gets there," Laird said. "And I think for me, ... he's been like this for so long, he has experienced this for so long, to the point where he's been forced to grow up."
"So this trauma that he's gone through, for him, probably feels like ancient history, but has affected so much of who he is. And so it's always there with him. But it's in the back of his mind. It's kind of like The Wizard of Oz, like it's behind this huge curtain, but he just refuses to acknowledge it. ... So trying to find that from the get go, without being like, oh he's this poor, damaged soul. ... He's kind of witty and he smiles, ... but there's something darker below the surface, for sure."
From theatre star to impressive on-screen talent
Laird is a stage-trained actor, who studied at Toronto Metropolitan University's Creative School and has performed in theatre productions like The Louder We Get, Billy Elliot The Musical, A Christmas Carol, Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Richard III. And bouncing between stage and screen work is something he wants to continue to do.
"I want to go back and forth as much as I can, ... even if there's a new performance medium they invent some day, I just want to do it all," Laird said. "It's nice to know that I can do both, and I'm not really pigeonholed into one specific medium. [I'm] very thankful I've had success in both fields, and I hope to keep it that way."
Looking at the future of his career, Laird hopes that he'll have the opportunity to be in a production of a play by Branden Jacob Jenkins, with Gloria being one of his favourites.
But the actor's theatrical experience is something he was able to bond with costar Mary-Louise Parker on, the Weeds star who has also had an extensive career in Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
"Whenever I got the opportunity, I would talk with her about her career on Broadway and the plays she reads and that she enjoys," Laird shared. "And it was fun to see how much of her work in the theatre has affected ... her work in TV and film."
In terms of transitioning from stage to screen, Laird identified that it's an adjustment he had to make quite quickly, particularly because of the pace of on-screen work.
"Everything in TV, film is so fast paced, I feel like in theatre, because you're just building up to eight shows a week, you kind of have that grace period of like, well let's just make sure it's the best it can be," Laird explained. "Whereas in film [and TV] we're shooting this scene today and then we're done, or there's reshoots later, but typically they just want to do it then, because it's expensive with the equipment and the people."
"I think for me, especially my first day on set, I'm like, I need to be in the TV and film headspace, otherwise this isn't going to work at all and I'm not going to be proud of the work I do. ... It helps when you're working with people who've done TV and film for a long time as well. But you just, you can't afford to have any of those habits from theatre coming to the work in front of a camera."
'When you're in it, you're really in it'
But something unique about The Institute is that it's a story that puts a lot of its cast, particularly its younger actor, through some pretty intense and harsh circumstances at the hands of the staff at the Institute. Laird identified that the directors leading with "kindness" and "openness" on the set allowed the cast to go to those dark places for their characters.
"There was just this environment of support, and whatever you need us to do to make you feel comfortable, we'll make those precautions," he shared. "Since it's such a large ensemble of young people in the cast, if you don't take the precautions to make sure that they're comfortable, or that when you are filming these scenes it's not a safe space, you're doomed to fail."
"So I think they went into this project, in particular, with a mindset of, it's going to be as secure as possible when it comes to the heavy stuff."
And with a show like this where such an immersive but closed off world is built for the story, it makes leaving the set an interesting experience as well.
"When you're in it, you're really in it," Laird said. "It's kind of a step-by-step process. You leave [the set] and then you wipe all the the makeup off, ... and then my hair was all big and puffy, and then it's just dismantling every part of that, of Nicky, and what he's going through."
"So by the time I got home, I was kind of like released from that oppressive space. [But] when you're sitting in there for hours and hours at a time, it really starts to wane on you, and the lighting needs to be a specific way. So then when you walk out and you're back into this natural lighting, it's like oh my goodness, the real world."
Teasing what fans can expect for the rest of The Institute, the actor stressed that reaching Episode 5 means that the show has hit a significant "crux point."
"[It's' a crux point for kind of every character, but specifically Luke," Laird said. "He kind of reaches an impasse of needing to make a decision and needing something to happen, he needs to take action. ... It kind of sets up the events of the entire rest of the series."