Mark Rendall is no stranger to appearing on TV and in the movies – at just 25, he’s been a regular on series like “Childstar” and “ReGenesis” as a teenager. Since then he’s gone on to appear in dozens of shows and films, including “30 Days of Night” and “Hannibal.”
Recently joining the cast of “Transporter: The Series,” Rendall let fans in on his new gig, cruising the festival circuit (or not), and why he loved his pet sugar sliders.
CraveOnline: Tell us about joining “Transporter: The Series” for Season 2 and about your role.
Mark Rendall: My character is Jules Faroux, and he’s a Canadian mechanic and techie… he helps Frank hack into systems and find people who shouldn’t be found and wreak havoc on the system. He comes to meet Frank working for another Transporter so initially he’s working for a rival of Frank’s. One thing leads to another and he ends up partnering with Frank.
What was it like joining the cast?
It was really smooth coming onto the show. Everyone was really nice and accommodating.
Are you working on anything else right now?
I just finished “The Transporter” about two months ago, and since then I’ve been prepping to do an Indie film “White Night” in Toronto.
Did you do any of the festival circuit this year?
No. My girlfriend and I went out to the West Coast immediately after filming for a vacation. I sort of skipped out on the festival circuit.
But you’ve done the fests before… sort of been there, done that?
I had a couple films at TIFF before when I was a child star, like at 15 years old… and I have been there since. It’s fun and exciting, and there are a lot of events. But I’m not a big schmoozer – I’m just not big on publicizing myself like that.
You’ve done everything from TV and voicework to movies… is there something you have yet to do in the business that you’d like to try?
When I was a kid I always wanted to do sound. I wanted to be a boom operator. But now, as an actor, one of the biggest things that can get to you is not having as much creative control as you’d like, so directing is the next inevitable step. I would really like to write my own role.
We had to ask (because we came across your Wiki page) – it said, “In his spare time, Mark enjoys juggling, playing guitar, photography, baseball and spending time with his pet sugar gliders – tiny flying Australian marsupials.” Um, explain?
Ah, yes, Sheila, Layla and Trixie. I had three sugar sliders when I was a kid but we don’t have them anymore. My parents wouldn’t let us get a dog or a cat so we were like, “We’re getting these marsupials.” I don’t know how my parents decided that that was a better idea than a dog or a cat. They smell like honey and they’re so sweet. They’re the weirdest coolest creatures. We had to part ways, and we gave them to another loving family. We had them for about six years.
Do you have any pets now?
I currently have a dog. A huge St. Bernard.
And what about the juggling and guitar?
I don’t juggle as much, but I do play a lot of guitar. My two passions are acting and music. I play a lot of weird instruments.
Such as?
Such as the Mbira, which is a Zimbabwe piano, Indian violin, a duduk, which is an Armenian clarinet. I’m just learning the drums now. Anything I can learn I try to learn.
