Virden actor recalls role as ‘body double’

Dean Munchinsky recalls being a “body double” for Hollywood star Dennis Quaid when the star filmed a movie in Manitoba.

Because they look alike, Munchinsky pretended to be Quaid when the cameras weren’t looking closely. In one scene of the 2017 film “A Dog’s Purpose,” it was up to Munchinsky to shoot a retake, he told the Sun, because Quaid had already flown back to California.

The Virden local wasn’t promised any face time on screen — editors planned to cut him out using special effects. The purpose of Munchinsky in the film was to create the appearance that Quaid was in a shot when it truly was not the case.

It could sound like a bummer for an actor, to be edited out and play the back of someone’s head, or their feet, but Munchinsky recalled that experience with a smile in February. He used it as an example to say that acting is about many things other than being a star, and that’s why he continues to pursue it as an adult.

“(Stardom) is not in the cards for a lot of us,” said the Virden theatre actor and director in an interview with the Sun. “Being an actor doesn’t mean that you’re famous. Being an actor doesn’t mean you are making a bunch of money doing it.”

Instead, it’s about performance art, entering different roles, telling stories, building community and entertaining an audience, Munchinsky said. It’s that experience which brought him back after trying the art in his 30s, and keeps him sending auditions off “into the blue” now in his 50s.

One of the most recent roles that Munchinsky landed was to be a deputy commissioner in the 2024 film “Mind Wave.” He flew out to Vancouver for 12 days to jump into the middle of the movie and play a “suit wearing cop.” He added it to his list of accomplishments, such as playing the main character in a local theatre rendition of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Always searching for new roles to play, Munchinsky said he comes back to practise the art and relish the experience. Acting is one of the only places where people from so many different walks of life come together, he said. And according to the actor, that experience came first from acting with a local production from the team Mecca Productions.

”I loved the acting part of it so much,” he told the Sun. He added that he later took classes in Winnipeg and has pursued more opportunities every chance he gets.

Virden theatre producer Michelle Chyzyk said that story is common. In February, Chyzyk told the Sun many people go through that experience and find themselves diving in after a good production.

“People stumble into it in different ways,” said Chyzyk. “But I’d say it’s very rare that somebody has an experience with a wonderful musical theater production and they don’t repeat that experience.”

The pull to acting is that it rewards a mix of vulnerability, teamwork and risk, said Chyzyk. A powerful effect happens upon people who give it a try and she sees that catch on with newbies every year.

The art is unlike many others, she said because it requires a certain leap of faith taken together with others.

“There’s something special about opening up your heart, which you have to do to perform these characters, and the teamwork that’s involved, and the appreciation of others,” said Chyzyk, “When you take a risk and put yourself into the spotlight, it’s really self-affirming. Once you’ve had it, you’re kind of hooked.”

Chyzyk works with Munchinsky to organize local plays in Virden. She sees hobby actors come and go, and helps to organize them all to fill roles and participate in shows every year. In describing the gravity towards acting, she said there’s an effect hardly felt anywhere else.

It’s that element of community and experience that hooked Munchinsky at the outset, he told the Sun. He has completed lessons in Winnipeg and practises in Brandon, involves himself in multiple projects a year and plans to grow more.

His goal is to be involved in three to four movie projects a year, alongside his community involvement at Virden Theatre Productions. He said he auditions for roles whenever he gets the chance.

“I did one last night,” he said. “It takes eight hours to put together.”

He mentioned the work includes memorizing lines within a day or two, organizing to have someone read the script with you in real time, setting up cameras and recording a good take.

Before heading off to a practice in Brandon in February, he brought out his cell phone and showed a video audition he’d already submitted, one showing him acting as a cop interviewing a suspect in an interrogation room.

The audition was like the others. He sent it off “into the blue” and looks for his next opportunity.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com