Original-Cin Q&A: Private Eyes Stars Jason Priestley, Cindy Sampson on Heading West for Series Reboot

By John Kirk

Welcome to Victoria, B.C. and the spin-off of the five-season hit series Private Eyes which, five years after the original aired, now finds married investigators Angie Everett and Matt Shade returning to their old habits, this time on Canada’s beautiful west coast, with a baby and a new cast of friends and allies.

Original-Cin sat down with leads Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson, who play Shade and Everett, respectively, to talk about what’s different, what’s the same, and was there any change to what’s fun in Private Eyes West Coast which airs on Global TV every Thursday and streams on StackTV.

“Yeah, we didn’t get everyone back together, did we?” says Sampson, noting that the executive producers and director Shawn Piller have returned to the series but not everyone. “I just thought of that, and we left behind so many great people.”

“It’s a new chapter,” Priestley adds.

This new iteration of the show has new faces and fresh blood. We see the inclusion of David Kaye as Everett’s half-brother Will and Olivia Cheng as Detective Violet Xiao along with computer expert Raine (Khamisa Wilsher) and a dynamic host of others.

And with these new faces, were there any challenges to the feel of the show?

“No. It was easy. It was like a seamless transition, I think,” Sampson says. “Jason and I got there and within one minute, it was like old times. We were back five years prior. The new cast — David is super-funny; Olivia and Khamisa are lovely and funny. We all went out to dinner in Vancouver, and it was like we had known each other forever.”

The premiere episode, “Changing Tides” introduces us to Shade and Everett’s new digs, the cast, and their baby boy, Declan. What about the change of working with children? After spending 10 hours with them on the set of Private Eyes and personally witnessing their never-ending energy, I had to ask about that.

“Definitely the best actors on set by far,” Sampson laughs.

“The children we had this season were magical. They were wonderful to work with. Always on time…” Priestley adds.

Question answered. No change in productivity and energy even with the unpredictability of kids in the show. What about working in Victoria as opposed to Toronto, where the original series was set?

“We were filming on Vancouver Island and it’s such a beautiful place,” Priestley says. “No matter which way you pointed the camera, you were going to be looking at something pretty. I’ve shot in Victoria a couple of time before in my career, but it was really a great summer of exploration of the island and all the things it has to offer. It was fun.”

“It’s true,” Sampson adds. “I’ve never shot in Victoria and didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave Toronto. I have a young child in school. I had to uproot the family and move to B.C.”

A-ha! Dissension? Hardship? Sampson elaborates.

“They told me it was going to be like a summer camp. And you know what? They were right. It was exactly like a magical summer camp, the best summer I remember ever having. Victoria is beautiful. The ocean, the mountains. Epic restaurant scene. The walkability of it all. Such a stunning part of the world and I’m so excited to go back there.”

But what about Toronto?

“Well, the filmmaking process is the filmmaking process wherever you go, right?” Priestley offers. “Victoria is a smaller city than Toronto. So, the ease of operation is better.”

And chemistry? Five years is a long time is not to be working with each other.

“When it comes to Cindy and me and the way we work together? It was like there had been no time passed,” Priestley adds.

And then there was director Shawn Piller. A personal favourite of mine. Son of the late Michael Piller, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producer and showrunner, Piller and I had a lot to talk about Star Trek. What was it like working with him in the director’s chair again?

“Well, you know what type of guy Shawn is. You’ve spent time with him. He’s awesome,” Priestley says. “We’ve all been doing this for so long that we all have a great shorthand together. We’re not afraid to work long hours and have a great time while we’re doing it.”

“I was just doing the math, and I think I’ve been working with Shawn for 10 years, but Jason has been working with him since Haven.”

“Cindy and I have a good time. We have the same work ethic, and we want to work hard. At the end of the day, you have to have a good time.”

“And we like to give Shawn a hard time!” Sampson exclaims.

“We once filmed an 18-episode season. That was nine hard months working together breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes even Saturdays. We spent a lot of time together. But we also love what we do, we show up prepared so we can joke around. We know our lines and we know our work,” Sampson adds. “We have international responsibilities. Our show is sold worldwide.”

And they have fans to think about. Favourite moments?

Priestley jumps at this one.

“For me? I directed the third and fourth episodes. The fourth was the free-diving episode which was rife with challenges but super-fun.”

Sampson has her own fave.

“The highlight for me was the surfing one (Episode 105 – “Wavelengths”). Jason wears an epic wig and so do I! Actually, I do an awesome fight scene in a wig! The jacuzzi scene? I love this episode!”

There’s one thing for sure: still the love of this show and its characters. What did the two hope the fans would take from this new iteration?

“Closure,” Sampson states. “We ended Season 5 of Private Eyes so suddenly. I feel like there was a lot of people who were disappointed with the way the show ended. Now we can revisit and start fresh. I think Angie and Matt have the same dynamic and the writers have captured the same snappy banter that we had in the previous show. We have new life in our show.”

“Agreed,” says Priestley. “Our show is a real blue-sky, life-procedural. We want people to enjoy it and have fun as they go along with Matt and Angie on their crazy adventures. If we can get them to come along with us for the ride, then we’ve done our jobs.”

Private Eyes West Coast airs on Global TV every Thursday and streams on StackTV.