By Claire Bickley, Aug. 12, 2004.

Before Shaun Benson landed a lead role in The Associates, he was The Canadian in that other beer ad, the one who silently suffers while his American office-mate goads him about his nationality, then snaps, and jerseys the jerk.

THE SUN: The I Am Joe Canadian ad was already on the air and becoming a cultural icon. What were you expecting from your ad?

SHAUN: It was shot in one 14-hour day as a demo and they weren’t even sure it was going to air.

THE SUN: When did you realize it was getting noticed?

SHAUN: I knew people liked it the first time a dude was like, ‘Hey man, will you jersey me?’ … Once at a wedding, a dude asked me to pull his wife’s dress over his head. I didn’t do it. I’m not making that up.

THE SUN: Have you ever run up against that sort of ugly Americanism in real life?

SHAUN: My cousins are from Boston … I guess I was about seven and we were at a wedding and we were joking about igloos and kayaks and I think they believed this. They were a bit older, in their teens then. And they did believe it.

THE SUN: Before you did the ad, did you know Landy Cannon, the actor who plays The American?

SHAUN: No. But he’s a really good guy. The funny thing was people were like, ‘That guy’s a dick, eh? I can tell from the commercial.’ That’s just good acting.

Source: canoe.com