‘Letterkenny’ actor is meeting special guest
Dylan Playfair, the actor who played the hockey player “Reilly” in the show “Letterkenny,” joined the Booster Club for a special virtual meeting on Aug. 13, 2024.
Playfair, 32, played junior hockey in his native British Columbia before going into acting and is the son of Jim Playfair, a former Calgary Flames head coach who also played for the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks. Dylan’s uncle, Larry Playfair, played for the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings.
With so much hockey history in his family, Dylan told the boosters, it was easy to choose a role model when he was hired to play the role of condescending Coach T in the Disney+ series “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.” He chose to model the character after his dad after seeing a YouTube video of him flipping out and breaking sticks during a game he coached for the Abbotsford Heat in 2010. (Click here to see it!)
Dylan took questions from the club and talked a lot about “Letterkenny” and how it started. He said the fast, fun pace of the show’s dialogue was because when he and Andrew Herr (playing Reilly’s hockey bud Jonesey) filmed on set for the first time, they were nervous and decided it would be best to act in the scene as fast as they could. They nailed the scene and the show’s dialogue from then on was patterned after that, he said.
When Dylan first joined the cast of “Letterkenny,” which started as a short-form web series on YouTube by Jared Keeso (“Wayne”), his pay was some beer and a $50 bill.
“Dylan was super fun and engaging to talk to,” said Sarah Sirignano, the Booster Club’s fundraising director. “He brought lots of fun behind-the-scenes stories from the NHL to Disney! He didn’t want to leave!”
“Getting to interview Dylan Playfair was just another once in a lifetime experience that we get with the Booster Club,” said Kat Bunko, the club’s Trips and Hospitality director. “It goes to show that the hockey community is really special! His hockey journey to acting is really unique and fun and makes you appreciate our sport even more.”
For his efforts, the Booster Club has made Dylan an honorary member and will be sending him a membership card along with a care package of Wolf Pack items.
Some random topics:
One of his favorite all-time players is PJ Stock, who spent parts of three seasons playing for the Wolf Pack and still has loyal fans in Hartford.
The most memorable thing he has seen at a hockey game was a man trying to streak across the ice. Dylan criticized the lack of planning the getaway and the choice of trying to run sans clothing on ice. We joked about the possibility of him making a Public Service Announcement for the Wolf Pack warning people about the dangers of running on the ice in a bare state.
His peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches have the crust and raspberry is his jelly choice.
He ponders the presence of a cornucopia on the Fruit of the Loom clothing tags.
Dylan also praised the role of booster clubs in the hockey world, including how important they were for his junior hockey team, the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League.
Starting out in juniors, he was a big kid and pictured himself being a bruiser when he got older. But his father encouraged him to choose a career path that he loved, not one that wasn’t for him, like hockey. Seems like Dylan made a wise choice.
