The Second World War movie Breakthrough filmed just outside of Prince George in March has enlisted a well-known Canadian actor to take on a starring role.
William B. Davis, best known as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Fires TV series, will join the production playing the role of a soldier reliving the past. The 86-year-old native of Toronto is currently starring in the Amazon Prime series Upload.
The plot of Breakthrough centres around two soldiers on opposite sides who meet during the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944, the final German offensive on the Western Front.
Dug into the Ardennes Forest, the American 106th Infantry Division faces a devastating counter-attack from the German Army and in the aftermath, a wounded Jewish American soldier and a young German boy soldier form an unlikely friendship while trapped together in a foxhole.
Breakthrough explores the tense connection that develops suddenly between the two soldiers, and how that bond transcends the brutality of war.
“We are thrilled to announce that William B. Davis will be starring in the film. I’m excited to be working with an actor that is so beloved by the Vancouver film community,” said Breakthrough director Kate Green, who recently wrapped up production of the movie in Vancouver.
Breakthrough was written by Michael John Fuller, a renowned Second World War historian and technical advisor who worked on the movie Dunkirk. Fuller also stars as the older soldier.
Former Prince George resident Norm Coyne of Barker Street Cinema shares the production credit with Green, through her company Kate Green Productions. Coyne and Davis previously worked together on a film adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story, The Doctor’s Case, written by horror novelist Stephen King.
“Both Kate and I have grandfathers who served in World War 2,” said Coyne. “With Remembrance Day coming up next week, I can’t think of a better way to honour those who served than with a meaningful story like Breakthrough.”
Green’s credits include the hit science-fiction series Narcoleap, which won two Canadian Screen Award nominations, a Writers' Guild of Canada nomination and six Leo Award nominations, winning the best web series award. Narcoleap also won best SciFi at the Miami Web Fest and best series at Blood in the Snow.
Prince George actors Riley Banzer and Aiden Smith are also featured in the movie.
Also cast are Vancouver actors Kelly McCabe, Gillian Hurtig, William Carson and Aaron Haegert, who plays the young German soldier.
Honorary Colonel Tom Newell of Rocky Mountain Rangers served as executive producer on the film and utilized the talents of several Rangers army reservists from Bravo Company in Prince George to help with production on and off screen.
Breakthrough is scheduled for release in 2025.
