He’s played everything from a vicious cardinal, Pierre Trudeau and Glenn Gould, but veteran Canadian actor Colm Feore hasn’t ever played a ghost on a Canadian TV show, at least not until his role on “Saving Hope’s” ninth episode, “Bea, Again.”

“He’s a wonderful character,” Feore says about Mack, Charlie’s dead mentor. “He has no future – he’s dead and all – but the way it’s structured, there are so many discoveries (for him).”

Mack’s body has brought into the morgue while his spirit self joins Charlie in the Hope-Z hall wandering, where he arrogantly assumes a know-it-all role.

“But he has this journey of discovery  . . . and realizes, regretfully, that some of the problems have been his – the arrogance was his, bullying his way through and being too quick to judge – mistakes were made,” Feore notes.

Though some fictionalized ghosts are granted omnipotent powers, Feore loves the lack of agency and awareness afforded to Mack and Charlie. “What’s wonderful about this alternate universe, this middle place that they find themselves in is they don’t have all the answers there either. We’re exploring in the fog a little bit together and all we can do is try and cobble together a sensible story out of the bits of information we have.”

Though Michael Shanks has said it can be lonely playing a ghost on the show, Feore says he hasn’t felt lonely once during the shoot. “I’m always stuck to the hip with (Michael), so it’s never been lonely for me,” he jokes.

He does note, however, that existing in this in between space has changed and shaped his acting. “We’re there and not there. It’s wonderful. It affects everything from the way you act and the way you think about things and the way you dress,” he says.

“The way we’ve decided to go with the wardrobe is that he looks like he belongs, he’s in scrubs, but there’s something missing – he’s not wearing a watch. He doesn’t look right somehow. If you glance once, it’s all cool, but if you look twice, you can tell he’s on a slightly different plane than everyone else.

“It does change some of the acting. You can allow it to get slightly odder.”

And Shanks agrees: “Actors are very used to occupying a space, a set, seeing what tools are around them. The problem is with this in between realm, you can’t use anything. When you lean on something, or grab hold of something, or sit on something, you have to ask yourself if you should be doing this and what the rules are.

“It’s all talking, there’s nothing to hide behind. It’s daunting! You do have to re-think every time you step into a space what you can and can’t do and what you can interact with, or more importantly what you can’t interact with,” he says.

Beyond existing in this limbo in Hope-Z, the pair have also both wandered the halls of the renowned Stratford Festival, though as Shakespearean actors, not as ghosts.

“We were at Stratford at slightly different times, but because we were both at Stratford, we share a vocabulary, which is enormously helpful because (these kinds of relationships require an) instant intimacy. (It’s difficult) to meet your wife, your lover, your best friend, five minutes before you shoot.”  

And, he notes, that’s just what happened between him and Shanks. “We shot our first scene together followed by our last scene five minutes later, with nothing in between.”

But, he says because of their shared background, they were able to get to the meat of things without any hesitation. “The way we came to this place is similar. We don’t have to waste any time. We can get right to the point, which is enormously helpful.

“It’s difficult to make TV. You’ve got to make it quickly and how do you do that and still maintain  the depth and intelligence required – you hire people who really know what they’re doing and have some kind of history and experience.”