Coal Valley Kids Chat: William Verchere-Gopaulsingh (Caleb Dunbar)

Featuring Megan Verchere and her son, William Verchere-Gopaulsingh (Caleb Dunbar)
‪#‎WhenCallsTheHeart‬
Episode 5: The Dance

SPOILER CAUTION SPOILER CAUTION IF you have not seen Ep.5

‪#‎Hearties‬ – Welcome to the 5th edition of Coal Valley Kids Chat.
THANK YOU, Megan and William, for sharing with us your insights and experiences (and a few pictures) on the set of “When Calls The Heart.”

A special “Thank you” to the very gracious Megan who shared:

Hi Hearties!
It is our pleasure to be connecting with you all here on this fantastic fan page for “When Calls the Heart.” We had a wonderful experience on the set of WCTH, working with the incredible cast and the hardest working (and nicest) crew we’ve ever worked with. Will loved working with his mom Mary (Laura Bertram) and the new miner Dewitt (Derek Hamilton), Erin and Daniel, and the other kids, particularly Darius (even though on him in both episodes!)

So here is Will’s experience on this great show, in his own words…

Filming “When Calls The Heart” was amazing. I was so excited when I got the word from casting that I was going to play Caleb Dunbar on the show. Over the course of three weeks last fall, I filmed two episodes: “The Dance,” which was on last night in Canada, and “These Games,” which will air next week.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! A warning if you haven’t seen “The Dance” yet, I’m going to share some of the behind the scenes experiences. So don’t read on if you don’t want to know!

When I got to wardrobe, I was given a pair of brown wool pants with suspenders, a button up flannel shirt, and a cap (see the photo!) Which is a little different than what I wear on a daily basis. In “The Dance,” there is one scene where I wear my father’s suit to the Coal Valley dance, to “Take Back” my mom from her new boyfriend Mr. Graves. It was really fun to wear such a big jacket, but it also kept me warm, which was nice too!

In “The Dance,” I had to work with a live snake. This was a really cool experience because I had never done anything like that before. It was also hard to work with the snake because sometimes it wouldn’t do the things we wanted it to do. For example, sometimes it would come out of the bag and go in the wrong direction. Other times, it just wouldn’t come out of the bag at all.

There were a few scenes in my two episodes, where I have to cry once or twice because I really miss my “Pa.” Crying on cue was really hard for me because (as my parents say) I am a really happy kid, so sometimes it is hard for me to bring the emotion and tears out. At one point I have a close up and they really wanted tears but I just couldn’t bring them on that night. So, they had to blow this thing in your eyes which stung and made them water, to look like you were crying. My real mom on the other hand has no problem crying at my scenes! When I was rehearsing with my mom for the scene where I am talking to Elizabeth (Ms. Thatcher) about how great my Pa was, my mom would cry every time she read it. She cried when she saw the episode too.

On set there was a tutor because I missed so much school. Working with a tutor was new for me and it was interesting because I had to tell her what to teach me because she didn’t know what I was learning in school at the time. But once she understood what we were doing, we did a lot of schoolwork and it was great to have her so I didn’t get behind.

One of the best things about the set was the great food there. The Craft Services (the catering on the set) was amazing; there was candy, chocolate, fruit and veggies, drinks, chips, and more. The lunch was fantastic as well, they had lots of options and it tasted delicious.

The cast and crew of When Calls the Heart were awesome to work with. The director for my two episodes was Anne Wheeler and she was great; it was amazing to have the honour of working with her. She is a legend. Though I didn’t see Brian Bird and Michael Landon Jr. I still want to thank them for an amazing time and this wonderful show. And thanks to all the #Hearties out there for watching the show!

(Photography credit: Courtesy of Megan Verchere)