Dad we love: Yannick Bisson

iVillage.ca had a chance to catch up with the fabulous actor Yannick Bisson to talk about playing a fictional Victorian-era detective on T.V. and his real-life role as father to three young girls.

Bisson is best known to Canadian audiences for playing William Murdoch, a persistent and resourceful police detective working in Toronto, Ontario in the 1890s in Murdoch Mysteries. You might also recognize him from his long-running roles as FBI Agent Jack Hudson in the crime drama series Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye and Joey Barrett opposite Rick Springfield in High Tide.

When he’s not on set, Bisson spends as much time as possible with the girls in his life. He and his wife – actress, author and producer Chantal Craig – have  three daughters: Brianna, Dominique and Mikaela. In honour of Father’s Day, we asked Yannick a few questions about his most important job, being a dad.

Q: What’s the thing that surprised you most about being a father?
A: I always figured I was a fairly “hip” guy. I never thought that I too would someday “embarrass” my kids with my clothing choices.

Q: How have you adapted to being the only man in the house?
A: I don’t think I’ll ever quite adapt to being the only man in house with four women … probably best that way.

Q: Are your daughters interested in acting and/or would you encourage them to pursue it?
A: My daughters have all tried acting at one time or another and are all quite good. Our main focus for them has always been education. After that, who knows?

Q: We talk a lot about passion on our site, what’s one thing people would be surprised to know you’re passionate about?
A: Renovating homes really gets my Hibachi smokin’. I love melding new standards with old charm. I trained as a framer/carpenter and love the smell of fresh cut pine in the morning. My biggest passion however is mountain biking. As I write this I am making final preparations for a short trip out to Whistler to ride. This is the thing that gets me in the most hot water with the aforementioned women in my house!

Q: Do you have any Father’s Day traditions in your household?
A: My wife, Chantal, and the girls take me for an awesome brunch and then I get a free pass to go for a long ride with my buddies.

Q: How to do you find work/life balance? Or is it an old wives’ tale?
A: Somehow Chantal and I have been very blessed with being able to always have one of us stay home with our girls at all times. It’s a huge luxury in this day and age, but many years we’ve gone without to be sure our kids always had one of us close by.

In the fourth season of Murdoch Mysteries, Bisson will make his directorial debut. The television series is based on the Detective Murdoch series of novels by Maureen Jennings. Murdoch Mysteries airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. on Citytv.

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