From the U of S drama program to acting in Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead

As Kim Coates made his final preparations before his acting debut at the University Of Saskatchewan, the doors suddenly flung open, and eight of his football buddies loudly burst into the changing room.

But before they could poke fun at their friend for his tights and costume ahead of his performance as Balthasar in Romeo & Juliet, Coates pulled out his prop sword and immediately put them in their place. “I told them, ‘Shut up! The play is about to start!’ They all looked at me and realized, ‘Oh, he’s really into this!’ So, they wished me good luck and told me to break a leg,” Coates tells The Flatlander over the phone. “It was immediately a tutorial for all of them. A few years later, they all ended up being so proud of me.”

After a hugely impressive acting career across theatre, television, and film over nearly 40 years, Coates has shown how serious he is about performing. Primarily known for his recurring roles in Sons of Anarchy, Bad Blood, Prison Break, and CSI, as well as his appearances in The Last Boy Scout, Bad Boys, and Goon, Coates was born and bred in Saskatoon.

But rather than being hooked on films, television, and performing from an early age, he was initially just interested in sports. “I never saw a play. I never saw a stand-up comedian. It was just sports, sports, sports when I was growing up.” Coates had already picked out the career he wanted, too. “I wanted to teach history. I couldn’t wait. That’s what I took in my first year at the University of Saskatchewan.”

Since he had to take an elective class, too, Coates picked acting because he assumed he’d be able to talk his way through it. Instead, he soon fell in love with the craft, especially when it revealed a different side to his personality that he didn’t even know he possessed.

“I was a bit of a leader in those days. I was the captain of the hockey and football teams. But I really didn’t know who I was until I started acting, and I’d learn these soliloquies from William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. They allowed me to speak from the heart. Getting involved in the artistic community, we need more of that because it was a whole different experience.”

Coates became infatuated with performing. He appeared in 25 plays at the university, including Chicago, The Crucible, and West Side Story. Towards the end of his studies, Coates and his fellow students even travelled to the Edinburgh Drama Festival to perform David E. Freeman’s Creeps. “That and just the whole final year changed my whole life. It’s the reason I’m here talking to you.”

After returning home from Scotland, Coates openly proclaimed to his mom, dad, and friends that he would become a professional actor. They already knew that was the case, having watched him strut his stuff on stage in over a dozen plays. But even they would have been shocked at how quickly Coates established himself. Shortly after graduation, he got his Equity card. He signed with an agent before gaining notoriety in Canada for his turn as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and for becoming the youngest-ever actor to portray Macbeth at the Stratford Festival.

Even as Coates’ career reached new heights, and he moved to Los Angeles to star in bigger productions across television and film, he never lost track of his Canadian roots. “I go home a lot. My dad unfortunately passed in 2008 before my success with Sons of Anarchy, but he saw everything else I ever did. My mum is still alive. She’s 94. My friends are still there, so is my little brother. I get there three to four times a year. I love going home.”

Whenever Coates is in Saskatoon in July or August, he can’t help but wonder whether he should move back. “It’s just so beautiful.” But those thoughts quickly change whenever he’s there in February or March. “I’m too old and gnarly now to handle the winter.” He still can’t help but wax lyrical about how beautiful it is, insisting that the whole city is “killing it,” although he does admit that he has issues with the politics there.

“I have a lot of problems with the politics. They are just too far to the right for me. But that’s everywhere in the world now. There’s always going to be a debate politically. It’s the same in America, which is so disheartening to me. It’s hard for me to fathom what’s happening with the guy and the orange hair.”

But despite these differences, Coates can’t help but look fondly back on his time in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. Especially when it comes to how it has shaped his creative voice.

“Being born in Saskatoon in 1958 and surviving those cold winters in a small house, just waiting to get outside with my brothers to play hockey, baseball, golf, you need a sense of humour. Canada has produced so many funny f******. Look at Leslie Nielsen, Michael J. Fox. I really believe having such a great sense of humour helps us to survive those freezing winters.”

Currently, Coates is using the skills he honed in Canada on the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, which is due for release in 2025. Showrunner Eli Jorné specifically picked Coates for the show, and all he’d say about the character he’s portraying is that he’s a “rich a**hole who survived the apocalypse in a bunker and now has his own gang.”

Joining such a popular franchise has Coates in an even more reflective mood. “I had a bit of a weird path to being an actor. My dad worked in a department store. My mum was a cashier at Safeway. I’m the only one who went to secondary education and got my degree. But I’ve had an incredible journey. I love getting to come home and film, whether it’s in Winnipeg, Alberta, or Saskatchewan. Whenever I’m back, it makes me realize how great the journey has been.”

The journey is still far from over, too. “I have nothing left to achieve as an actor. I just want to keep on doing what I love to do. I’m so lucky that I get to go on sets, meet all these amazing people, and create. I still love it. There’s a lot in the pipe, and I’m still smoking it.”