Alex Poch Goodwin, who is acting as the Hercules Poirot in RMTC’s upcoming production of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express”–) had his Bar-Mitzvah at Sharre Zedek synagogue in Montreal where he grew up. As he told the Winnipeg Jewish Review, “Three of my grandparents came from Odessa when it was occupied by the Russians, and my grandmother came from Romania. I grew up in a conservative Jewish household, the child of first generation Canadians. We were four kids, three boys and a girl. We lived in the West End, NDG, the English side of the city. I love Montreal desperately. The food and the culture and the intense beauty of the city thrills me. Every time I get a chance to go back there, I love it.”
Alex studied acting at Dawson College in the theatre program, before moving to Toronto in his early 20s. “For many years, I believed that theatre was more important than film, but as I got older, I began to study film more, taking classes and working on independent projects. I began to respect the craft and the difference between working on film and working on stage. I got my first break working with Colme Feore on an episode of kung fu. Since that time I’ve done a lot of film and television and had the opportunity to work with the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Russell Crowe, Glenn Close, Judy Davis, Tom Wilkinson, Greg Kinnear, and many others.I love working in film because I feel like I’m always learning and it tests my acting instincts. When I have a long theatre gig, I miss doing film and when I am doing a lot of film, I miss doing theatre.”
Rehearsals begin on for Murder on the Orient Express. As he says, “I’ve been very busy, happily, and so I have needed to prepare in advance by learning lines several months in advance. The hardest thing so far has been the six months that I’ve spent growing my moustache for the part… My partner admires the moustache, but would prefer that I took the small animal off my face.”
Alex is also a playwright and just completed three staged readings of his play The Right Road to Pontypool was put on recently for the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre with the financial assistance the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
“It really was an incredible event. I am currently the writer and residence at WJT and have written a play called Eden Bridge about the Jewish colonies in the prairies that started in the 1880s. I am hopeful that the play will reach the stage soon!”
Alex has recently written a play called Intrepid about William Stephenson of Winnipeg, who was a spy master who worked with Churchill to defeat the Germans in World War II.” It’s an extraordinary story and many accredit Stephenson with being the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond character,” he says.
Alex also does acting coaching. His website is www.Alexpochgoldin.com
In Murder on the Orient Express, detective Hercule Poirot investigates the muder of American tycoon Samuel Ratchett aboard a snowbound luxury train , discovering that Ratchett was actually Cassetti, who kidnapped and killed little Daisy Armstong. Proirie uncovers that all of the passengers of the luxury train from very diverse backgrounds are in one way or another connected to the Armstrong tragedy.
