For the third installment of “Meet Your Coach” we tackle a current member
of the screen actor’s guild, Pat Van Bakel.
Despite spending much of his youth in rural Listowel, Pat got his first big break in Canadian TV with a cameo appearance on the Beachcombers. Pat put his stoic demeanor to good use as he nailed the role of “log #2”, giving him a chance to share the small screen with Relic. Although this scene was left on the cutting room floor, Pat was hooked.
Pat packed up his suitcases of hair products and headed down South, to the movie hotbed of Campbellville. Roles were flying in quickly, the most notable at the time was opposite Keifer Sutherland in Lost Boys. Unfortunately, days before principle shooting Pat slipped on some Vidal Sassoon hair gel in his trailer and pulled a hammy. Placed on the DL, his role went to unknown Jason Patric, who I guess did ok.
Not to be deterred, Pat buckled down relying on his trademark mullet to get him through the tough times. When talking about his hair he was quite adamant that “it's not just a haircut, it's a lifestyle, all business up front and party in the back”. This resolve landed him stand in roles in “Joe Dirt” and “Wayne’s World”.
It was during the shooting of Wayne’s World, specifically hanging out at the Stan Makita’s Donuts location that the love of hockey was developed. Tired of the acting grind, Pat cut off the “party portion” of the Mullet but kept the “business”, moving on in a different direction.
Although no longer on screen, Pat is patiently waiting for the much rumored Lost Boys remake to be announced so he can finally make good on the prized role that has eluded him for so long.