TORONTO - "That's where my parents were married," says Eric McCormack, pointing out the window of his midtown luxury Toronto hotel suite to the 130-year-old stone Church of the Redeemer across the street.
It is a poignant reminder, if one were needed, of why the multifaceted actor has returned to his city of birth from his current home in Los Angeles.
McCormack was here Tuesday to lend his support to the Canadian Cancer Society's upcoming Relay for Life - and for him the June fundraising event and what it could mean for defeating the disease in all its myriad forms is intensely personal.
"My mom beat breast cancer 25 years ago, but we lost her two years ago to bladder cancer, which is extremely ugly," related McCormack. "And my father has been battling prostate cancer off and on for years."
"We were very close," he said of his mother, describing her as a wonderful and funny woman. "And she was always a fighter, but not in a public way. She was a very private woman and she beat cancer . . . and in the 25 years that followed she had a massive heart attack, she had a quadruple bypass, and she beat that."
"And when she was diagnosed with bladder cancer, unfortunately it was all too late and there was only so much that they could do."
"And we all miss her."
While McCormack's familiarity with cancer is all too close to home, he knows it is far from unique.
"You realize that everybody has a story ... a mother, a father, a sister, a brother. It's way too common, and I think we've become - I wouldn't say apathetic - but I think it almost feels like it's bigger than all of us and it's something that's always going to be here."
"And there's no reason to think that."
Really? Why is he so optimistic?
"Do you know anybody with polio?" he asked, leaning forward on the suite's blue-and-white striped sofa. "It's because we beat it. Why shouldn't my son at my age be talking about cancer like we talk about polio?"
That's why, as he prepared to mark his 45th birthday on Friday - when he will "Weep. Quietly in a corner," he said mock-seriously - McCormack wants to contribute his time to making sure his five-year-old son Finnigan doesn't one day have to deal with the "scourge of our generation, of the last few generations."
It is to that end, in part, that he's helping to promote the Relay for Life, a month-long series of 12-hour team relays in 300 communities across Canada (as well as hundreds of others around the world) that hopes to raise $50 million in this country alone.
McCormack, who would like to take part in a Los Angeles relay if he isn't tied up in filming his next movie, believes mobilizing the power of many will eventually help science wrestle cancer into submission for good.
As to what the film will be, he doesn't yet know. "I'm waiting to find out and if I don't get the role I'll be free to participate," either in L.A. or in Vancouver, where he and wife Janet have a condo and are building a house.
The couple, with Finnigan - yes, "named exactly for who you think," Mr. Dressup's canine puppet companion - split their time between the two west coast cities.
But his acting career could take him anywhere, and involve film, TV or stage, any of which would be fine with him.
"I love it all," said McCormack, sporting jeans and a crisp khaki-brown shirt that sets off his California tan.
