Remembering that one time Michael Bublé was on 'The X-Files'
Michael Bublé became a household name with the success of his self-titled debut album in 2003. Since then, the Canadian crooner has been just about everywhere from Madison Square Garden to the Vatican where he once sang for the Pope.
But did you know he was once on the hit sci-fi show The X-Files before he got famous?
This Halloween, we’d like to take you back to 1996.
By this time, the spooky Chris Carter-created series was a mainstream television phenomenon, drawing around 15.4 million viewers per episode.
51-year-old Bublé, who was born in Burnaby, B.C., wasn’t quite the chart-topping crooner or sparkling-water pitchman we know him as today. Back in the ’90s, he was a struggling actor with dreams of making it big in Hollywood.
Being an actor on the West Coast had its perks. Vancouver had earned its nickname as “Hollywood North,” with film and TV productions flocking to the city, making it the third largest film hub in North America.
Vancouver was also the perfect place for a young, aspiring actor like Bublé to get his foot in the door since the popular sci-fi show starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson happened to film in and around the city.
When he was 19 years old, Bublé was cast as an extra — credited on IMDb as “Submarine Sailor” — on the season three episode “Piper Maru” which aired in February 1996. If you’re curious, you can go stream it now on Disney+ or PlutoTV.
He didn’t have any lines, but he did get to look suitably worried as a World War II submarine crew member trapped aboard a vessel where a mysterious illness causes the crew’s eyes to fill with black oil.
It’s truly a blink and you miss it moment on the show, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.
Actually, a bunch of major Canadian stars got their big break on The X-Files, including Ryan Reynolds and Brent Butt.
But while some of us canucks love to geek out over this cameo from such a young star-in-the-making, it appears Bublé himself didn’t have such a good time on set.
In a 2015 interview with TVLive, he recalled his acting debut came with a side of hot dog drama.
Hunger got the best of him while on set, and when he grabbed a hot dog from the craft services table, all hell broke loose. A crew member warned that he’d never work in Hollywood again and would be blacklisted, and he says he got fired on the spot.
But Bublé would find work again in La La Land, albeit for a little while.
His next small role was “Drome Groupie” in the made-for-TV movie Death Game that aired later that year. Then he got the part of “Finale Singer” in Duets, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. And in 2001 he was Van Martin — finally, a character with an actual name — in the critically panned movie Totally Blonde.
Since then, Bublé has popped up on other TV shows and movies, but only as himself. Guess he’s happy playing to his strengths.
After 11 years off the air (if you count the first reboot) The X-Files is back yet again, this time under the direction of Ryan Coogler, with Hamish Patel and Danielle Deadwyler as the leads.
The show will once again be filming in Vancouver, so who’s to say our favourite Canadian crooner won’t make another appearance?
If not, “submarine sailor” will always have a special place in our hearts.
Happy Halloween, readers!