One of Canada’s best-known TV personalities is on his way to becoming a recognizable face in the United States morning show market. Ben Mulroney, a leading man in Canadian entertainment news, has joined ABC’s Good Morning America. The morning talk show, which airs across the U.S., features a mixture of hard news and special-interest stories. As a fill-in co-host for the weekend edition, Mulroney joins the ranks of seasoned broadcasters such as Diane Sawyer, Charles Gibson, Canada’s Kevin Newman and George Stephanopoulos — to anchor the show.
Mulroney, who is currently based in Toronto, says the move across the border is a way to challenge himself at a time when he is looking for new opportunities.
“It’s fun and fresh and interesting,” Mulroney says. “For me it’s about finding fresh things to do — there’s this whole world there — an untapped resource.”
But Mulroney’s foray into U.S. television didn’t come easy. His first meeting that led to his current new gig was five years ago, with now ABC president Ben Sherwood.
Having an agent in the U.S. also helped, as well as pursuing his ABC contacts through “many, many” meetings, says Mulroney.
No doubt his appearances as co-host of Live! with Kelly, joining Kelly Ripa last spring on her syndicated morning talk show, upped his credibility in engaging American audiences.
“For Canadians who want Americans to notice them, you have to go and meet with them. What happens here doesn’t mean anything,” Mulroney says. “You have to explain yourself more than once so they can see you in their world.”
Mulroney’s new gig will require him to serve as a fill-in when an anchor is sick or away.
“It’s phenomenal for me. I don’t have to uproot my family with no guarantee of success,” he says.
In the meantime, Mulroney will continue to co-anchor etalk, CTV’s popular entertainment show.
Ben is the son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, and it was while Ben Mulroney was being interviewed at a Progressive Conservative Party of Canada policy convention in Quebec City — which his dad had asked him to attend as his representative — that CTV executives saw his onscreen presence and asked him to join the on-air team of a new digital cable channel.
Though Mulroney had just graduated from law school at Laval University and was planning to practise law, he gave hosting a try, as the Quebec City correspondent for talktv’s (now MTV) The Chatroom in 2000.
“Being able to look in the camera and say ‘Good morning America,’ that was pretty cool.”
“You have to be open to the possibility that what you plan for yourself may not be the best course for your life,” Mulroney says.
For him, hosting was a natural fit since he’d grown up in a “hard news home” with his dad regularly making front-page news.
“I’m a curious person,” he says. “I like to engage in conversation.”
Mulroney’s journey to entertainment news did not come via a traditional route. Born in Montreal, Mulroney was, of course, raised in Ottawa and lived at 24 Sussex Drive from 1984 to 1993 during his father’s two terms as prime minister. A passionate student of history, Mulroney attended Duke University in North Carolina where he earned his bachelor of arts degree as a history major before moving on to Laval to study law.
During his early years in show business, Mulroney says he learned as much as he could about television production.
“My dad told me, ‘Keep your eyes and ears open and always take advice. You’re about to get a PhD in television,’ ” he says about taking his first job.
“I’ve never taken any of it for granted.”
Before moving to etalk, Mulroney joined CTV’s national morning show Canada AM for a stint as an entertainment reporter. He also served as host of the reality TV show Canadian Idol for its six seasons.
But it’s been primarily on etalk where Mulroney has made a name for himself as a clean-cut, candid, quick-on-his-feet anchor and celebrity interviewer. He’s a veteran at the major red carpet awards shows, including the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Out of the many film and TV stars he’s interviewed over the years, Mulroney says his favourite conversations have been with Lady Gaga, Joan Rivers and George Clooney.
“They’re honest people,” he says. “They’ll give you the bad as well as the good.”
In the fickle field of entertainment, Mulroney says he tries to put his best foot forward at all times, something he learned from watching his father pursue a career in the public eye.
“He taught me to show people your best side at all times because it could be the first and the last time you meet them.
“It must come from an honest part of yourself — you don’t want to be disingenuous,” he adds.
Mulroney says he’s been lucky to have a number of mentors along the way when it came to finding his on-air persona, and he lists former CTV president and CEO Ivan Fecan and etalk producer Morley Nirenberg among them.
“They taught me to think and dream big in TV — to tell a small story in a big way,” he says.
Mulroney admits he is not keen to move to New York — where Good Morning America is filmed — any time soon (or at least until his GMA position is more permanent, he says).
Toronto has been home to Mulroney for the past 11 years, and he says he could see himself staying here indefinitely, so long as challenges keep coming his way.
“CTV has been good at giving me challenges,” he says. “A show like mine allows me to do different things every day, which is ideal — I’m not a nine-to-five kind of guy.”
The broadcaster lives with his wife, Jessica, a fashion designer and stylist, and their two preschool-age sons, who are fraternal twins, in the Yonge and St. Clair area.
“I’ve got one of the best kids’ parks in the city nearby, wonderful neighbours on the street, great services around, like summer day camp — it’s a great place to raise a family,” Mulroney says.
But Mulroney doesn’t rule anything out at this point. During his short time working on Good Morning America, he says he’s felt completely welcomed and treated as an equal rather than the newbie.
“Being able to look in the camera and say ‘Good Morning America,’ that was pretty cool.”
