Between playing for the Toronto Marlies and weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Rich Clune already has a busy schedule. Now mix in making movies.

Nearly three years ago, when Clune’s hockey career brought him back to his hometown of Toronto, he enrolled in acting classes taught by John Riven, the co-founder of a former New York City theatre company with actress and seven-time Emmy award winner Allison Janney.

Under Riven’s mentorship, Clune joined other actors at Milestone Studios in Toronto’s east end to learn, perform — and to escape. There, he met Cameron Murton, a Toronto-based cinematographer. The pair bonded and Clune convinced Murton to work on a film project with him this past summer.

“In my first class (Riven) said, ‘I respect the actor who doesn’t sit around and wait for someone to ask them to be in their film and they want to make their own.’ So I did,” Clune said.

Clune wanted to create a film with a message — something that resonated with the mental health community in Toronto. Open about his own story as a recovering drug and alcohol addict, Clune asked Murton to make a film about a man struggling with his mental health.

Along with $10,000 of their own money, they raised an additional $26,945 through an IndieGoGo campaign to rent studio spaces and hire actors, producers, a marketing team and a crew.

And together, they made Hypostasis.

Last week, a couple hundred people — including Clune’s Marlies teammates Kasperi Kapanen, Kerby Rychel, Garret Sparks and Trevor Moore, as well as Sportsnet broadcaster and friend Christine Simpson — came out to the film’s premiere in Toronto. Before the screening, Clune thanked each guest individually.

Directed by Murton and co-written with Clune, Hypostasis is a 30-minute short film that tells the story of a bipolar man named Matt Robinson (Clune), who begins to mentor a young boy with Asperger’s, also named Mathieu, played by Carl Landry-Berthelot.

It’s a simple story, but beneath the surface, it’s about a tortured man — a character who mirrors Clune in many ways.

“I go to these AA meetings and I hear people brag about their drug use and their drinking and it’s the last thing I want to hear. I want to hear more about what happened at the focal point of their recovery — what was the last straw that broke? How did you get into recovery and what have you gone through since?” Clune said. “We pick this guy up and he’s been through all the dark stuff and he’s, in my eyes, sitting on that hump. And I’ve been on that hump in my own way where he’s trying his best.”

Photo by Tim Leyes

After the screening, Clune spoke for nearly 15 minutes about the research he did for this role, such as learning about bipolar I and II and the severity of the manic episodes that come with each. He also spoke with people who live with the disorder. However, in the film, Matt’s mental health issue isn’t explicitly stated because they wanted the character’s illness to feel universal, Clune said.

The filmmakers chose to write the film as a simple day-in-the life, rather than a grungy, medication-heavy storyline.

“When Matt says, ‘I haven’t been taking my meds’ and the doctor is like ‘good, good, you don’t need them,’ it’s supposed to be a false memory. I don’t know any doctors that would say, don’t take your medications, but that’s the reality of what people suffer with. That captures bipolar in itself. It’s something as simple as that. They don’t see reality as it happens,” Clune told the crowd. “And I’ve been in that situation too. I’m a recovering drug addict and when you’re in your addiction, you don’t see the sky as blue. You see the things you want to see.”

Photo by Samantha Falco

Clune’s character in the film comes across as especially guarded, always hiding his fear from Mathieu.

“A lot of these people they just sit there and they’re f—ing losing their minds but you’d never know it. My heart goes out to people like that,” Clune said.

In his first acting role, Clune said he didn’t worry about how people would perceive his performance — though he wanted feedback. Otherwise, he felt he was in his element as a lead actor.

“I was totally comfortable. The acting technique that I study and my taste in actors that I like, I like actors who try to allow the audience to put their own feeling onto it so they’re not necessarily flapping their gums the whole time. Less is almost more,” he said.

“But I have a lot to learn. I respect the process. At the same time, I’m a professional hockey player so I don’t want to get anyone confused. My coaches will tell you I’m working out longer than anybody, but in my spare time everyone has their thing and this is my thing.”

Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke about Clune’s elite work ethic and was happy his player was putting himself out there through his acting.

“I’m really proud of Rich and what he’s done,” Keefe said.

Clune hopes it’s just the beginning of his acting and filmmaking career. He aspires to make a movie about sexuality, or an athlete coming out of the closet.

Back at the premiere, when a colleague on the film asked to meet Clune for dinner, he said any night but Monday or Tuesday works.

Those nights are booked for AA and acting class.

(Photos courtesy Lux Media Group)