Alex Lifeson appears in new comedy-drama Crawford, premiering on the CBC tonight

Alex Lifeson has a small role in Trailer Park Boys creator Mike Clattenburg's new CBC comedy-drama Crawford, which premieres on the CBC in Canada tonight, although it's already been available at cbc.ca and on the CBC TV app since early February. Actress Jill Hennessy, who plays the lead role of Cynthia in the show, spoke to the Toronto Star a few months ago about the series and working with Alex Lifeson:

... "He's phenomenal," says Hennessy, a RUSH fan. (Hennessy herself has released two albums: her last, I Do, in 2015.) Given the musical connections, the Star says it's surprising that Clattenburg hasn't got Lifeson and Hennessy busking in a Toronto subway in a giant ironic wink to the audience. "That would so work!" says Hennessy. "My character didn't finish high school, she was in a band. And one of her future fans was her boss (Lifeson) at the cereal company. So yes, I think somebody should talk to Mike about that scene. Could you maybe put in a word for me?"

Hennessy's character Cynthia is the matriarch of a dysfunctional family who is an "award-winning cereal executive" for a product called Sugar Maple Pops, Cynthia's husband Owen is a former police chief played by American actor John Carroll Lynch who is unable to use his voice and communicates with his smartphone, and Don is a struggling musician played by Kyle Mac who has been dropped by his label and is a "raccoon whisperer". Lifeson plays the part of Taylor, who is Hennessy's boss at the cereal company. Lifeson spoke about the role in his Globe and Mail interview earlier this year:

... It's fun to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. If you have a little bit of confidence and you just get out of your own way, these things can happen. The same thing happened when I got asked to do a small role in a TV show, Crawford, a new comedy on CBC from Mike Clattenburg, who created Trailer Park Boys. I thought I couldn't do it - that it was something for real actors. But I ended up doing a few episodes. It definitely was not in my comfort zone. But if you throw a challenge at yourself and dive into it, it can be really gratifying.

You can learn more about the show via the CBC website and catch the latest trailer for the show in this tweet. Lifeson appears briefly at the beginning of the trailer.