As a student at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, Rainbow Sun Francks never would have thought his drama teacher would one day invite him to come back as a guest speaker. That’s probably because years before starring as Dev Clark on CTV’s The Listener, the multi-talented Torontonian failed his high school drama class.
“I never took drama seriously because I had already been acting,” says Francks, who entered the entertainment industry when he was just a toddler. Still, the actor only has great memories of his high school years.
“Forest Hill was such an amazing school to go to — it was fun, which is a weird thing to say about high school,” says Francks, who transferred to the school in Grade 10. “When I left Northern Secondary to go to Forest Hill, I got reunited with all of my childhood friends. I’m still dear friends with so many of my high school buddies,” he says.
The talented group of friends formed a hip hop group, the Oddities, in their teens, in which Francks performed under a variety of pseudonyms until he eventually settled on “the Whippersnapper.”
By the end of his high school years, acting was his focus, and Francks landed his first leading role at 17 years old.
“I think my dad at some point just said I can either have a nine-to-five job or I can do this,” said Francks, who comes from a family of performers that includes his famous jazz musician father, Don Francks.
“Growing up on set, watching my father, my sister and my mother all working in the industry, it was the natural course for me.”
Following stints as a VJ for MuchMusic and then moving to Vancouver to join the cast of television series Stargate: Atlantis, Francks is now back in Toronto and lives in the same neighbourhood where he grew up, Forest Hill.
“Since I got back here, I’ve been witnessing the growth of the city, and it’s incredible. It’s like it’s on steroids but in a good way,” jokes the small screen star.
When Francks isn’t busy filming the fourth season of The Listener, he is gearing up to produce his first solo music project.
Although he’s unsure about exactly what kind of songs he will be writing, he knows that they’ll be about his hometown.
“Everything I do is Toronto themed. I can’t help but show that in my [music] and everything else.”
