Wesley MacInnes was about 11-years-old when he first became hooked on Harry Potter, devouring each new volume in the young-adult fantasy series as fast as author J.K. Rowling could write them.

When word spread that the books were going to be made into movies, and that there was a casting call for the actors, MacInnes’s friends joked that he should try out for the auditions.

One thing prevented me from that,” explains MacInnes today. “I wasn’t actually an actor at that time.”

But today, the former Calgarian who’s now based in Vancouver is indeed an actor and he’s proud to say that, in a roundabout way, he gets to be a part of the Harry Potter craze after all.

Tonight at 9 p.m. on TMN (The Movie Network) MacInnes appears in Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story, a bio-pic produced by the Lifetime Network. He will be playing the role of Sean Harris, Rowling’s best friend in high school and the real life inspiration for Harry’s loyal sidekick, Ron Weasley.

“It was kind of a neat, cyclical thing to get to play the guy behind Ron Weasley, years after the fact,” says MacInnes.

“(Rowling) is usually quite vague as to how he inspired Ron,” MacInnes notes. “But we know he was one of the first people to encourage her to be a writer and chase her dream.”

In the part of the movie that focuses on Rowling’s younger years, the role of Harris is a significant one, MacInnes says.

“You’ll see how Sean was able to keep her on track in what were some very dark years,” MacInnes says. “Her mom had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at that time, so she was going through a rough patch.”

Even Weasley’s enchanted Ford Anglia, with the power of flight and invisibility, can be traced back to Harris.

“That was Sean’s car in reality,” MacInnes says. “(Rowling) lived out in the country ... and he would come and bring her that freedom of the car. . . .

“All of a sudden in the book, the Ford Anglia becomes a flying car.”

Given that he only began acting professionally two-and-a-half years ago, inspired by theatre classes taken at the University of British Columbia, MacInnes’s successes have been significant.

He recently scored a recurring role in the fifth season of the CBC family drama Heartland, shot in Alberta, and he played the murderous villain Icicle in the popular TV series Smallville, based on the adventures of Superman.

Acting is not MacInnes’s only artistic pursuit, however. He’s also dedicated to his love of music, a passion that takes him back to his Calgary days when he played in a rock band called Shades of Gray while attending Rundle College Jr/Sr High School.

These days MacInnes has a country oriented solo project on the go, recording as Wes Mack, his first album, Green Flag due for release in the fall.

“I’m dead split between acting and music,” he says. “Often, as this business goes, things will cool down a bit and if you’re not acting you can pick up a guitar and write a song.

“I find that it allows me to be more proactive, pushing a couple of stones up the hill.”

Copyright Calgary Herald 2011