What actor Paul Gross loves about Stratford

Wild Hog Country Market

“I am a carnivore. I love cooking, and I love dead animals (but not in an RFK Jr. way). The meat at Wild Hog is fabulous. I’ll load up my cart with all sorts of unbelievable steaks, chucks, ribs—you name it—and fresh produce before heading out of town to my place in Cobourg with my wife, Martha. They also have a good café—not that I need any more coffee after pounding back-to-back cups at 5 a.m.” 2785 Line 34, Perth East, wildhog.ca

T. J. Dolan Trail

“I have a terrier—or terror­er, as I like to say—who always needs to go out. He’s indefatigable. A few years ago, I started a habit of running my lines while dragging him around the picturesque T. J. Dolan Trail that winds around Lake Victoria and through a graveyard. At the time, I was growing my hair and beard out for King Lear, and I looked insane, yelling at a dog in iambic pentameter. Hikers would stare at me. They still do, even though the lines for Godot are more decipherable. I don’t stop to do much explaining.” Entrance located off John St. N.

What actor Paul Gross loves about Stratford

Fanfare Books

“I’m so glad people have continued supporting independent bookstores even in the age of Amazon—they’re too special to lose. Fanfare Books is almost 60 years old. It has creaky wooden floors, and the atmosphere is wonderful. No one bothers you while you’re browsing, but the staff are quick with a recommendation if you ask for one. It’s the kind of place where I could end up sitting in an armchair and leafing through a whole book. They have lots of plays and books on the craft of acting, but I read more fiction. I recently picked up Virginia Evans’s The Correspondent on a staff member’s suggestion and loved it.” 92 Ontario St., Stratford, fanfarebooks.ca

Canadian Tire

“Canadian Tire is the world’s all-time greatest store. It has some sort of ESP that knows how to make me compulsively buy stuff. I go in for two things and walk out having spent $200. I used to use a little handheld basket, but now I know myself: I need the big cart. My dad had a one-piece snowsuit from there that he called his bunny suit. I inherited it, and I still wear it every winter. I’m sad the fake money is disappearing, but that’s okay. I’m learning to accept change.” 1093 Ontario St., Stratford, canadiantire.ca

Gallery Stratford

It’s been 23 years since Gross was on stage in Stratford. In 2000, the Due South star played the lead in Hamlet.

His career spans 45 years in television, film and on stage.

In an interview with CTV on Tuesday, Gross said being back in Stratford is a special feeling.

"This is one of the great theatre companies in the world, certainly the largest and most important theatre company in North America,” Gross said. “The whole staff, all of the acting company, the directing staff the research staff, there are a lot of people here and they are all at the top of their profession, so to come here you are really in good hands.”

King Lear is known to some as Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. It’s a story of an aging king who divides his power and land between his daughters, and the havoc that ensues as a result.