Lesser-Known Canadian Actors
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Stephen McHattie was born on 3 February 1947 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is an actor and director, known for Pontypool (2008), The Fountain (2006) and Watchmen (2009). He is married to Lisa Houle. They have three children. He was previously married to Meg Foster.- Actor
- Producer
Elias Koteas was born on March 11, 1961, in Montreal, Canada. Both his parents are of Greek descent. Elias attended Vanier College in Montreal before leaving to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1981, of which he is a graduate. He also attended the Actors Studio in New York City, where he studied acting under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. His film debut was in One Magic Christmas (1985). He has also appeared on stage in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "Death of a Salesman," "Bent" and "The Cherry Orchard." In 1989 he was nominated for a Genie (Canada's Academy Award) for best actor in Malarek (1988), a true story in which he plays a troubled street-kid-turned reporter for a Canadian newspaper. A somewhat of a breakthrough role for Elias happened in 1990, when he got the role of vigilante Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and its sequels. He is one of Canada's most popular actors and frequently appears in films by Canadian directors Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg. It was Cronenberg's controversial movie Crash (1996) that had Cannes all abuzz in 1996. Elias played Vaughan, a self-appointed "mad scientist" with an unusual fetish--sexual delight in car crashes! The past two years have been busy ones for Koteas, adding six more roles to his resume. As Capt. James Staros, the commanding officer of Charlie Company in The Thin Red Line (1998), he brought sensitivity and compassion to his portrayal of a man who cared about the safety of his men--even at the risk of his own career. In 2000 he appeared in Lost Souls (2000), a thriller starring Winona Ryder, and starred on Broadway with Josh Brolin in the Sam Shepard play "True West."- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Bruce Greenwood was born on 12 August 1956 in Noranda, Québec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek (2009), Thirteen Days (2000) and I, Robot (2004). He has been married to Susan Devlin since 1985. They have one child.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Chris grew up splitting his time between Greece and Canada. At age 9, he started doing TV commercials and professional theater. He left home at 18 to perform in a series of US national tours after which, he landed on Broadway. Chris now splits his time between New York and Los Angeles acting in TV and Film. Also an established voice-over artist, he can be heard on numerous national campaigns and networks.- Actor
- Executive
- Soundtrack
JR Bourne was born on 8 April 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and executive, known for Mayans M.C. (2018), Miracle Desert (2019) and Teen Wolf (2011).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Callum Keith Rennie was born in Sunderland, England, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. While attending college in Edmonton Callum was asked to join a radio show which featured actor/comedian Bruce McCulloch (who eventually went on to KIDS IN THE HALL fame). This experience inspired Callum to dig deeper in to the world of acting and led him to audition for the renowned Shaw Festival. Callum was chosen to join the company where he performed a multitude of roles during his time there... a precursor to his impressive range and style as an actor.
Soon rumours of his talents moved through the Toronto film community but Callum choose to head west to Vancouver instead. It didn't take long for him to catch the attention of the film & television industry, which was exploding. After landing various parts in movies and TV series Callum's first leading film role was opposite Sandra Oh in the indie DOUBLE HAPPINESS. His performance activated the first of many nominations and awards to follow. Between his critically acclaimed performance as 'Billy Talent' in the iconic punk rock film HARD CORE LOGO that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and his desirable charms working through the apocalyptic LAST NIGHT (once again opposite Sandra Oh), for which Callum won his first Genie for Best Performance by an Actor, Callum was now well on his way to an impressive career.
A cascade of opportunities began to flow Callum's way, with a wide range of extraordinary film makers inviting this dynamic talent to join their projects such as David Cronenberg: eXistenZ (1999), Christopher Nolan : Memento (2000), John Woo: Paycheck, Chris Carter: X-Files and David Goyer: Blade Trinity and The Invisible.
Callum's creative senses continued to be attracted by nature to many starring roles in independent film projects like FLOWER & GARNET, FALLING ANGELS, SNOW CAKE, NORMAL and GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS. Also the 3D feature film adaptation of THE YOUNG AND PRODIGIOUS T.S. SPIVET opposite Helena Bottom-Carter for Oscar nominated director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, INTO THE FOREST opposite Ellen Page & Evan Rachel Wood, and BORN TO BE BLUE opposite Ethan Hawke.
Throughout his career Callum has starred in many impressive television projects as well...starting early as the Mountie sidekick on CBS's DUE SOUTH, then the hit SyFy series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in which he played infamous Cylon 'Leobon', and his turn as legendary rocker 'Lew Ashby' in Showtime's CALIFORNICATION alongside David Duchovny. Callum was the fractured star of SHATTERED for eOne Entertainment, and carried his investigative skills over to the NBC series THE FIRM based on the bestselling John Grisham novel. Callum covertly joined the cast of the Amazon hit series THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE in their season two and experimented on the second season of MARVEL'S JESSICA JONES for Netflix.
Callum next reprises his role in the much anticipated second season of Doug Liman's YouTube Red series IMPULSE.- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
He is the son of former Yukon premier Anthony David John Penikett (Tony). A graduate of the Victoria Motion picture school, Tahmoh also studied at the Lyric School of Acting in Vancouver. Tahmoh and his family (his father, and his twin sisters Sarah and Stephanie) make their home in Vancouver, British Columbia.- Actor
- Producer
- Visual Effects
Nathan Fillion was born on 27 March 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is the son of Cookie (Early) and Bob Fillion, both retired English teachers, and has an older brother, Jeff. His father is of French-Canadian descent, and his mother is of English, German, Finnish, and Norwegian ancestry. In Canada, he attended Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Concordia University College of Alberta and University of Alberta. Before moving to New York City in 1994, he participated in improv theatre, including Theatresports with Rapid Fire Theatre and improvised soap opera Die-Nasty. He also appeared in a TV Movie Ordeal in the Arctic (1993) starring Richard Chamberlain and in Strange and Rich (1994).
Fillion's first regular role was on a daytime soap opera, One Life to Live (1968), as Joey Buchanan, for which role he was nominated in 1996 for a Daytime Emmy Award. He left the series after three years in 1997. During the late 1990's, he appeared in small roles in the films Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Blast from the Past (1999). Fillion also guest starred on Das Bootie (1997), Mama's Got a Brand New Bag (1998) and Starcrossed (1999). His biggest break by then happened in 1998, when he was cast as Johnny Donnelly on the 2nd season of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998) opposite Traylor Howard, Ryan Reynolds, Richard Ruccolo and Suzanne Cryer. He starred on the show for 60 episodes.
After "Two Guys" ended in 2001, Fillion gained critical acclaim and a large cult of fans when he starred as Captain Malcolm Reynolds on the Joss Whedon's Firefly (2002). Unfortunately the show was prematurely canceled in late 2002. He also guest starred on several episodes of two short lived TV shows, Pasadena (2001), as Rev. Glenn Collins and Miss Match (2003), as Adam Logan. In 2003, Whedon gave Fillion another chance to display his range when he cast Fillion as the twisted preacher Caleb, a villain, in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Before and after "Firefly", Fillion appeared in many movies, Dracula 2000 (2000), Alligator Point (2003), Water's Edge (2003), If Dad Only Knew (2004) and Hollywood Division (2004).
Whedon vowed to resurrect "Firefly" in some way, and Fillion played Captain Reynolds again in the feature-film Serenity (2005). Fillion followed this film with more big screen leading roles, in the horror-comedy Slither (2006), in White Noise 2: The Light (2007), in the indie hit Waitress (2007) opposite Keri Russell and in Trucker (2008). He also continued to be a force in television, starring in the short-lived Fox-TV series Drive (2007) and appearing on a recurring role as Dr. Adam Mayfair on the 4th season of ABC's Desperate Housewives (2004), opposite Dana Delany. He also appeared on I Do (2006) and was a voice actor on many video games (e.g. Halo 3 (2007)).
In 2008, he took his first singing part (and cemented his cult appeal) as Captain Hammer in Whedon's musical Internet smash Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), with Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day and Simon Helberg. In 2009, he was cast as the title character Richard Castle in ABC's hit television series, Castle (2009). The show has aired more than 160 episodes and Nathan Fillion has won four People's Choice Awards for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor, as of 2016. In 2018, Fillion took the starring role in The Rookie (2018) as John Nolan, a contractor who starts over as a rookie police officer in the LAPD after a life-altering event. Besides starring on "Castle", he has appeared in many movies, in Super (2010) as The Holy Avenger, in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing (2012) as Dogberry, the incompetent chief of security, in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) as Hermes and in Thrilling Adventure Hour Live (2015).
His credits as a voice-actor are numerous: on Bright Lights, Dean City (2010) as Brown Widow, in Wonder Woman (2009) as Steve Trevor, in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), Justice League: Doom (2012), Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013) and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015) as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, in Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special (2012) as Green Lantern/Mr. Freeze, on American Dad! (2005), in Pixar's Monsters University (2013) as Johnny, in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) as Monstrous Inmate and on Gravity Falls (2012) as Preston Northwest. He also voices the lead, Shojun in the animated movie, Yamasong: March of the Hollows (2017). He has also continued voicing characters in video games, such as in Destiny (2014) and in Halo 5: Guardians (2015).
He has also guest starred on The Daly Superheroes (2012) as himself, on Community (2009) as Bob Waite, on The Comic Book Store Regeneration (2015) as himself, on Twins (2015) as Mountie McMinniman, on Con Man (2015) as Jack Moore and on Space (2015) as Wernher Von Braun. He also narrated the documentary, Highway of Tears (2015).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Golden Globe-nominated actor / director Tom Cavanagh can be seen acting in and directing Warner Bros.' The Flash (2014) on the CW. He additionally just completed post-production on his short film Tom and Grant (2018) which he wrote, directed and starred in opposite his "The Flash" co-star Grant Gustin.
In addition to his current series, Cavanagh has extensive television, film and theatre credits. He starred on and directed NBC's Ed (2000) (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance). He was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Showtime's critically acclaimed Bang Bang You're Dead (2002). Additional television credits include NBC's Scrubs (2001), CBS' Love Monkey (2006), ABC's Eli Stone (2008) and TNT's Trust Me (2009) opposite Eric McCormack. Recent film credits include the thriller 400 Days (2015), the upcoming indie Love & Debt (2019), Yogi Bear (2010) with T.J. Miller and Justin Timberlake, Two Weeks (2006) opposite Sally Field and the controversial Breakfast with Scot (2007) that was dubbed the 'gay hockey movie.' Theatre credits include Broadway turns in Shenandoah and more recently the Tony award-winning Urinetown. Directing is a major focus for Cavanagh and his additional credits include various theatre productions, the NY-based Money Game (2008), and the feature film Faith.
In his spare time, Cavanagh works closely with Nothing But Nets - a grassroots campaign of the United Nations Foundation to raise awareness and funding to fight malaria in Africa. Born in Ottawa, Canada, Tom actually lived in Ghana himself as a child and contracted the disease. Cavanagh splits his time between NYC and Vancouver where "The Flash" is filmed.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Kevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Vasiliy Fet in The Strain, Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes / The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Barry Burton in Resident Evil: Retribution, Gabriel in Legion, Little John in Robin Hood, Jeeves Tremor in Smokin' Aces, and Carlos in The Butterfly Effect. He received a 2012 Best Supporting Actor Genie nomination for his portrayal of Lenny Jackson in Citizen Gangster.- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Greg Bryk was born on 19 August 1972 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Shoot 'Em Up (2007), Saw V (2008) and A History of Violence (2005). He has been married to Danielle Bryk since 9 March 1996. They have three children.- Actor
- Producer
Luke Farrell Kirby is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to American parents. His mother is from Brooklyn, New York, and his father grew up "along the eastern seaboard." His parents moved from New York City, New York, to Canada in 1974. Kirby studied drama at the National Theatre School of Canada, a theatre conservatory which focuses on classical works, and graduated in 2000.- Actor
- Producer
David Paetkau was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Flashpoint (2008), Goon (2011) and Man of Steel (2013). He has been married to Evangeline Duy since 28 February 2009.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Born and raised in Toronto, Matthew Bennett switched schools in grade 11 to attend Northern Secondary with the intent of pursuing a career in graphic arts. It was there that he happened upon the theatre program and quickly discovered his passion for acting and writing. After taking a year to work, Bennett then went to Vancouver to start his formal training.
Known mostly for his role on the critically acclaimed science fiction series, Battlestar Galactica, (where he played ruthless Cylon #5, Aaron Doral), Matthew Bennett has starred in over 150 hours of network television, and received two best actor nominations for his work as Detective Len Harper on the award winning police drama, Cold Squad.
Along with his work in TV, Matthew has appeared in over thirty films, working alongside such incredible talents as John Cusack, Edward James Almos, Joan Rivers, and Academy Award winners Brenda Fricker and Sissy Spacek.
Having lived in Vancouver for 15 years, Matthew now resides in his home town of Toronto.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Enrico Colantoni was born on 14 February 1963 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Galaxy Quest (1999), Veronica Mars (2004) and Contagion (2011). He has been married to Rosanna Francioni since 11 November 2011. They have four children. He was previously married to Nancy Snyder.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Donal Logue's versatility and talent makes him one of the most well respected and beloved actors today. Born in Ottawa, Canada, Logue moved all over the United States, from the Boston area as an infant to various towns on the Mexican border. He returned to Boston to attend Harvard University, where he majored in Intellectual History and discovered his love for the performing arts. While in college, he appeared in over thirty plays, worked for two summers in the American Repertory Theatre's Harvard/Radcliffe Summer Stock Company, and spent a short time doing theatre in England. After graduating, Logue joined the Cornerstone Theatre Company which developed community theatre in rural parts of the United States. From then on Logue dedicated himself to pursuing his passion for acting. In his 20 plus years in the industry, Logue has starred in films such as, The Tao of Steve, the story of a larger-than-life, philosophizing lothario, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and won him a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance. His other film credits include Sneakers, Gettysburg, Blade, Runaway Bride, Reindeer Games, The Million Dollar Hotel, Comic Book Villains with Michael Rapaport, Confidence, Just Like Heaven, and The Groomsmen with Ed Burns. Recently, Donal co-starred in Max Payne with Mark Wahlberg, as well as Charlie St. Cloud with Zac Ephron. He also appeared in Zodiac, directed by David Fincher, based on the Robert Graysmith books about the notorious Zodiac serial killer. Following the US release of Zodiac, he co-starred in Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. Logue made his directorial debut with the independent film Tennis, Anyone?, which appeared at the US Comedy Arts Festival. He wrote, starred, and directed the film about two Hollywood has-beens who try and find meaning in their lives through a series of celebrity tennis tournaments. In television, Logue joined the cast of the NBC series "LIFE" about a former police officer who returns to the force after having been wrongly imprisoned for years. In 2007, he headlined the critically lauded ABC comedy "The Knights of Prosperity" in which a group of blue collar guys band together to plan a heist of Mick Jagger's New York City apartment. Prior to "The Knights of Prosperity" Logue starred in the Carsey-Warner produced show, "Grounded for Life" which aired for five seasons. He was also featured in a recurring role on "ER" as Sherry Stringfield's love interest. In 2010, Logue finished a critically acclaimed season on "Terriers," a television series created by Ted Griffin and Shawn Ryan for FX. He begins production on the Marc Cherry pilot "Hallelujah" for ABC in March of 2011. Logue lives in Los Angeles and has two children.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Louis Ferreira has spent more than 30 years performing recognizable roles in award-winning film and television productions, garnering him countless accolades along the way.
Ferreira had a recurring role on the TV series Shōgun (2024) for Amazon Studios. Prior to that, he was in the highly anticipated Facebook Live remake of the popular podcast Limetown (2019) playing Max, a whimsical, sardonic scientific genius, opposite Stanley Tucci and Jessica Biel. For Amazon, he recurred in the very popular dark series The Man in the High Castle (2015). Ferreira was seen in season two of the critically acclaimed Netflix series Bad Blood (2017), portraying Mafia Don Domenic Cosoleto, for which he was nominated for both Canadian Screen Award and LEO awards, respectively.
He recurred on S.W.A.T. (2017) for CBS, as well as Travelers (2016) on Netflix. Ferreira was the co-lead in the CTV series Motive (2013), for which he won the Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series in back-to-back years and was nominated again in 2016, as well being nominated for the Canadian Screen Award in 2017 for the same role. Previously, he was Declan on the iconic series Breaking Bad (2008), for which he received many accolades. A series regular for two seasons on Stargate Universe (2009), where he picked up an additional Gemini Award nomination for his portrayal of Colonel Everett Young. Ferreira took home the Gemini Award for his portrayal of a serial killer. Ray Prager, in the first season of Durham County (2007), and played FBI Assistant Director John Pollock in 1-800-Missing (2003).
Ferreira played strong supporting roles in the critically acclaimed movie Grey Gardens (2009) for HBO, as well as The Andromeda Strain (2008) miniseries for A&E. He was a series lead on the highly acclaimed comedy Hidden Hills (2002) for NBC, as well as starring in the sitcom The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) for NBC, in Gary David Goldberg's Battery Park (2000), and in Steven Bochco's Public Morals (1996) for CBS.
Feature credits include playing Sarah Polley's partner in Dawn of the Dead (2004) for Universal, as well as supporting lead roles with Mark Wahlberg in Shooter (2007), and in The Lazarus Child (2004) for Morgan Creek, a thriller that starred Angela Bassett and Andy Garcia. Ferreira appeared in the comedy horror Blood & Donuts (1995), which also starred David Cronenberg, and in the film Fallen Arches (2000). He later appeared in the film Saw IV (2007) as the character Art Blank and in Marc Forster's breakthrough film, Everything Put Together (2000).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Michael Eklund was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is known for The Call (2013), Errors of the Human Body (2012) and Eadweard (2015). He was previously married to Megan Bennett.- Actor
- Writer
Colm Joseph Feore OC is a Canadian actor. A 13-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries Trudeau (2002), his portrayal of Glenn Gould in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), and for playing Detective Martin Ward in Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) and its 2017 sequel.
His other roles include Martin Harrison in Chicago (2002), Lord Marshal Zhylaw in The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), First Gentleman Henry Taylor on 24 (2009), Cardinal Della Rovere on The Borgias (2011-2013), Laufey in Thor (2011), General Ted Brockhart on House of Cards (2016-2017), Declan Gallard on 21 Thunder (2017), Wernher von Braun in For All Mankind (2019), and Sir Reginald Hargreeves on The Umbrella Academy (2019-present). Feore is also a Prix Iris and Screen Actors Guild Award winner and a Genie Award nominee.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Terry Keli Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He moved around growing up but was raised mainly in Alberta and on the West coast. After dropping out of the University of Calgary he spent two years traveling throughout Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Terry moved back to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue his dream of being an actor. In his first year of auditioning, he made his debut in a supporting role as 'Ben Fong-Torres' in the much-lauded film Almost Famous, directed by Cameron Crowe.
Over the last two decades, Terry's had supporting and lead roles alongside the industries best; Memory, The A-Team, and Elysium, to name a few. Terry filmed the ABC drama Combat Hospital as series regular, US Captain Dr. Bobby Trang, as well as recurred in the fan favorite Continuum, and a recurring role in season two of the award-winning series, House of Cards (Netflix). Terry continued his strong work playing the brave father and botanist, Prax, in critics choice series The Expanse on Amazon and as a lead in the second season of Jessica Jones for Marvel/Netflix. He also co-stars in the poignant four-part limited series Chimerica (Channel4).
Terry recently starred opposite Viggo Mortenson in the critically acclaimed feature film, Falling, which premiered at Sundance in 2020. He can also be seen most recently heavily recurring on ABC's A Million Little Things, opposite Grace Park. Terry can be caught next starring as the lead in the inspiring feature film Sight based on the true story of Dr. Ming Wang, who escaped poverty, oppression, and violence to become the world's most influential eye surgeon.
Terry now splits his time between Los Angeles and Vancouver where he continues to seek compelling and unique characters.- Aaron Douglas was born on 23 August 1971 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor, known for Battlestar Galactica (2004), Murder in a Small Town and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016). He has been married to Jenny Douglas since 20 August 2011.
- Actor
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Ian Tracey was born on 26 June 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and director, known for Continuum (2012), Open Range (2003) and Timecop (1994).