Sean Michael (South African actor)
| Sean Cameron Michael | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Sean Cameron Michael December 24, 1969 Cape Town |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Sean Cameron Michael (born December 24, 1969) is a South African actor, writer and singer. A native English speaker, he is also fluent in Afrikaans.
[edit] Early life
Michael was born in Cape Town. After completing high school he did his two years compulsory National Service as an infantryman in the South African Defence Force in Potchefstroom. After a number of part-time jobs (including being a waiter, chef and working for Telkom) he decided to become a full time actor and singer.
[edit] Acting career
Sean Cameron Michael, has performed in over 30 theatre productions and 40 television and film productions in his home country over the past 25 years. He first caught the local public eye in Regardt van den Bergh’s multi-award winning feature, The Gospel of Matthew, as the disciple Thomas. This was followed by a recurring role in Mnet’s daily Egoli, as drug dealer Brett. He next played the leading role of Miles Stuart in the South African version of the controversial UK cult adult drama This Life which screened for a year on SABC3.
In 2006 Michael again teamed up with director Regardt van den Bergh, this time to play the support lead of Fergus Buchan in Faith Like Potatoes. Years later, this feature is still winning awards around the world.
He returned to local TV screens in 2008 as Mr Muller in Mnet’s dramatic mini-series, Ella Blue, for director Darrell James Roodt. Since then, other notable local appearances have been in Themba: A Boy called Hope, Confessions of a Gambler, Cape of Good Hope and soon to be screened on Mnet, Heart & Soul. Sean plays the lead role of Doctor Christiaan Barnard in this New Directions feature.
Internationally, Michael was first seen back in 1997 in the popular US TV series, The Adventures of Sinbad, as Young Timur. He then played a number of cameo roles in British and American TV series and features, including CI5: The New Professionals, Ernest in the Army, Pavement, Home Alone 4, Shark Attack 2, Pirates of the Plein, Blast and Charlie Jade.
In 2005 Sean landed the support lead role of Don Beatty in Bryan Singer and Dean Devlin’s Emmy winning sci-fi mini-series, The Triangle (opposite Eric Stolz, Bruce Davison and Sam Neill).
2008 was a bumper year for Sean internationally, playing the title role in Allan Quatermain & the Temple of Skulls, psychotic mutineer, Nolan Moore, in NBC’s Crusoe and as French United Nations worker, Charles Solenz in Fox’s multi Emmy and Golden Globe winning feature 24: Redemption (opposite Jon Voight, Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Carlyle). Over 12 million viewers tuned into FOX for the film premier. Adam Buckman from the NY Post was quoted as saying that 24 had found a new villain in Africa and that Michael's character was possibly the most spineless, loathsome character ever created for the series.
This was followed by Natalee Holloway for Sony Pictures, Special Forces Heroes for the BBC, Albert Schweitzer for Warner Bros (opposite Jeroen Krabbe and Barbara Hershey) and Outcasts for BBC America.
Recent international releases include Lost Boys: The Thirst (Warner Bros), Get Out Alive: Utah Library Shootout (Discovery Channel), the major CGI fantasy TV special Mermaids for Animal Planet and America: The Story of Us as Thomas Edison, scoring the highest viewership ratings in network TV history.[citation needed]
Sean is currently shooting Safe House (with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington) for Universal and Beaver Falls for the BBC. He is also attached to play leading roles in A Tin of Paint for director Roy Zetisky (recently presented at Cannes) and Hostages of Fortune.
Highlights include:
- Invictus
- Lost Boys: The Thirst
- Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls
- Crusoe (NBC)
- 24: Redemption (Fox)
- This Life (SABC3),
- The Triangle (Sci-Fi Channel (United States)),
- To be First (BBC),
- Faith Like Potatoes,
- Supernova (Hallmark Channel),
- Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House (20th Century Fox),
- CI5: The New Professionals,
- Jesus the Christ
- The Adventures of Sinbad II.
