Christian Potenza
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Christian Potenza | |
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![]() Potenza in 2014 | |
Born | |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1997–present |
Spouse |
Edie Inksetter
(m. 1997; div. 2000) |
Children | 1[1] |
Christian Potenza is a Canadian actor and comedian. He has voiced Jude Lizowski on 6teen, Chris McLean in the Total Drama franchise, and Brando Beaver and both of the Bison Brothers in Pikwik Pack.
Career
He has been on television since 1997, when he first appeared in the television series Riverdale as the character Jimmy.
His performances include appearing as Doug in the CBC Television hockey comedy series The Tournament, as well as CSA Agent Joel in the 2002 Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo.[2] Most of Potenza's best-known roles are in television commercials, including a giant yellow toothbrush in the "evil gingivitis" commercials for Listerine, a dog in the Fido commercials "The Office" and "The Promotion", as well as a sunflower in Canadian Kia ads. He performed the voice for Jude Lizowski on 6teen; another notable cartoon character is Trevor Troublemeyer on the show Sidekick. He also guest starred in the show Grojband as Party Danimal and performed the voice for Chris McLean in the Total Drama series.
He also appeared in an episode of Colin and Justin's Home Heist in 2007, in which the suburban Oakville home he shares with his daughter Teagan was remodelled.[3]
Potenza also portrays Ryan Archer in the web series But I'm Chris Jericho!. He is the voice of Brando Beaver and both of the Bison Brothers in Pikwik Pack.
His YouTube channel, The Infinity Forge (originally called "SwitchBoardNetwork"), largely features videos of his experiences as a voice actor for Teletoon, and has gathered a respectable fan following. He has also guest-starred on various independent animated series on YouTube, including Joey Turner's "Tomy Thomas and Friends" as a spoof of Chris McLean called Chris McTrain.
Potenza is currently a professor for the Acting for Film and Television program at Niagara College.[4]
Personal life
Allegations
In February 2022, Potenza was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting his acting students in a Facebook post by actress Sonya Côté.[5] These allegations gained publicity in March 2023 when it was announced that Potenza would not be returning as the voice of Chris McLean in the Total Drama revival, having been replaced by Terry McGurrin.[6]
Filmography
Feature films
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1999 | Forever Mine | Corrections Officer |
2002 | The Tuxedo | CSA Agent Joel |
2003 | The Arbuckle Academy | Bobby |
2004 | Ham & Cheese yum yum | Patt Watts |
My Brother's Keeper aka Le Sang du frère (Canada: French title) | Dave | |
2005 | King's Ransom | Officer Holland |
A Wing and a Prayer | Barry | |
The White Dog Sacrifice | Rob | |
Neil | Homeless Man | |
2006 | Run Robot Run! | Garth |
Population 436 | Frank Ramsey | |
2011 | Moon Point | Rick |
Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure | Mic Tech Guy | |
2013 | Bunks | Crawl |
2014 | Daisy, A Hen into the Wild | Mayor/Mr. Otter |
Shelby | Uncle Stephen | |
2021 | V/H/S/94 (Segment Storm Drain) | Cameraman Jeff |
Television
Year | Title | Episode | Role |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Riverdale | Jimmy | |
1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Rudy | |
1999 | La Femme Nikita aka Nikita (Canada: English title) | Any Means Necessary | Reuben |
2000 | The Famous Jett Jackson | Beauregard's Beach Bash | Deputy Spencer |
Hendrix | Chas Chandler | ||
One Kill | Parker | ||
The Thin Blue Lie | Danny O'Brien | ||
Twice in a Lifetime | Birds of Paradise | Young Barry Kirkbride | |
2001 | Degrassi: The Next Generation | The Mating Game | Cashier |
The Famous Jett Jackson | Battle of Wilsted | Deputy Spencer | |
Leap Years | 5 episodes | Lighting Guy | |
2002 | Escape from the Newsroom | Chris | |
Patti | |||
2002–2003 | Moville Mysteries | Gizzard Gizersky (voice) | |
2003 | The One | Bill | |
2003–2004 | Foolish Girl | Punk Rock Boyfriend (voice) | |
2004 | The Eggs | 2 episodes | The Monos |
2004–2010 | 6teen | All | Jude Lizowski (voice) |
2005 | Funpak | Not-So-Superheroic Adventures of Sidekick shorts only | Trevor Troublemeyer |
The Tournament | Doug | ||
The Shakespeare Comedy Show | Episode #1.2 | ||
2007 | Ten Seconds | Friend | |
2007–2014 | Total Drama | All (except "Are We There Yeti?", TDA Aftermaths II & III; TDWT Aftermaths) | Chris McLean (host) (voice) Jerd McLean (Chris's cousin) (voice) |
2008–2010 | Stoked | Take Your Kook to Work Day Grand Theft Whale Bus |
Shep (voice) Announcer guy (voice) |
2010–2011 | Jimmy Two-Shoes | Everyone Can Whistle Heloise's Secret Admirer |
Peep (voice) |
2010–2013 | Sidekick | All | Trevor Troublemeyer (voice) |
2011–2013 | Almost Naked Animals | Dirk Danger (voice) | |
2011 | Detentionaire | Zed (voice) The Skaters (voice) | |
2011–2012 | Scaredy Squirrel | Life Slaver | Viking (voice) |
2012 | Murdoch Mysteries | Back and to the Left | Jack "Shoeless Jack" Leary |
2013 | Skatoony | Pop Video | Chris McLean (host) (voice)
Doug (minor character) (voice) |
2013 | Last Car Standing | All | Himself (host) |
2013 | Grojband | Pox N' Roll Grin Reaper |
Party Danimal (voice) |
2018 | Carter | Episode 8 | Clifford |
2018 | Wishfart | Aw, Man! | Neptune (voice) |
2018–2022 | Total DramaRama | Main Role/Episodes: Broken Back Kotter, A Hole Lot of Trouble | Jude Lizowski (voice) Chris McLean (voice/guest) |
2019–2021 | Norman Picklestripes | Additional Voices | |
2020–2021 | Pikwik Pack | Bison Bros (voice) | |
2022 | Transformers: BotBots | Clogstopper (voice) |
Internet series
Year | Title | Note | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Tomy Thomas & Friends by Joey Turner | Episode: "Game Show Carnival 2: Rooftop Stranded" | Chris McTrain |
References
- ^ "It's that guy". Inside Halton. January 6, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Helwig, David. "A Saultite take on the Evil Gingivitis". SooToday. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
- ^ "'50s swamp actor's home" Archived October 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Metro Ottawa, November 4, 2007.
- ^ "School of Media Staff and Faculty". Niagara College. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
- ^ Rao, Karishma (March 29, 2023). "'He was so iconic for the role': Christian Potenza allegations explored as Chris Mclean voice actor is replaced". Sportskeeda. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- ^ Terry McGurrin [@standupmonkey] (March 28, 2023). "I'm incredibly excited to be the voice of Chris McLean. This was one of the creative decision with respect to the reboot. In preparation for the role I stopped feeding my children months ago and make them compete in highly dangerous events in order to win a marshmallow" (Tweet) – via Twitter.