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Thomas Dekker (actor)

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Thomas Dekker
Dekker in 2010
Born
Thomas Alexander Dekker

(1987-12-28) December 28, 1987 (age 36)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
  • singer
  • director
  • producer
Years active1993–present
Spouse
Jesse Haddock
​
(m. 2017)​
RelativesAlun Williams (grandfather)

Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American actor, musician, singer, director and producer. He is known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Adam Conant on The Secret Circle, and Zach on Heroes.

Dekker did the voice of Littlefoot in The Land Before Time V-IX (singing voice in The Land Before Time V) and as Fievel Mousekewitz in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. Dekker portrayed Jesse Braun in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Smith in Gregg Araki's film Kaboom. Dekker starred as Gregory Valentine in the TV show Backstrom.

Dekker has also written, produced and self-published online his three electronica albums.

Early life

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Dekker was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother, Hilary (née Williams), is a concert pianist, acting coach, actor, and singer from Wales, and his late father, David John Ellis Dekker, was an American artist, set designer, opera singer, and actor[1][2] of English and Dutch ancestry.[3][4][5] His maternal grandfather was Alun Williams, a radio broadcaster for the British Broadcasting Corporation.[6] As a child, he and his parents moved all over the world, including to his mother's native United Kingdom and Canada.[7]

Career

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Early career

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Starting his acting career at age six, Dekker was first seen in the soap The Young and the Restless. He then appeared in Star Trek Generations, two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and the film Village of the Damned (1995). Dekker also appeared as a child actor on Seinfeld (season 5, episode 16, 1994) and as Bobby (season 7, episode 4, 1995). In 1997, he became a regular on the Disney Channel show Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show which is based on the movie of the same name where he played Nick Szalinski for three years. After the show ended in 2000, he went on to appear in Run of the House, Fillmore!, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House, Boston Public, Reba and 7th Heaven. He appeared in films such as Campus Confidential and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. Dekker has won three Young Artist Awards for his work in The Land Before Time films and one for his guest appearance on Boston Public. In 2001, he played the part of young Donny Osmond in the film Inside the Osmonds.

2006–present

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In 2006, Dekker landed a recurring role on Heroes playing the character of Zach (Claire Bennet's best friend). He played Zach for eleven episodes before leaving Heroes to take a starring role in Fox's new show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as John Connor, starring opposite Lena Headey and Summer Glau. That show debuted January 13, 2008, and was canceled on May 18, 2009. Dekker also played the lead character Nate Palmer in the web-based science fiction series IQ-145.[8]

In 2009, Dekker appeared in From Within (filmed in 2007), My Sister's Keeper, a drama in which he starred with Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin and Medium star Sofia Vassilieva, and Laid to Rest alongside Lena Headey. In 2010, Dekker starred in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, released on April 30, 2010. His character's name was Jesse Braun, loosely based on the character Rod Lane in the original. That same year he also had a role in All About Evil, an indie horror film.[9]

Dekker starred in Gregg Araki's Kaboom (2010). It is the first film ever awarded the Cannes Film Festival "Queer Palm Award" for its contribution to LGBT presence in cinema. Dekker was a "top candidate" for the lead role in Paramount's remake of Footloose (2011), but the role went to Kenny Wormald.[10] In April 2011, Dekker starred as Lance Loud in the HBO original film Cinema Verite, about the creation of America's first reality television series, An American Family. Dekker played the role of Adam, the male lead on the television series The Secret Circle developed by The CW.[11]

He appeared in Daughtry's music video for their single "Waiting for Superman", which was released September 17, 2013.[12]

Dekker was a regular on the 2015 Fox crime drama Backstrom, playing Gregory Valentine, the gay underworld contact and roommate of Rainn Wilson's title character, revealed to be his half-brother.

Music

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Dekker was brought up with a musical background, and started writing music at age ten while living in Canada. At the age of fifteen he landed a record deal; however after feeling that he wasn't as involved in the music as he would have liked, he left to concentrate on making his own music. At the age of sixteen, Dekker started writing and producing his own classical music influenced by electronica which he describes as "electrofolk". His debut album Psyanotic[13] was released in 2008.[14]

Personal life

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Dekker on a panel at the 2008 Comic-Con

Dekker has stated that for much of his childhood, he was a victim of sexual molestation.[15] In his teenage years, he was part of a "metalhead" subculture, where he "caused trouble in Las Vegas," and was arrested "five or six times."[15]

Dekker was involved in an auto accident on October 15, 2009, when he hit a 17-year-old cyclist training for a race on a freeway onramp.[16][17] Originally charged with two counts of felony DUI, the charge was reduced to one count of misdemeanor reckless driving when it was found that the cyclist was at fault. He pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to a fine of $300 and two years of informal probation, and ordered to attend a 12-hour alcohol-education class.[18]

Dekker is a vegan.[19][20][21][22]

On April 20, 2011, in an interview with Out magazine Dekker spoke about his sexuality, which had been the subject of speculation:

I've only really had relationships with women, but I'm certainly not closed to it. If there are possibilities of being able to do anything in life, why would you say you would never take any up? In the later chunk of my teen years I was so all over the place with sex. It was terrible. I never really had a real relationship at all. During puberty, it's all about sex, and it's all about figuring yourself out. I think I overdid it when I was younger.[23]

On July 13, 2017, Dekker came out as gay and revealed that he married Canadian actor Jesse Haddock in April that year.[24][25][26]

Awards

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  • Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series — Leading Young Actor (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show) (1997)
  • Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a Voice-Over: TV/Film/Video — Young Actor (An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster) (1999)
  • Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a TV Series — Guest Starring Young Actor (Boston Public) (2000)
  • Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role (The Land Before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water) (2002)

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 Star Trek Generations Thomas Picard Credited as Thomas Alexander Dekker
1995 Village of the Damned David McGowan
1997 The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island Littlefoot Singing voice
1998 An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island Fievel Voice only
The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock Littlefoot
1999 An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster Fievel
2000 The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire Littlefoot
2001 The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze
2002 Help, I'm a Boy! Mickey Voice: English version
The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water Littlefoot Voice only
2006 Simple Joys Stephen Short film
2007 The War Prayer The Singer
2008 From Within Aidan
Whore Tom Writer, director, producer, and editor
2009 Laid to Rest Tommy
My Sister's Keeper Taylor Ambrose
2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street Jesse Braun
All About Evil Steven
Kaboom Smith
2011 Angels Crest Ethan
ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 Tommy
Foreverland Bobby
2012 The Good Lie Cullen Francis Main role
2013 Plush Jack St. Claire
Enter the Dangerous Mind Jake
2014 Lost in the White City Kyle
Squatters Jonas Main role
2015 Fear Clinic Blake
2016 Do You Take This Man Bradley
Jack Goes Home N/A Writer, producer, and director
Welcome to Willits Klaus
2019 Miss Bala Justin
2021 Body Brokers Jacko

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Young and the Restless Phillip Chancellor IV #4
1994 The Nanny J.B. Bingington's Son Episode 1.12: "The Show Must Go On"
1994–1995 Seinfeld Porter / Son
Bobby		 Episode 5.16: "The Stand In"
Episode 7.04: "The Wink"
1995 Star Trek: Voyager Henry Burleigh Episode 1.16: "Learning Curve"
Episode 2.08: "Persistence of Vision"
1996 Caroline in the City Young Richard Episode 2.09: "Caroline and the Therapist"
1997 The Weird Al Show Son Episode 1.04: "Back to School"
Men in Black: The Series Timmy (voice) Episode 1.02: "The Buzzard Syndrome"
Extreme Ghostbusters Frankie (voice)
Kevin Rivera (voice)		 Episode 1.08: "Home Is Where the Horror Is"
Episode 1.35: "Rage"
1997–2000 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show Nick Szalinski Main cast (Seasons 1–3; 1997–2000)
2000 Touched by an Angel Dennis Episode 7.03: "The Invitation"
Grosse Pointe Leslie Bicks Episode 1.09: "Boys on the Side"
2001 Inside the Osmonds Donny Osmond (younger) Television film
Family Guy Student (voice) Episode 3.01: "The Thin White Line"
2001–2003 Jackie Chan Adventures Little Valmont / Young Valmont (voice) Episode 2.01: "Through the Rabbit Hole"
Episode 3.11: "Little Valmont, Big Jade"
2002 The Mummy Simon Montgomery (voice) Episode 1.12: "The Puzzle
Family Affair Jeremy Episode 1.07: "No Small Parts"
2003 Run of the House Seth Episode 1.03: "The Party"
Fillmore! Crockett, Biggie, James Heron (voices) Episode 2.04: "South of Friendship, North of Honor"
Episode 2.06: "The Nineteenth Hole Is A Shallow Grave"
Episode 2.07: "Links in a Chain of Honor"
Boston Public Julien McNeal Episode 4.06: "Chapter Seventy-Two"
Episode 4.08: "Chapter Seventy-Four"
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jimmy Jones Episode 5.03: "Harvest"
2005 7th Heaven Vincent 9 episodes
Campus Confidential Brett Television film
Reba Buzzer Episode 5.10: "Issues"
2006 House Boyd Episode 2.19: "House vs. God"
Shark Ben Channing Episode 1.08: "Love Triangle"
2006–2007 Heroes Zach 12 episodes
2008 Psi-Kix Jacque Voice only
IQ-145 Nate Palmer 10 episodes
2008–2009 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles John Connor Main cast (Seasons 1–2; 2008–2009)
2009 Glenn Martin, DDS Unknown role (voice) Episode 1.07: "From Here to Fraternity"
2011 Elvira's Movie Macabre Elrick / Jack Shemansky Episode 1.15: "Lady Frankenstein"
Cinema Verite Lance Loud
2011–2012 The Secret Circle Adam Conant Main cast
2015 Backstrom Gregory Valentine Main role
2022 The Rookie: Feds Jeffrey Boyle Recurring role
The Rookie
Swimming with Sharks Travis
2023 Star Trek: Picard Titus Rikka Episode 3.03: "Seventeen Seconds"

Music videos

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Year Title Role Notes
2013 "Waiting for Superman" The Hero Main role

Discography

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Albums

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  • Psyanotic (2008)
  • Into the Night (2018)
  • Tasma (2021)

Soundtracks

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References

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  1. ^ "Obituaries | LexisNexis | Professional Journal archives from". AllBusiness.com. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  2. ^ "Henderson resident Thomas Dekker expands TV credits with role on witchy 'Secret Circle' - Living - ReviewJournal.com". Lvrj.com. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Barker, Lynn (January 8, 2008). "Thomas Dekker: Saving the Future". TeenTelevision.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  4. ^ "Thomas Dekker Biography (1987-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  5. ^ "Thomas Dekker". IMDb.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "The Many Shades of Thomas Dekker | Out Magazine". Out.com. April 17, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  8. ^ "home". Iq-145thewebseries.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  9. ^ "Thomas Dekker is All About Evil | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. April 12, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  10. ^ "Will 'Footloose' hit the Dekker? - latimes.com". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. May 27, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  11. ^ "Thomas Dekker in Secret Circle, Titus Welliver in Awakening - CW Pilots". Bscreview.com. March 20, 2011. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  12. ^ daughtryVEVO (October 24, 2013). "Daughtry - Waiting for Superman". Archived from the original on December 15, 2021 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ "Zero Times Zero featuring Thomas Dekker at The Viper Room". April 12, 2012.
  14. ^ "Music – Music News, New Songs, Videos, Music Shows and Playlists from MTV". www.mtv.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014.
  15. ^ a b "SCENE + HEARD: Thomas Dekker Talks Sex, Nudity, Molestation at "Kaboom" Premiere Party". Next Magazine. January 28, 2011. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  16. ^ "'Terminator's Dekker charged over run-in - Showbiz News". Digital Spy. November 4, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  17. ^ "'Terminator' star Thomas Dekker charged with DUI". azcentral.com. November 3, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  18. ^ "Thomas Dekker Sentenced To Two Years Probation". Starpulse.com. January 11, 2011. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  19. ^ Miller, Gerri (September 30, 2010). "Ecollywood: Celebs celebrate PETA's 30th anniversary". MNN Holdings, LLC. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  20. ^ DuDell, Michael (March 6, 2009). "The Green Quote: Terminator Star Thomas Dekker Is A Longtime VEG!". Ecorazzi, LLC. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  21. ^ "Thomas Dekker Terminated Meat Chronicles At 12". Vegetarian Star. March 6, 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  22. ^ Harradine, Gabrielle (March 2009). "ONE-MAN BAND". Vegetarian Times (366). Cruz Bay Publishing: 22.
  23. ^ "The Many Shades of Thomas Dekker". Out.com. April 17, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  24. ^ Dekker, Thomas (July 13, 2017). "PLEASE READ pic.twitter.com/Uo5hM94Qp5". @theThomasDekker. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  25. ^ Mizoguchi, Karen (July 13, 2017). "Heroes Alum Thomas Dekker Reveals He's Gay After He Says a 'Prominent Gay Man' Tried to Out Him". People. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  26. ^ Calvario, Liz (September 22, 2017). "Thomas Dekker Shares Sweet Pics of Him and Husband Jesse on Their Wedding Day". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
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