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Gordon Michael Woolvett
Gordon Michael Woolvett
Gender: Male
Character: Seamus Harper
Birthday: June 12, 1970
Birth Place: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Appearances: Seasons 1-5

Biography[]

Gordon Michael Woolvett was eight years old when he joined a summer acting school to keep him out of trouble during the school holidays. Having enjoyed it, he went back during subsequent school holidays and began to take an interest in the performing arts, taking lessons in both acting and dancing until his teenage years when he dropped the dancing for not being cool. He was also a musician as well.

Spotted playing the lead in “Oliver Twist” for one of the drama school productions, Gordon was signed up to an agent to began his professional acting career as a child actor, appearing in commercials and smaller roles before his first film role came in 1982 in the film, "Joshua Then and Now." Playing James Woods' son and also appearing alongside Alan Arkin at the tender age of 12, he was said to be in awe of how they would just improvise their scenes, a trait he fully embraced and took into his own career.

Gordon stuck with the acting, but also had musical ambitions as he got older, stating many times how he would have loved to have been a rock star. However, as the roles continued to come in, acting won out, and after a string of guest star roles on television he won acclaim in 1992 for his portrayal as a cancer patient in the moving film "Princes in Exile," which saw him nominated for a Gemini Award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role.

Gordon's most famous role arrived in 2000, portraying the self-proclaimed genius, Seamus Zelazney Harper, in "Andromeda," but during the 1990s Gordon also had leading roles in the short-lived series "Mysterious Island" and "Deepwater Black" (aka "Mission Genesis"). He joined "Andromeda" with an extensive list of both film and television credits. He played Seamus Harper for all five seasons of "Andromeda."

The year 2000 was also a banner year for Gordon's private life. In January of that year, he married Michelle Morand. They now have one child.

In 2002, Gordon won a Gemini Award for Canada's Hottest Star, where he was the clear favorite among all the 17th Annual Gemini nominees. Gordon has not only been an actor, but also been a presenter and has turned his hand to writing and directing. Gordon secured three writing credits for "Andromeda” (see below). His second, Abridging the Devil's Divide was the most watched episode of that season and won the most praise.

In a 2003 interview, Gordon said of his role as Seamus Harper:

"I'm very close to my character. I take him to bed every night. No, I'm not that close. The character of Harper is an extension of the vices of my personality. He's not selfish, but he's a little more petulant; he's a little more snappy; he's tougher than I am. Just all those things that I am, he's a little more of, talks a little faster, a little more of a smart ass. I might draw the line before Harper would, not always."

"I love the physical. I think it probably comes from being a smaller person. Your strength-to-body ratio is a little better because you've got less to carry around. I think probably because of that, I try to find ways to throw myself around. If there's a railing, I try to go over it, and so when you're doing things in green screen you have a lot of room to move. They've built a new slipstream core, and it looks like there are some poles and railings and things, basically like a set of monkey bars, so I'm looking forward to getting in there and swinging around.

"I did another sci-fi series called “Mission Genesis.” It was called “Deepwater Black” in Canada, and on that I had to do the scenes acting opposite myself using the green screen just like we did on this [scenes in “Andromeda”]. It seems to be part of the meat and potatoes of sci-fi. A character is going to meet themselves. I don't know why that is. Man against man, man against nature and man against himself are the three main [dramatic devices]. Sci-fi is the one where you tend to get man against himself literally as opposed to figuratively.

"What was difficult was trying to come up with differences between the character, because the character is the same person. I was trying to keep him as energetic and crazed, as cuckoo as he was before and trying to maintain that so you can see the subtle difference between the two. Which was difficult because the easiest way to make two things seem different [is to] make the other character a little less energetic. So when I was trying to do that opposite myself, I actually realized, 'Wow, I really am energetic!' I had to really go far to be more energetic. I think I threw an ad lib in there when I said, 'Now I know why people hate me!' I think that was an ad lib; that may have been a good line. They all start to blend together. I'll take credit for it, sure, what the hell."

Gordon's additional television credits include starring roles in “Mysterious Island,” “Mission Genesis,” and “Wildside,” a wildlife adventure series shot on safari through southern Africa, as well as other numerous television films. Gordon has also made guest appearances on such series as “Twilight Zone,” “PSI Factor, FX: The Series,” “Sliders” and “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.” Gordon starred in numerous made-for-television movies including "Ultimate Deception," "Taken Away," "Mind Games" and various others. In 2004 Gordon wrote and directed his first film, the short feature, "Fracture."

Filmography[]

  • "Everything's Gone Green" (2007): Spike
  • "The Highwayman" (2000): Walter
  • "Ultimate Deception" (1999): Andy
  • "Bride of Chucky" (1998): David
  • "Clutch" (1998): Spit
  • "Elvis Meets Nixon" (1997): Soldier
  • "Mission Genesis" / "Deepwater  Black" (1997): Reb Andersen
  • "The Legend of Gator Face" (1996): Chip
  • "Bordertown Cafe" (1991): Jimmy
  • "Princes in Exile" (1991): Louis
  • "The Journey Home" (short - 1989): Actor
  • "Joshua Then and Now" (1985): Teddy

Writer[]

Director[]

  • 2006 - "The Heartbreak Cafe" (television series)
    • Reel Time (2006)
  • 2006 - "Fracture" (film short)

Producer[]

  • 2006 - "Fracture" (film short, producer)

Soundtrack[]

  • 2001 - "Andromeda"
    • Star-Crossed (2001) - Performer: Main Title: "March of the High Guard"

Trivia[]

  • During the early through mid 1990s, Gordon was also known to Canadian children (and "Sailor Moon" watching adult slackers) as "PJ Gord" on YTV (Youth Television), the Canadian equivalent of Nickelodeon. Canadian broadcasters are only allowed to devote about half as much time per hour to commercials during children's programming as American broadcasters are allowed, so, to fill the gaps between programs during the daytime, YTV has hosts. Gord most often did the noon to 2:30 pm shift, though he sometimes filled in for other PJs (Program Jockeys).
  • In the early 1990s Gordon was a host of YTV's "Video & Arcade Top 10" (1991), which was basically a weekly half-hour commercial for Nintendo video game systems. In the summer of 1992 his future "Andromeda" (2000) co-star, Lexa Doig, was (briefly) also a host for the movie and music segments.
  • Nicole de Boer of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) co-starred with Gordon on "Mission Genesis" (1997). Laura Bertram also guest-starred as his girlfriend.
  • Gordon's brother, Jaimz Woolvett, did an episode of "Kung Fu" with him.

External links[]

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