Michael Goorjian

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MICHAEL GOORJIAN

Mike in The Illusion
Birthdate: February 4, 1971

Multi-talented Scottish/Armenian hunk Michael A. Goorjian (pronounced gore-gin, he says that the reason why he won’t change his name is because his Armenian family wouldn’t be too happy about it) was born and raised in Oakland, California. His father is a physicist at NASA, a study that had interested Mike in studying quantum mechanics. However, he became interested in acting at the age of thirteen when he began performing at a local theater. He later became involved with the Contra Costa Musical Theater Company, San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, the Berkeley Shakespeare Company and other local theaters, where he studied acting, dancing and singing. He acted all throughout his junior high and high school years, and was an Eagle Scout as well. When he finished high school, he was cast in a theater production of Godspell in the lead role of Jesus. They toured all throughout England. After the play wrapped, he returned to California and moved to Los Angeles to enroll at UCLA.

In 1991, Mike and some friends from UCLA decided to form a theater group. Together, they formed the Buffalo Nights Theater Company down in Los Angeles. They began performing small plays, from where Mike was discovered. He made guest appearances on a few TV shows, then was cast as a regular on the short-lived NBC series Hull High, where he not only acted, but danced and sang. His talent was noticed by the resident choreographer, Kenny Ortega, who later cast him as Skittery in his feature film debut, Newsies. During the filming of Newsies, Mike and fellow castmember Max Casella wrote and directed a murder mystery (shot with Kevin Stea ’s personal video camera) that they filmed behind the scenes and cast the other actors in.

Although Newsies flopped in theaters, Mike’s role was a breakthrough and his official career began. He was cast as a regular on the final season of the ABC series Life Goes On, and began appearing in more movies. In 1992-1993, he appeared in the play Hope on the Range, at the Buffalo Theater, from where they took off and have had productions ever since. Other theater productions he appeared in include The West Side Story, Hair, and Remember Mama.

In 1994, he was cast in the made-for-TV film, David’s Mother, playing the role of the title character, David. In the movie, David was an autistic boy Mike portrayed in an incredible performance, for which he was nominated for an Emmy award for Best Supporting Actor. Nominated against well-known actors such as Sir Ian McKellan (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Richard Gere (Pretty Woman) and Alan Alda (TV’s M.A.S.H.), the odds did not appear to be on Mike’s side. But he defied the odds and took the Emmy home! In 1995, he appeared in the play Sophistry at Buffalo Theater.

After filming David’s Mother, he took on a supposedly short-lived role on FOX’s newest series, Party of Five, as Justin Thompson, lead character Julia’s childhood friend and love interest. Although his role was only supposed to last a few episodes, he had done such a wonderful job in the role that the executive producers extended it. He was on the show for two seasons before signing off to continue pursing film, and now, directing. Still, he made guest appearances on the show from time to time until the show ended.

Shortly after leaving Party of Five, Mike founded Malador Productions, Inc. for which he works with today on his films. He also acted in the play, Modigliani, back at Buffalo Nights, for which he was nominated for a Weekly Actor’s award. He later began writing and directing short independant films, including Lieber Nox, Ron, and Call Waiting. Call Waiting won Mike an award for best short film at the Arizona Film Festival. All during this time he has continued acting, and even produced the film, The Invisibles, starring opposite Portia de Rossi (TV’s Ally McBeal, roles that they both took on for free).

Mike has continued directing, and has also made time to choreograph theater plays including Reefer Madness, Meat, The Firebugs and Salome. For Salome, Mike was nominated for an LA Drama Critics Award and a Garland Award for Reefer Madness, both for his choreography. He also finished filming another independent film, Amerikana, around that time, and appeared in and choreographed the play Apollo of Bellac at the Buffalo Theater, shown during April through June of 2000.

He released his feature film debut, Oakland Underground, a mock documentary about an underground cult, set in Mike’s hometown, Oakland. He is still in the process of directing another feature film, Beatrice. He is also still working two more films, The Illusion and Teen Folio.

Mike works as a part-time professer at Loyola Marymount University teaching a drama class, and often makes appearances back at Buffalo Nights. He has made a new career move and now works with Career Management Corp. He also has a new movie coming out entitled Leisure, and appeared in another Buffalo Company production: "JB." Mike received very high praise for his performance in the title character.

He has recently been noted in the "thank you" section of the credits for the film Man of the Century (1999). He's now working on an indie film, Happily Ever After, released in 2003. In April of 2004, he appeared on an episode of CBS's Without a Trace.

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The Illusion

TV Guide Chat Transcript

FILMOGRAPHY

Happily Even After (2003) .... Stuart
Illusion, The (2003) .... Christopher
Leisure (2002)
Beatrice (2001)
Beloved Red (2001) .... Jack
Go for Broke (2001) .... Rome/Romie
Illusion, The (2001) .... Christopher
Mesmerist, The (2001) .... Coroner #1
Pomegranate (2001) .... Jack
Deal of a Lifetime (1999) .... Henry Spooner
Here Lies Lonely (1999) .... Sid
How to Get Laid at the End of the World (1999) .... Michael
Life in a Day (1999) (TV) .... Peter Hamilton
Do Not Disturb (1999) .... Billy Boy Manson
... aka Silent Witness (1999) (USA: video title)
Something More (1999) .... Sam
Invisibles, The (1999) .... Jude
SLC Punk! (1999) .... Bob
Art House (1998) .... Danny Farthing
Screening (1998)
Hard Rain (1998) .... Kenny
Leaving Las Vegas (1995) .... College Boy #1
Blind Justice (1994) .... Soldier #1
... aka Canaan's Way (1994)
"Party of Five" (1994) TV Series .... Justin Thompson (1994-1996, recurring)
David's Mother (1994) (TV) .... David Goodson
Flood: Who Will Save Our Children?, The (1993) (TV) .... Scott Chapman
Chaplin (1992) .... Charles Chaplin Jr
Forever Young (1992) .... Steven
Newsies (1992) .... Skittery
Shelf Life (1991) .... Adam
Never Forget (1991) (TV) .... Chuck
"Life Goes On" (1989/I) TV Series .... Ray Nelson (1991-92)

CONTACT

Mailing Address
Michael Goorjian
c/o Buffalo Nights Theatre Co.
1900 Avenue of the Stars
Suite 1800
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Michael Goorjian
c/o Metropolitan Talent Agency
4526 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90010
Tel: (323 - 857-4500)

Michael Goorjian
c/o Evolution Entertainment
7722 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
USA

Email
m_goorjian@yahoo.com

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