Actor / Director Profile

Michael Vartan was born on 27th November 1968 in France, the only child of a Eddie Vartan, a Bulgarian-born musician of Armenian-Hungarian decent, and Doris Vartan (nee' Pucher) a Jewish immigrant who was born in Poland. His parents divorced when he was only five. He spent his childhood shuttling between France (where his father, a musician, lived) and the United States (where his mother lived). At the age of eighteen, after deciding against joining the French military service (mandatory for all males above 18 in France) Michael shifted to the States. He hadn't really thought about becoming an actor. He enrolled in an acting school after being told by many people that he had the potential for it. He made his acting debut in the French film Un homme et deux femmes (1991) and followed that with another French film called Promenades d'été (1992). It was with the Italian film Fiorile (1993), in which he played (rather ironically), a French soldier that he made his international debut. He considers The Pallbearer (1996), in which he starred with David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow to be his first big American movie.He gave an impressive performance in The Myth of Fingerprints (1997) as Jake, who, during a Thanksgiving family reunion tries to gain some perspective into the nature of love and family relationships. Michael's true mettle as an actor was seen when he played a character that he has described as being most unlike him. The role was that of the English Lit teacher-cum-Prince Charming Sam Coulson in the 1999 hit Never Been Kissed (1999) and it catapulted Michael to never experienced popularity and adulation. He followed his much talked about NBK performance with similar good ones in The Next Best Thing (2000) and It Had to Be You (2000). Meanwhile, he joined stellar company by being one among the biggest names in Hollywood to feature on shows like "Ally McBeal" (1997) and "Friends" (1994).He also played the role of the legendary Lancelot in the serialized version of Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel The Mists of Avalon (2001) (TV). In 2001, he became a regular feature on TV playing CIA agent Michael Vaughn in the series "Alias" (2001). Still playing the character, he has described it as being more close to home than his previous roles. Hockey is a passion with Michael. He also enjoys other sports, as much for the joy of playing them as for the therapeutic value he derives from them! He continues rendering impressive performances in films, his latest being One Hour Photo (2002).