Scott Speedman Biography

Robert Scott Speedman (born September 1, 1975), better known as Scott Speedman, is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for playing Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series Felicity and Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–action Underworld films.

Early life

Speedman was born in London, England, to Scottish parents Mary Campbell, a primary school teacher and champion runner, and Roy Speedman, a department store buyer. At the age of four, he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario. He was a competitive swimmer who attended Earl Haig Secondary School's now defunct gifted athlete program. As a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team, Speedman placed ninth at the 1992 Olympic trials. Suffering a neck injury soon after, he was forced to leave the sport. To find a new focus outside of athletics, Speedman became interested in acting. He went on to attend the University of Toronto and York University to study his craft.

Career

Encouraged by a friend to appear on Speaker's Corner, a viewer open-forum run by Toronto's Citytv, Speedman professed interest in auditioning for the role of Robin in the film Batman Forever, which was being cast in Toronto at the time. Though the appearance earned him an audition, Speedman was not cast in the role, which was ultimately given to Chris O'Donnell. The audition did, however, give Speedman the exposure he needed and he quickly arranged an agent and began auditioning for Canadian television and film roles.

Speedman's TV debut came in 1995 with the Canadian series Net Worth. After appearing in several small TV roles, Speedman decided to go to New York City to study for a short time at the Neighborhood Playhouse before dropping out and returning home to Toronto. His big break came when he got a call from an American casting agent who wanted him to audition for a new series called Felicity. Portraying brooding college student Ben Covington opposite overnight star Keri Russell as Felicity, Speedman received much acclaim on the popular series. Soon after Felicity, Speedman began to get offers for more prominent roles while working on the series. In 2000, Speedman was given the role of Billy Hannan opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the film Duets.

After ending a four-year run on Felicity, Speedman quickly found success in film. In 2003 he landed a role opposite Kurt Russell in the police drama Dark Blue, portraying an inexperienced L.A.P.D. detective caught in a web of corruption. Next, Speedman portrayed the husband of a terminally ill woman opposite fellow Canadian and high-school alumna Sarah Polley in the independent drama My Life Without Me. Speedman won a "Golden Wave Award" for his work on the film.

Landing his first major starring role in a feature that same year, Speedman appeared opposite Kate Beckinsale in the supernatural thriller Underworld. Making an impression on audiences in the stylized vampire-werewolf film, Speedman was honored with a Saturn Award in the category "Cinescape Face of the Future Award". Then, he went on to star alongside James Marsden in the thriller The 24th Day and opposite Ice Cube in XXX: State of the Union. Upon the success of the first Underworld film, Speedman reprised his role as Michael Corvin in the 2006 sequel Underworld: Evolution. Speedman appeared with Liv Tyler in the 2008 horror"thriller The Strangers, and also alongside Rachel Blanchard in Adoration, directed by Atom Egoyan.

In July 2009, it was reported that Speedman was to star alongside Dustin Hoffman among others in the film adaption of Barney's Version. Pre-production began in August 2009, and filming took place in Rome, New York and Canada. Speedman also starred in the independent Western The Last Rites of Ransom Pride alongside Lizzy Caplan and Dwight Yoakum. Archive footage of Speedman from the previous Underworld films was used in the 2012 sequel Underworld: Awakening, and his facial likeness was superimposed on a stand-in for his character's brief role in the film. Speedman last starred as XO Sam Kendal in the ABC military drama series Last Resort, which premiered on September 27, 2012.

In June 2013, Speedman was selected to star in Ryan Murphy's HBO production called "Open" alongside Wes Bentley.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Net Worth	Rookie	Television film
	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	Cam Nillson	TV, 1 episode: "Goodbye Mr. Caine"
	Nancy Drew	Ned Nickerson	TV, 5 episodes
1996	Goosebumps	Officer Madison	TV, 1 episode: "Say Cheese and Die"
	A Brother's Promise: The Dan Jansen Story	Andy Gables	Television film
	Can I Get a Witness?	Unknown
	Giant Mine	Spanky Riggs	Television film
1997	Ursa Major	Jason
	What Happened to Bobby Earl?	Steve Talbert	Television film
	Kitchen Party	Scott
	Every 9 Seconds	Greg	Television film
1998	Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples	Patrick	Television film
1998"2002	Felicity	Ben Covington	TV, 84 episodes Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Breakout Performance Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor " Drama
2000	Duets	Billy
2002	Dark Blue	Detective Bobby Keough
2003	My Life Without Me	Don
	Underworld	Michael Corvin	Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award " Male
2004	The 24th Day	Tom
2005	xXx: State of the Union	Agent Kyle Christopher Steele
2006	Underworld: Evolution	Michael Corvin
2007	Weirdsville	Dexter
	Anamorph	Carl Uffner
2008	Adoration	Tom
	The Strangers	James Hoyt	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor " Horror/Thriller
2009	The Last Rites of Ransom Pride	Ransom Pride
2010	Barney's Version	Boogie
	Good Neighbours	Spencer
2011	The Moth Diaries	Mr. Davies
	Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster	Edwin Boyd
2012	Underworld: Awakening	Michael Corvin	Archive footage
	The Vow	Jeremy
	Last Resort	XO Sam Kendal	TV, main cast
2014	Queen of the Night		post-production