Michael Shanks

From Wiki 24

Michael Shanks played the Washington lobbyist Mark Bishop during Season 6 of 24. He is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1, which ended after ten seasons and has entered the record books as the longest running sci-fi TV show in North America. He's been nominated seven times for his portrayal of Dr. Daniel Jackson and won a Leo Award for his performance in an episode in which he played four distinct personalities.

1 Biography
2 Selected filmography
- 2.1 Television appearances
3 Audio narrations
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Michael Garrett Shanks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up with his older brother in Kamloops, British Columbia. As with many Canadian boys, Shanks considered pursuing a career as an ice hockey player, but found that the aggression required in professional competition threatened to destroy his love of the game. Instead, he pursued acting and obtained a Fine Arts degree at the University of British Columbia. Shanks said that one of the contributing factors in his decision to become an actor was when he was 19 and watched his future Stargate SG-1 co-star Richard Dean Anderson film on the beach for the hit TV show MacGyver.

After receiving his degree, he spent two seasons in Ontario's Stratford Festival, home of the largest classical repertory theatre in North America, where he happened to meet future 24 co-star and fellow Canadian Kari Matchett. In an interview concerning his role on 24 and playing the love interest of Matchett's character Lisa Miller, Shanks said, "It was nice to work with somebody like Kari in that kind of capacity, because there was already a rapport there. We're friends from long ago, so it's easier than 'Hello, stranger, nice to meet you. By the way, I'll be taking your clothes off.' There's always an awkwardness on day one."

Shanks returned to the stage to play the highly-coveted leading role in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver during the summer of 1998. Opening night reviewer Ryan Roddy stated, "Michael Shanks, also seen regularly on the TV series Stargate SG-1, has temporarily shelved his intergalactic escapades and sports a brooding disposition as the timeless character Hamlet. Giving one of the most consistent and cohesive performances of the entire cast, Shanks explores the pensive, despondent character in great depth." Shanks welcomes opportunities to return to theatre as that is where he feels one has the chance to refine his character and the acting process in general.

Stargate SG-1 co-creator Brad Wright said that Michael was hired to play Dr. Daniel Jackson partly because he perfectly mimicked James Spader's Daniel from the original 1994 movie Stargate. When signing an anniversary edition of the movie for an auction, Shanks thanked James for ten years of work. In addition to his having several years' worth of work, Shanks also met Vaitiare Bandera, the mother of his first child, Tatiana, during the filming of the show's pilot in which she played his character's wife. Tatiana has appeared in Stargate SG-1 episodes twice: once before she was born and another as a young girl playing frisbee in the park.

Shanks met his wife Lexa Doig during the filming of his first guest appearance on her sci-fi show Andromeda. Together, they have two children, Mia and Samuel. Doig joined Stargate SG-1 during its ninth season in a recurring role as a medical doctor.

In addition to his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1, Shanks wrote and directed episodes and provided the voice for the alien character Thor.

Concerning his departure from Stargate SG-1 at the end of its fifth season, it has been documented in magazines that the telephone switchboard at MGM was overwhelmed whenever the episode in which Daniel died was aired around the world. Shanks continued playing Daniel as a guest star in the sixth season, and after a successful international fan campaign, he returned to the regular cast in the seventh season. Daniel's sci-fi manner of death permitted the character to return in the flesh. As one of the most popular guests on the international sci-fi convention circuit, speaking to several standing-room only crowds, Shanks was brought to tears when he was greeted with a five-minute standing ovation at his first convention appearance following the announcement of his Stargate character's death. Shanks continues to maintain a busy international convention schedule.

Combining his love for ice hockey and acting, Shanks was given the opportunity to play an ice hockey coach in the holiday television movie Under the Mistletoe. Shanks enthusiastically offered in an interview, "I have always wanted to play hockey on screen. Even though I was just the coach, I got to run a practice. One of my favorite all-time moments of the filming process was that we had two sheets of ice for two full shooting days. One entire sheet of ice was mine for six hours and I just got to skate up and down and fire pucks at the net. I hadn't been on skates in two years. It was absolutely wonderful to have the whole sheet of ice to myself, use it in between set-ups. And the director was happy because he could actually use me instead of having some stunt double."

During the spring of 2007, Shanks reprised his role of Dr. Daniel Jackson for two direct-to-DVD Stargate movies that were meant to contribute to the continuation of MGM's second largest franchise (James Bond is their largest). The studio has promised more movies if these two are successful, and Shanks has welcomed the new format, stating, "We know that it's going to be a better way to take some time and tell some good stories instead of what we've been doing a lot of years - telling some good stories and some not so good. This time we can really take our time and I think it's a dream fulfilled for a lot of people. Certainly a better wish would be to do a big budget feature film, but to do things like this, with less time commitment and more care taken, is something that we all are very interested in doing; especially if this is going to be the end of the road, then this is a great way to go out."

In 2005, he and his Stargate SG-1 co-star and best friend Christopher Judge started the production company Slacktwaddle Entertainment for which Shanks is business manager and producer. Their first project was to publish Judge's photography featuring actresses they knew from their work in television science fiction (including Shanks's wife Lexa Doig) in the Women of Sci Fi Calendar. Currently, they are pursuing the production of a television pilot written by Judge called Rage of Angels in which both actors will appear (Judge as the angel Gabriel and Shanks as Lucifer). MGM is backing the pilot with 24 producer Brad Turner producing and directing. The often asked for Men of Sci Fi Calendar has been put on hold.

In May 2007, Shanks was given a celebrity blog at TVGuide.com in which he talked about ice hockey and the behind-the-scenes of acting, especially in 24 and Stargate SG-1. A note to his publicist from the TV Guide folks concerning the opening of the blog read, "He already may have set a new record for number of user comments in a celeb blog posting, which is awesome." Even though the blog was breaking records, Shanks closed it as soon as Stargate SG-1 ended its ten-year run on the Sci Fi Channel in June 2007.

In December 2007, Shanks made the fan site Michael Shanks On Line (MSOL) his official website. The site features a Charity Bazaar that benefits the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, as well as keeps fans up to date on Shanks' career as an actor, writer, director, and producer.