Michael Vartan

Michael Vartan came to international acclaim with his starring role as ‘Agent Michael Vaughn’ in

the worldwide hit series Alias. In his first action/thriller feature film ROGUE, he plays a cynical

American travel writer who embarks on a river cruise in the Australian outback. After the group

finds themselves stranded in a treacherous lagoon, Pete (Vartan) has to battle the elements and at

times the group in order to stay alive.

Vartan has completed filming a lead role in the independent feature Jolene: My Life, with director

Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World). Based on a story from critically acclaimed author, E.L.

Doctorow (Ragtime, Billy Bathgate), the film revolves around a woman who at the age of 15,

escapes an oppressive foster care system only to jump into three disastrous marriages, each of

which forces her to rely on her survival instincts and determination to make something of her life.

Vartan plays ‘Brad Benton,’ the only son and heir to an oil drilling fortune who uses his charms to

pursue an uninterested ‘Jolene.’

This past year, Vartan starred opposite Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in New Line Cinema’s

summer blockbuster, Monster-In-Law. Playing ‘Kevin,’ a man whose overprotective mother

(Fonda) tries to derail his engagement to his fiancée (Jennifer Lopez). He has previously starred

opposite Robin Williams in the psychological thriller, One Hour Photo, playing ‘Will Yorkin,’ a

husband and father whose family becomes the obsession of Williams’ character, an employee at

the local One Hour Photo. Vartan also appeared in the two-part TNT mini-series The Mists of

Avalon, a retelling of the legendary story of Camelot, which was shot on location in Prague.

Vartan portrayed ‘Sir Lancelot,’ opposite Angelica Huston, Julianna Margulies and Joan Allen.

Born in Paris to a French father and an American mother, Vartan grew up in the tiny Normandy

village of Fleury until the age of 18 when he moved to Los Angeles to live with his mother. After

starring in two small French films, Vartan grabbed the attention of the film world with his

breakthrough performance in the 1993 Italian epic, Fiorile, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.

Vartan, who was nominated for a French Caesar Award for Best Up-and-Coming Actor, played two

characters in this fable of a curse that haunts a family through centuries.

Soon after, Vartan signed with an agent and landed a role in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!

Julie Newmar; went on to star opposite David Schwimmer in The Pallbearer; and Sony Pictures

Classics’ The Myth of Fingerprints with Julianne Moore.

In his limited free time, Vartan feeds his obsession with sports, particularly ice hockey. “If it

weren’t for acting, I’d give anything to play a professional sport,” he says, still holding onto his lifelong

dream.