Michael Shanks

Michael Garrett Shanks was born in Vancouver on 15 December 1970, the younger of two brothers. He grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia. Michael describes himself as "some kind of overachiever" at school, playing defense at hockey, fly-half and later wing at rugby, being a member of the Student Council, and joining the theatre group. One of the roles he played, that of The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, was a forecast of things to come: in 2006, he again took on the mantle of the King of the Forest during a parody of the 1939 movie in the Stargate SG-1 episode "200".

As well as acting in the theatre group, he also directed, but at that time, an acting career didn't seem to be on the horizon. Instead, at 16, he had to decide whether or not to become a professional hockey player. He chose not to, but he continues to support the Canucks (though pragmatically admits that sometimes "They suck") and has played for the Stargate SG-1 team against teams from other Vancouver-based shows. Having decided that pro hockey was not for him, Michael went to the University of British Columbia to study business, financing his studies by taking laboring and lumberjack work. He switched to Theatre and graduated in March 1994 with a degree in Fine Arts. From UBC, Michael spent two years at the Stratford Festival (Ontario), taking on a number of small roles such as Madison, The Commish and Highlander.

In 1997, Michael auditioned for the role of Dr Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1, the TV spin-off of the original Stargate movie. Michael went into the audition with his spot-on impersonation of James Spader (who had played Daniel Jackson in the movie) and got the job. He could also, as Brad Wright said, "do humor". After five seasons of Stargate SG-1, Michael left the series, citing lack of use of the character of Daniel Jackson as the reason behind his decision. A fan campaign to return Michael (and Daniel Jackson) to the show started when it was announced that he was leaving (www.savedanieljackson.com). A year later it was announced that Michael would return as a full-time member of the cast for season seven.

After leaving Stargate SG-1 at the end of season 5, Michael had a number of roles in movies such as Suddenly Naked with Wendy Crewson, Suspicious River with Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie, Mary Higgins Clark's All Around The Town and the Emmy-award winning Door to Door with William H Macy, Helen Mirren and Kyra Sedgwick. He did a number of guest appearances on shows such as Outer Limits and Andromeda, and starred as Adam Wade in the reworking of Max Rohmer's Sumuru, filmed in South Africa. In addition, he took the opportunity to meet fans at conventions in the US, Australia and Europe. Although not part of the main cast of Stargate SG-1 during Season 6, he did reprise the role of Daniel Jackson in three episodes, "Abyss", "The Changeling" (written by his close friend, Christopher Judge, who plays Teal'c) and "Full Circle", the season six finale and continued to voice Thor, the Asgard leader.

During the ten-year run of Stargate SG-1, Michael also directed and written for the show. His directorial debut was the complex season 4 episode "Double Jeopardy". In season 7 he further stretched his creativity by writing the episode "Resurrection", having already received a story credit for the episode "Evolution, Part 1". During the mid-season filming hiatus in 2006, Michael completed a made-for-TV film for the Lifetime Network, Under The Mistletoe, which aired in December 2006. At the end of filming for the tenth and final season of Stargate SG-1, Michael flew to Bulgaria to film MegaSnake, a movie for the SciFi Channel. Immediately upon his return to the US, he began work on a second movie for the Lifetime Channel. Judicial Indiscretion, which co-starred Academy Award nominee Anne Archer, aired in April 2007.

He then went on to a 3-episode recurring role on Fox Channel's 24, as Mark Bishop. In mid-April 2007 he began filming the first of two Stargate SG-1 DVD movies, The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. In 2006, Michael, along with his friend and co-star, Christopher Judge, formed Slacktwaddle Productions. Their first creation was the 2007 Women of Sci Fi calendar, with a Men of Sci Fi to follow in 2008. Both actors are also slated to be executive producers - and to star in - a series written by Christopher Judge. The project is currently in the planning stages and as of writing not confirmed to proceed.

Michael has a daughter, Tatiana, born in August 1998, with his former partner, Vaitiare Bandera (Sha're in Stargate SG-1). In August 2003, he married Lexa Doig, whom he met on the set of Andromeda when he guest-starred as Gabriel, in the episode "Starcrossed". On 13 September 2004, Lexa gave birth to their daughter Mia Tabitha. 18 months later on 19 March 2006, they welcomed their first son, Samuel David, into the world.

David Anders

David began acting as a young boy in school plays in his native southern Oregon, but athletics occupied him until he was a senior in high school. At 17, he played Philip the Apostle in a regional theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The following year Anders won the part of George in his high school's production of Our Town. Directly following that, he went on to portray Freddy Eynsford-Hill in a production of My Fair Lady. Following the closing of My Fair Lady in August 1999, David faced some big decisions regarding his life and career. He had been accepted at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California, but decided to make the huge leap of immersing himself in the business immediately. One week and 800 miles later, he landed in Los Angeles. He took the stage name of David Anders because there is already an actor named David Holt. He made the decision to go by his middle name, Anders.

On stage, Anders played the lead role in the world premiere of Rockne: The Musical. He also appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank, which received an award for Best Ensemble performance at the Backstage West Garland Awards. Although there is no such thing as an "overnight success," David landed the role of Alias' Julian Sark after just two film and television credits - the independent film The Surge and an appearance on the Olsen twins television series So Little Time. The role he received was his breakthrough role in J.J. Abrams' Alias, as an assassin with no loyalty, Mr. Sark. It was first a guest starring which eventually became a regular.

To make ends meet before finding success on Alias, Anders worked at The Gap and taught tennis. In December 2001 he appeared in The Source magazine in an ad for the rapper Canibus, in which Anders doubles as Eminem. David was also in many various plays and guest starring roles. He had a part in Charmed, CSI and Grey's Anatomy. David is currently working on the independent films Peathingy and Left of Darkness. He could also be seen at an Off-Broadway rock musical, Beautiful.

Anders still enjoys all athletics and is proficient in most. He loves working with kids and teaches tennis in Los Angeles in the summer. When not in his instructional mode on the tennis court, he likes to play as much golf as he possibly can - recently playing in two Celebrity Pro-Am events at The Riviera and Malibu Country Clubs.

In 2006 David became a part of Alias (and in 2007 Heroes) costar Greg Grunberg's band, Band From TV. He sings main vocals alongside Bonnie Somerville. Other than Grunberg, Hugh Laurie (House) on keyboards and James Denton (Desperate Housewives) on guitar will be a part of the project. The band's main goal is to raise money for major charities. According to Grunberg they "charge an incredible amount of money to play corporate events, but if it's all going to charity, then it's worth every dime."

In 2007, David was cast in a series-regular role in the second season of NBC’s hit Heroes as Kane/Takezo Kensei, a new character who's been alive for 1,000 years.