One Life to Live

Background:

A chameleon actor, Christopher Cousins has built a career by portraying exceptional, diverse characters and has found within himself the ability to morph into the essence of whatever character he plays. He gained favorable reviews while playing the con man Cane Rogan in the long-running daytime soap “One Life to Live” (1991-1994), for which he was handed a Soap Opera Digest nomination. The gifted theatrically trained actor further displayed his versatility with performances in films For Love of the Game (1999), Dead Dog (2000), Earth Vs The Spider (2001, TV), The Long Shot (2004), the star-studded Wicker Park (2004), and TV series “The Opposite Sex” (2000).

Recently having supporting part in the Sarah Michelle Gellar vehicle The Grudge 2 (2006), Cousins is set to portray Phillip in the forthcoming horror/thriller Hangman (2007), for director Bradley Battersby.

Off camera, Cousins is a humanitarian. He has actively supported a number of community organizations such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, The Carter Center on Hunger Relief and Housing, Human Rights Watch and Actor’s Fund. In his leisure time, Cousins, whose favorite movie is Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, enjoys panting, reading, fencing as well as doing crosswords.


New Yorker

Childhood and Family:

Christopher Cousins was born on September 27, 1960 in New York, New York, but raised in Oklahoma. He was educated at Boston University. For Christopher acting is more than a career. It takes him deeper into the consciousness of himself and responsiveness of others. As an actor, he has been inspired by Los Angeles-born performer Jeff Bridges.


Hangman

Career:

26-year-old Christopher Cousins got his professional career start on the 1964’s soap “Another World,” playing Greg Houston. His first movie exposure arrived three years later, when he was cast in the supporting role of Jon-Jon in Douglas Grossman’s horror Hell High (1989), opposite Christopher Stryker and Maureen Mooney. After a gig on the long-running serial “As the World Turns” (1990), playing Colin Crowley, Cousins’ career blossom in 1991, when he landed a contract player in the 1968 ABC daytime soap opera “One Life to Live.” As Cane Rogan, a con man who pretended to be different people (Spanish lothario, Irish horse trainer, German film director, Arab prince), Cousins honed his chameleon skills and received a 1993 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Comic Performance.

After departing “One Life to Live” in 1994, Cousins found himself guest starring in several series like “Law & Order” (1994, 1997) and “Swift Justice” (1996), before making his television movie debut in the action The Substitute 2: School’s Out (1998), costarring along side Treat Williams and Edoardo Ballerini, which was followed by A Wing and a Prayer (1998) and Mind Prey (1999). In 1999, he returned to the wide screen with the Kevin Costner vehicle For Love of the Game, where he demonstrating his versatility as a complicated British businessman named Ian.

Entering the new millennium, Cousins further showcased his versatility by taking on diverse roles like as a dim, troubled character, Marquett, in the movie Dead Dog (2000, starred Jeremy Sisto), a clueless dad named Will Perry in the Fox short-lived series “The Opposite Sex” (2000) and a dishonorable and hazardous hero in the sci-fi made-for-television film Earth Vs The Spider (2001). He then was seen as a recurring character in “Stargate SG-1” (2001), and as a guest performer in series “Crossing Jordan” (2001), “Boston Public” (2002), The Practice” (2002), “Miracles” (2003), “The O.C.” (2003) as well as “The West Wing” (2003). In a 2004 episode of the popular medical series “ER,” the actor offered a notable guest appearance as a loving, brokenhearted father, Kyle Kolber.

Cousins portrayed a devoted, rural veterinarian in drama film The Long Shot (2004), a heart-warming story about defeating impossible odds to reach one’s goals. The same year, he became part of an all-star cast including Josh Hartnett, Matthew Lillard, Diane Kruger and Rose Byrne in the deep psychological romantic thriller Wicker Park. After this, Cousins focused on the small screen, appearing in guest roles in such series as “Without a Trace” (2004), “CSI: Miami” (2005), “CSI: NY” (2005) and “Cold Case” (2005), and in recurring roles in CBS’s “Joan of Arcadia” (2004) and NBC’s “American Dreams” (2003-2005). He also had a supporting role in television film Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder (2005).

The quality actor recently revisited wide screen movies as supporting role Bill in the sequel horror film The Grudge 2 (2006), directed by Takashi Shimizu and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Tamblyn. He is scheduled to play Phillip in the upcoming horror/thriller Hangman, a project by Bradley Battersby for 2007 release. On television, Cousins has recently been seen as Judge Wallace Rainer in the drama series “Vanished,” which debuted on August 2006.


Awards:
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