The Portrait of a Lady

Background:

“Hal and I are close friends. I understand his language, his humor, his film language, what he is trying to say. I tell actors who are new to Hal--this is more like dance. It's not acting naturalistically, it's carefully choreographed. Gestures are important and specific gestures are very important.” Martin Donovan (on writer/director Hal Hartley)

American actor who began his career with Los Angeles' American Theater Arts Martin Donovan is known for his long-running collaboration with independent filmmaker Hal Hartley. Since their debut in “Trust” (1990), an art house darling that established the light-haired performer as a star in the independent films, Donovan has appeared in Hartley's numerous other projects like “Surviving Desire” (1991), “Simple Men” (1992), “Flirt” (1995) and “The Book of Life” (1999). He even took home a Chlotrudis nomination for his bright starring turn opposite Isabelle Hupper in the critically acclaimed “Amateur” (1994), which was selected for both the Cannes and New York Film Festivals. Donovan earned her next Chlotrudis nominations in Angela Pope's “Hollow Reed” and Jane Campion's “The Portrait of a Lady” (both 1996). It was his turn as the fallacious Englishman Ralph Touchette in the latter movie that brought the tall and gangling actor more notice as well as an accolade as Best Supporting Actor from the National Society of Film Critics. His more recent and upcoming movie credits include “The Opposite of Sex” (1998), “Living Out Loud” (1998), “Insomnia” (2002), “Agent Cody Banks” (2003), “Saved!” (2004), “The Quiet” (2005), “The Visitation” (2006), “The Sentinel” (2006), “Wind Chill” (2007), “The Alphabet Killer” (2008) and “The Haunting in Connecticut” (2008). On the small screen, Donovan is perhaps most popular for playing Nancy's DEA lover, Peter Scottson, on Showtime's “Weeds” (2005-2006). He has played regular roles in ABC's “Wonderland” (2000) and Fox 's “Pasadena” (2001-2002), recurring roles in “Dead Zone” (2005-2007) and “Ghost Whisperer” (2007-2008) and one-episodic roles in such series as “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Besides, he has collected a number of TV movie credits, including “When Trumpets Fade” (1998), “The Great Gatsby” (2000), “RFK” (2002), “Dark Shadow” (2004).

Donovan has been married to actress Vivian Lanko since 1984. The couple and their two sons live in Vancouver, Canada.

Installer

Childhood and Family:

Born Martin R. Smith on August 19, 1957, in Reseda, California, Martin Donovan is one of four children who grew up in a middle-class family of Irish American origin. He spent two years studying at the Los Angeles Pierce College before attending the American Theater Arts in Los Angeles.

In 1984, Martin married actress Vivian Lanko, who starred in the Brian Thomas Jones remake of “Rejuvenatrix” (1988) and appeared with Martin in the 1992 comedy “Simple Men.” The couple lived in New York for a number of years, but now reside in Vancouver, Canada. In New York, Martin, who has two children, took odd jobs, including installing draperies, to support his family.

Hartley's Regular

Career:

California native Martin Donovan started out as a stage actor while attending the American Theater Arts, a joint conservatory and theater company in Los Angeles. He appeared in the plays “Richard Cork's Leg,” by Brendan Behan and “Private Life of the Master Race,” by Brecht. Moving to New York in 1983, the handsome performer worked with the Cacaracha Theater on Greenwich Street and picked up odd jobs on the side to help pay the expenses. He began his movie career in 1985 when he landed the role of Josh in an independent drama directed and penned by Rick King, “Hard Choices,”opposite John Sayles, John Snyder and J.T. Walsh. He followed it up by making his TV miniseries debut in the 1987 based-on-novel drama “At Mother's Request” (CBS), which starred Ray Baker.

Donovan's luck started to change when filmmaker Hal Hartley tapped him to star as Matthew Slaughter, an intellectual high school graduate with an extraordinary talent for fixing electronic devices, in the art house favorite “Trust” (1990), along side Adrienne Shelly. The role launched Donovan as a lead in the independent movies. He reunited with Hartley in the following years for the indie-comedy “Surviving Desire” (1991), which was made for PBS' American Playhouse, and the Toronto-premiered “Simple Men” (1992), in which he played the supporting role of Martin. He also starred in Hartley's phenomenal short, “Flirt” (1993), which was later incorporated into the director's triptych of the same name (1995), and offered a fine turn as amnesic Thomas in Hartley's critically praised “Amateur” (1994), from which he was nominated for a 1996 Chlotrudis for Best Actor. He starred in the movie with Isabelle Huppert.

Meanwhile, Donovan teamed up with director Spike Lee in the biopic of the controversial and potent Black Nationalist leader, “Malcolm X” (1992), starring Denzel Washington, rejoined Rick King for the B-movie “Quick” (1993), starred as John Abbott in Eran Palatnik's indie-drama “The Rook” (1994) and portrayed the nephew of vampire hunter Van Helsing (played by Peter Fonda) in Michael Almereyda's horror “Nadja” (1994). On the small screen, he costarred with Christopher Walken, Lorraine Bracco and Miguel Ferrer in the Showtime TV film “Scam” (1993), playing a bookkeeper named Gordon Wexler, and made appearances in small roles in two special episodes of Nickelodeon's comedy series “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” (1993).

Following a good turn as a gay man whose marriage ended in divorce after revealing his homosexuality and later fought his former wife for custody of their son, in the Angela Pope-directed “Hollow Reed” (1996), for which he netted his second Best Actor Chlotrudis nomination, Donovan got his breakthrough screen role as Nicole Kidman's exploitative intimate, Ralph Touchett, in Jane Campion's “The Portrait of a Lady” (also 1996), adapted from Henry James' novel of the same name. His performance won the hearts of both audiences and critics alike, and he was handed a National Society of Film Critics for Best Supporting Actor and a Chlotrudis nomination in the same category.

1998 found the versatile actor star as a present-day Christ in “The Book of Life,” which was directed by frequent collaborator Hartley, and delivered another notable turn in Don Roos' black comedy “The Opposite of Sex,” playing the overly patient half-brother of Christina Ricci, Bill Truitt. He continued to demonstrate his versatility with performances in Scott Reynolds' “Heaven” (1998), playing a mental transsexual named Robert Marling, Daphna Kastner's “Spanish Fly” (1998), Richard LaGravenese's “Living Out Loud” (1998), in which he was stood out as the philandering husband of Holly Hunter, Martha Fiennes' “Onegin” (1999), starring Ralph Fiennes, and Bill Bennett's “In a Savage Land” (1999), opposite Rufus Sewell.

By this period, Donovan had also added some TV credits to his resume. He supported Valerie Bertinelli, Harry Hamlin and Karen Sillas in the CBS kidnap drama “Night Sins” (1997), costarred with Dana Delany in the based-on-book “Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples” (1998), jointly helmed by Tim Hunter and Lynne Littman, and played the role of Capt. Roy Pritchett in John Irvin's World War II drama, “When Trumpets Fade” (HBO, 1998). In 1999, he was seen as Richard DiBenedetto in the thriller “The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer,” which starred Kevin Anderson,Tom Skerritt and Naomi Watts.

Entering the new millennium, Donovan went on to act in several television programs. He portrayed Lorraine Bracco's stay-at-home husband in the sport-themed “Custody of the Heart,” was cast as Tom Buchanan in the BBC/A&E adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” and even made his debut as a series regular in the ABC drama “Wonderland” (all 2000). He costarred with Elisabeth Shue and Hanna Hall in Lloyd Kramer's TV film adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's “Amy & Isabelle” (2001), produced by Oprah Winfrey, and made his return to series TV in the short-lived Fox serial “Pasadena,” a drama/mystery that reunited him with Dana Delany. The actor played Will McAllister since its debut in September 2001 till its cancellation in July 2002.

Donovan revisited the cinematic industry since the Canadian movie “Desire” (2000) with roles in the romantic comedy “Pipe Dreams” (2002), for director John Walsh, and Christopher Nolan's crime/thriller “Insomnia” (also 2002), in which he was cast in the costarring role of Hap Eckhart, opposite Al Pacino. After playing John F. Kennedy in the made-for-TV film “RFK” (2002), he assumed the supporting role of Harry Pollard in the basketball movie “The United States of Leland” (2003), appeared in the Frankie Muniz espionage hit “Agent Cody Banks” (2003) and finely portrayed Pastor Skip in the dark comedy “Saved!” (2004), starring Jena Malone. He also appeared in the episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (both 2003), played Roger Collins in P.J. Hogan's telepic “Dark Shadows” and costarred as Brent Delaney, opposite Cliff Curtis, in the miniseries “Traffic” (both 2004).

Back to series TV, Donovan enjoyed some recognition with his role as Peter Scottson, the love interest of Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker), in the critically acclaimed Showtime series “Weeds.” During his tenure (from 2005-2006), he jointly nabbed a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by An Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Donovan also had a recurring role as Malcolm Janus on Stephen King's “Dead Zone” (2005). At that same time, Donovan could also be seen in such movies as “At Last: (2005), “The Quiet” (2005), a sexually charged independent film by Jamie Babbit, “The Garage” (2006), “The Visitation” (2006, starred opposite Edward Furlong), “The Sentinel” (2006, with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland) and “Day on Fire” (2006), screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2007, Donovan costarred with Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes in Gregory Jacobs' horror/thriller “Wind Chill,” guested as Cliff Addison in the “Masters of Horror” episode of “Right to Die” as well as started his recurring role as Tom Gordon in “Ghost Whisperer.”

Recently, Donovan supported Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes and Timothy Hutton in the drama/thriller “The Alphabet Killer” (2008). He has currently completed filming “The Haunting in Connecticut” (2008), a horror/thriller movie directed by Peter Cornwell. Among his costars in the movie are Virginia Madsen, Elias Koteas,Sophi Knight and Ty Wood.

Awards:

• National Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor, “The Portrait of a Lady,” 1997