Felicity

Background:

“I don't think I would be getting any of these movies without that show, and that's a strong show, a great fan base and it's helped me out a lot. It took me out of Canada and brought me down to the states and gave me my career basically.” Scott Speedman ( about his work on “Felicity”)

British born Canadian actor Scott Speedman rose to fame playing Ben Covington on the television series “Felicity” (1998-2002), from which he collected three Teen Choice nominations. His success on “Felicity” has opened his way to a triumphant movie career. Speedman is perhaps best known to moviegoers for playing Lycan Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the “Underworld” series. Other film credits include “Dark Blue” (2002), “My Life without Me” (2003), “XXX: State of the Union” (2005), “Anamorph” (2007), “The Strangers” (2008), “ Adoration” (2008), “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride” (2010), “Barney's Version” (2010) and “Good Neighbors” (2010), “The Moth Diaries” (2011) and “Edwin Boyd” (2011).

Speedman dated actress Keri Russell when they starred together in “Felicity.” They split in 2001. He later dated actress Heather Hunter. As of April 2011, he dated Teresa Palmer.

Swimmer

Childhood and Family:

Scott Speedman was born Robert Scott Speedman on September 1, 1975, in London, England, to Scottish parents. His father, Roy Speedman, was a department store buyer, while his mother, Mary Speedman, was an elementary school teacher and Olympic athlete. At age 4, he moved with his family to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Scott attended the Earl Haig Secondary School and spent his free time training as a competitive swimmer. He was a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team, and finished ninth at the 1992 Olympic trials. However, his career as a swimmer was cut short after he suffered a fatal neck injury. He then turned his attention to acting. He spent a year studying his craft at the University of Toronto. He also studied acting at York University and the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Scott has a sister named Tracy Speedman.

Underworld

Career:

Scott Speedman made his television acting debut in the Canadian made for TV drama “Net Worth” (1995), starring Todd Field, Craig Sheffer, Daniel Baldwin. The same year, he also landed a guest stint in the television series “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues,” a spin off of the 1972-1975 television series “Kung Fu,” and was featured as Ned Nickerson in the syndicated detective series “Nancy Drew,” starring Tracy Ryan as the titular character.

In the following year, Speedman portrayed Andy Gables in the CBS biopic “A Brother's Promise: The Dan Jansen Story,” which was based on the true story of Speed Skater Dan Jansen and the loving relationship with his sister Jane (played by Matt Keeslar and Jayne Brook, respectively), and Spanky Riggs in the Canadian television film “Giant Mine” (CBC), which dramatized the events of the 1992 Giant Mine labor conflict and the subsequent bomb explosion which killed nine replacement workers. Besides, he guest starred in the Canadian children's horror anthology television series “Goosebumps” and co-starred with Ian D. Clark and Liisa Repo-Martell in a 17 minute film called “Can I Get a Witness?,” which was screened at the Toronto Film Festival.

Next up for Speedman, the actor had small roles in television films “Dead Silence” (1997), starring James Garner, Kim Coates and Marlee Matlin, “What Happened to Bobby Earl?” (1997), starring Kate Jackson, Drew Ebersole and Matthew Settle, and “Every 9 Seconds” (1997), starring Gail O'Grady, Amy Pietz and Michael Riley. The same year, he also starred with Laura Harris in “Kitchen Party,” a film written and helmed by Gary Burns, and with Caleb Marshall and Karyn Dwyer in the short film “Ursa Major” (1997), which was directed and written by William Chambers.

Speedman's big break arrived when he landed the regular role of brooding college student Ben Covington on the American college drama series “Felicity,” starring Keri Russell as the titular character. The show ran for four seasons of 84 episodes on The WB television network from September 29, 1998 to May 22, 2002. During his tenure, Spedman was nominated for Teen Choice Awards in the categories of TV - Breakout Performance (1999), TV - Choice Actor (2000) and TV - Choice Actor-drama (2002).

While working on the show, Speedman also acted in Showtime's historical film “Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples” (1998) and teamed up with Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti, Maria Bello, Andre Braugher, Huey Lewis and Angie Dickinson in “Duets” (2000), a road trip film co-produced and directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by John Byrum. He returned to features by playing Detective Bobby Keough on the critically acclaimed cop drama “Dark Blue” (2002), which was directed by Ron Shelton.

In 2003, Speedman was cast as the husband of a terminally ill woman in the independent drama “My Life without Me,” opposite fellow Canadian high school alum Sarah, and starred along side Kate Beckinsale, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, Erwin Leder and Bill Nighy in the action/horror film “Underworld,” helmed by Len Wiseman. The films brought him Golden Wave for Best Actor (Meilleur Interprétation Masculine) from the 2003 Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema and Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award Male from the 2004 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, respectively. 2004 found him starring with James Marsden and Sofia Vergara in the film adaptation of “ The 24th Day.”

Speedman played Agent Kyle Christopher Steele in the high octane sequel “XXX: State of the Union” (2005), opposite Ice Cube, reprised his role as Michael in the installment “Underworld: Evolution” (2006), starred with Wes Bentley and Taryn Manning in Alan Moyle's “Weirdsville” (2007), and portrayed Carl Uffner in the crime/horror film “Anamorph” (2007), opposite Willem Dafoe. He co-starred with Liv Tyler in the horror thriller “The Strangers” (2008), from which he netted a Teen Choice nomination for Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller, and with Rachel Blanchard and Devon Bostick in directed by Atom Egoyan's “ Adoration” (2008), where he was nominated for a Genie for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Tom.

Following a short hiatus, Speedman resurfaced in 2010 with roles in the films “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride,” “Barney's Version” and “Good Neighbors.”

Recently co-starring with Sarah Bolger and Lily Cole in the horror film “The Moth Diaries” (2011) and with Kevin Durand and Brian Cox in “Edwin Boyd” (2011), Speedman will portray Jeremy in the upcoming film “The Vow” (2012), opposite Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum and Sam Neill. He is also set to reprise his role of Michael Corvin in the upcoming sequel “Underworld Awakenin” (2012).

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award Male, “Underworld,” 2004

• Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema: Golden Wave, Best Actor (Meilleur Interprétation Masculine), “My Life Without Me,” 2003