Kevin Zegers

Last updated

Kevin Zegers
Kevin Zegers WonderCon 2013.jpg
Zegers at the 2013 WonderCon
Born (1984-09-19) September 19, 1984 (age 39)
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
Spouse
Jaime Feld
(m. 2013)
Children2

Kevin Zegers (born September 19, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Framm in the Air Bud film series, Toby Osbourne in Transamerica (2005), Damien Dalgaard in the CW teen drama Gossip Girl , and as rookie FBI Agent Brendon Acres on the ABC crime drama The Rookie: Feds . He has also starred in the films Dawn of the Dead (2004), It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008), Frozen (2010), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones , and Nighthawks (2019).

Contents

Early life

Zegers was born in Woodstock, Ontario, [1] the son of Mary-Ellen (née Veldman), a teacher, and Jim Zegers, a quarry worker. [2] [3] [4] He has two sisters, Krista and Katie. (The latter is also an actress; she appeared with him in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness .) [5] He is of Dutch descent; all four of his grandparents were born in the Netherlands. [6] He attended St Mary's Catholic High School in Woodstock.[ citation needed ]

Zegers is active in sports, especially basketball, ice hockey, and golf. [7] [8] He played on the Hollywood Knights celebrity basketball team, raising money for local Los Angeles schools. [9]

Career

Early work

Zegers began his performing career at the age of six, appearing in about 30 TV commercials. [5] His first film role was at the age of seven, in a small part in the Michael J. Fox comedy Life with Mikey (1993), playing a younger version of Fox's character. [1] Subsequently, he made a guest appearance on the acclaimed science fiction series The X-Files , playing a stigmatic child, Kevin Kryder, in the 1995 episode "Revelations," and had a recurring role on the Canadian TV series Traders (1996). [10] [11] During this time, he appeared in several made-for-television films, including Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story , The Silence of Adultery, and Rose Hill , and as Noah Thompson in the "Let's Get Invisible!" episode of Goosebumps . [12]

His career received a major boost when he won the role of Josh Framm in Air Bud (1997), a film about a lonely boy who befriends a basketball-playing dog. Air Bud launched a franchise, with four sequels. Zegers appeared in four of the films, as well as a similar title, MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000), which featured a hockey-playing chimp. [13]

Zegers at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival Kevin Zegers TIFF 2012.jpg
Zegers at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival

Around that time, he starred in other family-friendly fare, including A Call To Remember (1997) with Joe Mantegna, [14] Nico the Unicorn (1998) with Elisha Cuthbert, Treasure Island (1999) with Jack Palance, and Time Share (2000) with Nastassja Kinski. [15] He also played a boy who discovers he is a clone in the TV series So Weird (1999). [16] While also headlining numerous family/animal films, between 1997 and 2004, Zegers had starring or costarring roles in many low-budget horror films, often Canadian, including Shadow Builder , Komodo (1999), Wrong Turn (2003), and Fear of the Dark and The Hollow (both 2004). [17]

In Four Days (1999), Zegers played a nameless boy devoted to his bank-robber father. He also appeared in the short-lived American television series Titans (2000), opposite Yasmine Bleeth, for which he was chosen by producer Aaron Spelling. It was his first regular television series role. Zegers had previously worked with Bleeth in the 1999 film It Came from the Sky , where he played a mentally disabled child visited by an angel-like couple. [18] He co-starred with Harry Hamlin in Sex, Lies & Obsession (2001), a Lifetime Network film about sex addiction, and with Gena Rowlands and James Caan in The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2003), a television film drama that won three Daytime Emmy awards: Outstanding Children/Youth/Family Special, Outstanding Performer (Rowlands), and Outstanding Writing. [19]

In the summer of 2003, he filmed the drama Some Things That Stay at the same time as the remake of Dawn of the Dead , shuttling across Canada between sets. Around this time, he also continued his television work, appearing on Smallville in 2003 and House in 2004.

2005–present

In 2005, he had a major role in the Academy Award-nominated independent film Transamerica , co-starring Felicity Huffman. Zegers' performance as Toby Osbourne, the street-hustling bisexual son of a trans woman (Huffman) was praised by several critics, and he won the Trophée Chopard for Male Revelation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. [20] Director Duncan Tucker said he had to overcome his initial wariness over Zegers' good looks before casting him for the role. [21] Variety's reviewer wrote that "Zegers... finds multiple dimensions in pic's potentially most clichéd character...," [22] and The Hollywood Reporter's critic said, "As a boy who considers sex his chief talent, Zegers... conveys Toby's essential sweetness and hunger for real affection, making him much more than just a vain or damaged kid." [23]

Also in 2005, he appeared with Shailene Woodley in Felicity: An American Girl Adventure , a television film set in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1775, based on the American Girl book series. [24] He played 15-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Davidson, an apprentice at a shop owned by Felicity's father. [25] In 2006, Zegers played supervillain Concussion in the comedy Zoom , with Tim Allen, and had the lead role opposite Samaire Armstrong in the romantic comedy It's a Boy Girl Thing . [26] He guest-starred as Damien Dalgaard in Gossip Girl from 2009 until 2010, and returned again in late 2010 for multiple episodes throughout season 4. He appeared in Rock Mafia's 2010 music video "The Big Bang", and in 2012, played the male protagonist in the television series Titanic: Blood and Steel . [27] [28] [29]

Zegers portrayed Alec Lightwood in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013). [30] He joined the cast of Fear the Walking Dead for the series' fourth season. [31]

Personal life

In August 2013, Zegers married Jaime Feld, a talent agent. [32] The couple had twin girls in August 2015.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993 Life with Mikey Little Mikey Chapman
1994 In the Mouth of Madness KidAppeared with his real-life sister Katie
1996 Specimen Bart
1997 Air Bud Josh Framm
1998 Shadow Builder Chris Hatcher
Air Bud: Golden Receiver Josh Framm
Nico the Unicorn Billy Hastings
1999 Treasure Island Jim Hawkins
Four Days Simon
Komodo Patrick Connally
2000 The Acting Class Lou Carpman
Air Bud: World Pup Josh Framm
MVP: Most Valuable Primate Steven Westover
2002 Virginia's Run Darrow Raines
Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch Josh Framm
2003 Wrong Turn Evan
Fear of the Dark Dale Billings
The Incredible Mrs. RitchieCharlie Proud
2004 Dawn of the Dead Terry
The Hollow Ian Cranston
Some Things That StayRusty Murphy
2005 Transamerica Toby Wilkins
2006 Zoom Connor Shepard / Concussion
It's a Boy Girl Thing Woody Deane/Nell Bedworth
2007 The Jane Austen Book Club Trey
Normal Jordie
The Stone Angel John Shipley
2008 Gardens of the Night Frank
The Narrows Mike Manadoro
Fifty Dead Men Walking Sean
2009 The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll Spyder
2010 Frozen Dan Walker
2011 Vampire Simon
Girl Walks into a Bar Billy
The Entitled Paul Dynan
2013 The Colony Sam
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Alec Lightwood
All the Wrong Reasons Simon Brunson
2015 The Curse of Downers Grove Chuck
2017 Aftermath John Gullick
2019 Nighthawks Chad
2022 Corrective Measures Captain Jason Brody

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 Street Legal Jeremy MorrisEpisode: "It's a Wise Child"
1993 & 1996 Tales from the Cryptkeeper 6X (voice)/Jermey (voice)Episodes: "Grounds for Horror" & ""Uncle Harry's Horrible House of Horrors"
1995–1996 The Magic School Bus Mikey RamonVoice role, 2 episodes
1994 Free Willy Einstein (voice)Episode: "Cry of the Dolphin"
Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story Larry McLinden in 1954Television film
1995 Road to Avonlea Gordon BradleyEpisode: "A Time to Every Purpose"
The X-Files Kevin KryderEpisode: "Revelations"
The Silence of AdulterySteven HarlettTelevision film
1996 Goosebumps Noah ThompsonEpisode: "Let's Get Invisible!"
The Cold Heart of a KillerMatthew ArnoldTelevision film
1996–1997 Traders Sean BlakeRecurring role (seasons 2 & 3), 7 episodes
1997 Rose Hill Cole Clayborne at 13Television film
A Call to RememberBen Tobias
1999 Twice in a Lifetime Young Flash JerichoEpisode: "Blood Brothers"
So Weird Ryan OllmanEpisode: "Second Generation"
It Came from the Sky Andy BridgesTelevision film
2000 Time Share Thomas WeilandTelevision film
2000–2001 Titans Ethan BenchleyMain role
2001Sex, Lies & ObsessionJosh ThomasTelevision film
2003 Smallville Seth NelsonEpisode: "Magnetic"
2004 House Brandon MerrellEpisode: "Occam's Razor"
2005 Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Benjamin "Ben" DavidsonTelevision film
2009–2011 Gossip Girl Damien DalgaardRecurring role (seasons 3–4), 10 episodes
2012 Titanic: Blood and Steel Mark MuirMain role
2014 Gracepoint Owen Burke
2016 Notorious Oscar Keaton
2018 Dirty John Toby SellersRecurring role
Fear the Walking Dead MelvinRecurring role (season 4) [31]
2019 Hell's Kitchen HimselfRepresented St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at a private dinner service; episode: "Poor Trev"
What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage Episode: "Flaremenon"
2021 Rebel [33] Nate [34] Main role
2022–2023 The Rookie: Feds Brendon AcresMain role

Music video

YearTitleArtist
2010"The Big Bang" Rock Mafia

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
1998 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young ActorAir BudWon
Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series: Supporting Young ActorA Call to RememberNominated
Best Performance in a TV Movie or Feature Film: Young EnsembleRose Hill
YoungStar Award Best Young Actor in a Comedy FilmAir Bud
1999 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young ActorAir Bud: Golden Receiver
2001 Young Artist Award MVP: Most Valuable Primate
2006 Cannes Film Festival Trophée Chopard – Male RevelationTransamericaWon [35]

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