6 Toronto-Based Actors to Look Out For
They hail from T-dot but these talented actors are making a big splash on the Hollywood screen.
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Television and film actor. Pentathlon Champion. Father. Werewolf . . . Born in Scarborough, Ontario and raised in a farm town northeast of Toronto, Kris' driven spirit has garnered success in many areas of his life. Kris knew he wanted to be an actor early on; however, acting wasn't a widely-supported career choice in his family. Instead of pursuing it right away, Kris opted to attend Montreal's Concordia University School of Business to study international commerce.
While continuing his education, Kris also competed in sports, as he was a strong athlete throughout grammar and high school. Quickly, he excelled as an athlete, becoming a member of the Canadian National Pentathlon Team and achieving silver medals from both the Pan American and Pan Pacific Pentathlon Championships for riding and fencing. Although Kris was an extremely talented athlete, both his financial situation and his interests led him into the acting world.
In 1994, Holden-Ried joined a small agency in Montreal in the hopes of making some money, so he could continue his education. His first audition that came up was for the title/leading role in *Young Ivanhoe*, a 12th-century dramatic children's period-piece TV movie. Kris had the skills, the looks, and luckily, as it turns out, the talent. He landed this first audition and has been working as an actor ever since.
Kris starred as Dyson in the Syfy series *Lost Girl*, where he portrayed a very likable werewolf-shifter, working in the human world as a police detective. You can also see Kris as Quint in the fourth *Underworld* installment, *Underworld Awakening*, as well as *The Returned*.
Viewers may also know Kris as William Compton on Showtime's former hit series, *The Tudors* (2007), as he has been working nonstop for nearly two decades. Other credits include multi-episode arcs on *Degrassi: The Next Generation*, *M.V.P.*, and *The Bridge*. His film credits include *K-19: The Widowmaker* and *Gossip*, amongst others.
To improve his craft, Holden-Ried has trained with Uta Hagen's Master Class Scene Study, and with Janine Manatis of the Actor's Studio NY and the National Film Acting School.
When Kris isn't acting, he enjoys adventure, traveling, and being outdoors. Some of his interests include sailing, scuba diving, surfing, and yoga, with one of his favorite films being *Gandhi*.
If he could work with anyone, it would be some of the great classic directors, such as Scorsese, Scott, and Spielberg, as Kris would love to transition to behind the camera one day. Kris lives in Toronto with his son and his black Labrador, Hopper.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Alan Van Sprang was born on 19 June 1971 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Immortals (2011), Diary of the Dead (2007) and Narc (2002).- Actor
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Cas Anvar lit up our screens when internationally acclaimed series "The Expanse" premiered five years ago. His character Alex on The Expanse" became an instant fan favorite and one of the most quoted characters of the show. In spring 2020, he wrapped shooting his fifth and final season of the hit Amazon Prime series and, hours later, Cas was cast opposite Viola Davis on "How to Get Away With Murder" in the lauded series' final season. Cas played the boyfriend to Viola's character; he delivered and got invited back for five episodes, immediately catapulting him as a viable contender as best Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2020 Emmy Awards.
He just wrapped a guest appearance on Dick Wolf's "FBI: International" airing on Prime Video. In 2020, Anvar appeared in two high profile feature films which garnered substantial audiences on Amazon Prime. He co-starred in celebrated filmmaker Veena Sud's most recent motion picture, "The Lie" (Blumhouse) opposite Peter Sarsgaard, Mireille Enos and Joey King which premiered at TIFF 2019 last year and in "Draupadi Unleashed" (Passion River Films), a 16th century Indian period piece which previewed at Cannes. In 2019, Cas starred in Vertical Entertainment's feature film, international spy thriller "The Operative" with Diane Kruger and Martin Freeman which premiered to sell out audiences at Berlinale '19 garnering significant reviews.
The Canadian-born actor and voice-over star, who graduated from Montreal's prestigious National Theatre School (Canada's Julliard), first came to popular attention for his portrayal of Kambiz Foroohar in the Cruise/Wagner film "Shattered Glass," nominated for 4 Spirit Awards and a Golden Globe. Cas' versatility on the big screen ranges from roles opposite Ben Affleck in the Oscar winning feature film "Argo" (garnering a SAG "Outstanding Performance" Award), Jake Gyllenhaal in the Sci-Fi adventure "Source Code," co-starring in Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal" opposite Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones and Stanley Tucci and in Oscar contender "Room."
Guest TV appearances include the recurring character "Sanjay Desai," an opportunistic young businessman, in the third and fourth seasons of FX's critically lauded, "The Strain," CBS' hit "NCIS: LA" and "Intelligence," USA network's "In Plain Sight," TNT's "Leverage," Fox's "24," ABC's "Castle," co-hosting PBS 2015 Christmas special to resounding critical acclaim and as the lead character in SyFy's 2015 series, "Olympus." He is a favorite at Comic Cons throughout the world for his voice acting roles and, of course, television roles. On talk shows he is a favorite for his exceptional anecdotes, casual story-telling and impeccable delivery.
An accomplished stage actor, Anvar has played countless leading roles in Shakespeare's most famous plays and was intricately involved with the acclaimed Shakespeare-in-the-Park touring company and Montreal-based Repercussion Theatre for many years. Fluent in English, French and Farsi, Anvar credits a good portion of his wide-ranging creativity to his exotic cultural and spiritual heritage. He splits his time between Toronto and Los Angeles.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Pedro Miguel Arce was born in 1976 in Managua, Nicaragua. He was an actor and producer, known for Land of the Dead (2005), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and Polar (2019). He died on 9 December 2022 in Toronto, Canada.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Sebastian Pigott was born on 14 February 1983 in Toronto, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Slasher (2016), The Order (2024) and Two Deaths of Henry Baker (2020).- Andrew Rotilio was born in Toronto, Canada. He is an actor known for playing Diogo Harari in the Award-Winning Television Series The Expanse on Amazon Prime alongside Thomas Jane, Jared Harris and David Strathairn (2015-Present). He played Luke in the internationally acclaimed feature film The Hotel Dieu (2015), in which he was nominated for Best Actor. He played Chris in the award-winning film The Wash (2014), which premiered at Viola Davis's Capital City Film Festival.