Michael A. Goorjian

Michael A. Goorjian
Born Michael Antranig Goorjian
(1971-02-04) February 4, 1971
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor/Filmmaker
Years active 1991–present

Michael Antranig Goorjian born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an Armenian-American actor, filmmaker, and writer. He is also known for his role as Justin, Neve Campbell’s love interest on the Golden Globe-winning series Party of Five (1994 – 2000), as well as Heroin Bob in the film SLC Punk! and its sequel, Punk's Dead. As a director, Michael achieved recognition for his first major independent film, Illusion, which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas.

Biography

Acting

Goorjian grew up in Oakland, and attended Bishop O'Dowd High School, which had a strong drama program.[1] At the age of 14 he decided to audition for a local theatre company thinking it was a ‘cool way’ to skip class. After landing the lead role in a 'not-so-cool play called Computer Crazy, Michael soon found out that the rest of the cast were all senior citizens and that he would have to perform the play at his own junior high. Despite this rather humiliating experience, Michael stuck with acting and eventually trained at UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television.[2]

Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie in the TV movie David's Mother starring Kirstie Alley.[3] Ray Loynd commented that Goorjian contributed "a wealth of physical and emotional detail that underscores the familial havoc".[4]

Michael’s first big Hollywood break came as a dancer when in 1992 he was cast as Skittery in the Disney film Newsies starring Christian Bale and Robert Duvall. What followed was roles in numerous films including Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr., Forever Young with Mel Gibson, the Oscar-nominated Leaving Las Vegas, Hard Rain with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater, SLC Punk!, The Invisibles with Portia de Rossi, Broken with Heather Graham and Conversations with God.

Michael also guest starred in a number of television series including Lie to Me, House, Alias, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without A Trace, Chicago Hope as well as a recurring role on Life Goes On as Ray Nelson. He also appeared in the 2005 TV film Reefer Madness, a satirical musical adaptation of the anti-marijuana film from the 1930s.

Theater

Michael is a founding member of the Los Angeles-based theater group, Buffalo Nights and starred in the West Coast premiere of Dennis McIntyre’s drama Modigliani, which won him a L.A. Weekly Theater Award nomination for Best Lead Actor. With the ‘Nights’, Michael also received critical acclaim for playing title roles in both productions of The Apollo of Bellac by Jean Giraudoux, and J.B. by Archibald MacLeish. Michael also won a LA Critics Choice and a Garland Backstage West awards for his original choreography for the L.A. production of the musical Reefer Madness.

Director

Michael made his first real foray into directing with the mock-documentary Oakland Underground, a comedy about an underground occult music scene in Oakland, CA. From there, Michael made Illusion with Kirk Douglas, which was released theatrically in 2006 after racking up over a dozen festival awards, including Best Screenplay at The Hampton’s International Film Festival, Best Feature at the Lake Tahoe International Film Festival and The Audience Award at the Sonoma International Film Festival. With Illusion Michael was critically lauded for his ability to blend great filmmaking with philosophical depth. Soon after Illusion, Michael began collaborating with the publishing company Hay House to produce and direct a number of films including the documentary You Can Heal Your Life (2007), starring metaphysical author and teacher, Louise L. Hay and The Shift, starring author Dr. Wayne Dyer, along with Michael DeLuise and Portia de Rossi. His most recent work with Hay House is an original film anthology called Tales of Everyday Magic, which explores meaningful philosophical ideas through intimate character-driven stories.

Additional directing credits include the short film Players’ Club, which swept the 2006 Elevate Film Festival in Los Angeles, including Best Director and The War Prayer, an adaptation of Mark Twain’s short story by the same title starring Jeremy Sisto. Michael also moonlights directing a circus/cabaret show in eastern-European called Palazzo.

References

  1. ↑ Bergman, Anne. "Emmy Nominee in Good Company at Sunday's Show", Los Angeles Times, September 7, 1994
  2. ↑ "20th Century Screenwriters: Michael Goorjian", Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
  3. ↑ "The 46TH Annual Emmy Awards: Who Won What: The List of Winners on TV's Annual Night of Nights", Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1994
  4. ↑ Loynd, Ray. "'David's Mother' Hides Behind Jokes", Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1994
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