Christopher William Martin (born January 17, 1975), also known as Corky Martin or Chris Martin, is a Canadian actor.Glen Schaefer, "Felicity's hair-raiser: Vancouver actor Chris Martin's job was to stir the pot and divert attention from star Keri Russell's bad crop. The result: more bad hair. `I looked like Eraserhead'". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'', July 16, 2000. He has appeared on a number of television series, including '' Felicity'' and ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...

'', as well as leading the 2002 Canadian series, '' Tom Stone''.

Early life

Martin was born in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, the son of Victoria Kathleen and Chris William Martin. He attended

McRoberts Secondary School Hugh McRoberts Secondary School, officially "École Secondaire Hugh McRoberts Secondary School", is a Canadian school in Richmond, British Columbia. Named after Hugh McRoberts, an early settler on Sea Island, this secondary school (grades 8-12 in ...

followed by Richmond High School in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

. He is also an alum of

Ideal Mini School Ideal Mini School is a public secondary mini school in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a complete grade 8–12 high school program. It is generally accepted as the "steward school" of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary, although it was run indepe ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Career

His first role was in the 1991 teen drama series '' Fifteen'', filmed in Vancouver. His performance as Dylan received a nomination for Best Actor at the Youth in Film Awards. Notably, he also convinced his one-time ''Fifteen'' co-star, a young

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

, to give acting a second try at a time when he had given up on the career to focus on studies at

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institutions by ...

; the two then moved to Los Angeles together to further their career opportunities. After the end of the series, he played the role of Jamie Novak in the 1993 high school drama ''

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

'', for which he received a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the 11th Gemini Awards in 1996. In his early acting roles he was credited as just Chris Martin, but began going by Chris William Martin in the 2000s, likely to avoid potential confusion with musician

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

. In 1999, he starred in

Carl Bessai Carl Bessai (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Bessai studied at OCAD University and at York University in Toronto graduating with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He got his start directing documentary fi ...

's film ''

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

'', for which he won a special jury citation for his performance at the

1999 Toronto International Film Festival The 24th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 to September 18, 1999. The festival opened with Atom Egoyan's ''Felicia's Journey'' and closed with '' Onegin'' by Martha Fiennes. A total of 318 films were screened in the 13 progra ...

. He has gone on to work with Bessai on two subsequent films: ''

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

'' in 2001, and '' Emile'' in 2003. He appeared in the 2002 film '' Try Seventeen'' along with

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Wood ...

and

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

, and played the title character in the drama series '' Tom Stone'' from 2002 to 2004.Judy Monchuk, "Hero in CBC detective show is 'trailer trash'". ''

Sault Star ''The Sault Star'' is a Canadian broadsheet daily newspaper based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It is owned by Postmedia. In 2015, the newspaper had a daily paid circulation of 7,577 weekdays and 7,763 on Saturdays. Its total circulation includi ...

'', February 21, 2002. Later, in 2004, he appeared as the main character in '' The Volcano Disaster''. He has also appeared on several television series including ''

Tru Calling ''Tru Calling'' is an American Supernatural fiction, supernatural Drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. Original episodes aired between October 30, 2003, and April 21, 2005; however, the ...

'', ''

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

'', ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'', and ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. Apart from movies and television, he appeared in

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

's music videos "

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing is all that exists; the opposite of nothing, or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to anything. The universe is ...

" and "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors People from Burnaby Male actors from British Columbia {{Canada-actor-stub