Paul McGillion is a Scottish actor, who has worked in television, film and theatre. He is best known for his role on the television series ''

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper ...

'' as Dr. Carson Beckett.

Early life

McGillion was born in Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, Scotland. His family moved to Canada when he was two years old. McGillion returned to Scotland with his family during his early teens, for a few years, while his father worked on the

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

oil rigs {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...

. He is the sixth of seven children. He has a degree in teaching and while studying at

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bear ...

, was part of their national championship-winning wrestling team. After graduating, McGillion began his career teaching theatre in Toronto, squeezing in time to attend auditions. He finally made the move to Vancouver, where he has worked extensively in film, TV and theatre.

Career

McGillion taught scene study at the

Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouver ...

in 1998 and 1999. McGillion played young Ernest Littlefield in ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...

s first season, in the episode "

The Torment of Tantalus The first season of the military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' commenced airing on the Showtime channel in the United States on July 27, 1997, concluded on the Sci Fi channel on March 6, 1998, and contained 22 episodes. The s ...

", the first Tau'ri to have passed through the

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...

after its burial. In 2004, McGillion was cast in the science fiction series ''

'' as the Scottish

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Carson Beckett Dr. Carson Beckett is a fictional Scottish character in the 2004 Canadian-American science fiction television series ''Stargate Atlantis'', a spin-off series of ''Stargate SG-1''. He is portrayed by Scottish-born Canadian actor Paul McGillion, w ...

. He was initially cast as a recurring guest, but his character appeared so frequently in the show's first season, he was promoted to main character for seasons two and three. Dr. Beckett went back to a recurring character for seasons four and five, where he appears as the clone of the now-deceased Beckett. McGillion has appeared in films, ''The Traveler'' with

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

, ''Confined'' with

Emma Caulfield Emma Caulfield Ford (born April 8, 1973) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as former demon Anya Jenkins on the supernatural drama television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003), which earned her a no ...

, and ''The Deal'' with

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

. And has starred in the 2003 multi-award-winning film ''See Grace Fly''. He stars in the short film ''A Fine Young Man'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

to rave reviews and won the

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

for Best Short Film and Lead Actor for McGillion. McGillion expressed great interest in auditioning for the role of

Montgomery Scott Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a fictional character in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original ''Star Trek'' series, Scotty also appears in the animated ''Star Trek'' series, 10 ''Star Trek' ...

in the 2009 eleventh ''Star Trek'' film. “I grew up watching ''Star Trek'' and Scotty was my favourite character. It would be a great honour to follow in James Doohan’s footsteps," McGillion said. He had the endorsement of Chris Doohan, the son of original Scotty actor

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish ...

, to play the role of Scotty in the film. Though the part ultimately went to

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

, McGillion still appeared in the film in a different role. McGillion appeared in

Season 7 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

on the TV series '' 24'' as Dr. Levinson, a doctor who tried to extract a dangerous pathogen from Jack Bauer's bloodstream. McGillion appeared as the husband of a dying patient, in a season 3 episode of ''The Good Doctor''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGillion, Paul 1969 births Living people Male actors from Paisley, Renfrewshire Male actors from Vancouver Scottish emigrants to Canada Scottish male film actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors