Réjean Cournoyer (born December 5, 1971) is a Canadian actor and singer, and was raised in a bilingual home. Growing up his family was members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. After graduating from

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate Arts, Science, Edu ...

with a degree in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

, and leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he began working at the

Charlottetown Festival The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which has run from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. The Charlottetown Festival is hosted in Confederation Centre of the Arts every year. Named after its host c ...

, then made his way to Toronto in 1995 to pursue his acting career. He had a recurring role in the short-lived situation comedy ''

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence of the governor general of Canada, the representative of the monarch of Canada. Located in Ottawa, the Capital city, capital of the country, on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, th ...

'' on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

in 2001, was awarded an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Thom Fitzgerald's feature film ''

The Event ''The Event'' (stylized as THE EVƎNT) is an American television series containing elements of science fiction, Action fiction, action/adventure and political allegory. It was created by Nick Wauters and aired on NBC from September 20, 2010, to ...

'' in 2003, and was nominated for a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

in Toronto in 2004 for originating the role of Joseph Beausoleil in the musical epic ''

Pélagie ''Pélagie'' is a Canadian epic musical written by Allen Cole and Vincent de Tourdonnet. It is based on the 1979 novel ''Pélagie-la-Charette'' ( fr) by Acadian writer Antonine Maillet. It is about the Acadian widow Pélagie LeBlanc who in the ...

''. He has been nominated for the Robert Merritt Awards Award for Outstanding Actor four times: 2003 for Private Views, 2005 for Portia White, First You Dream, 2007 for God's Middle Name, and 2008 for Beauty and the Beast. After releasing a bilingual recording of French Art songs and Jazz standards in 2007, Cournoyer left his home in Halifax, after accepting an invitation from the

Canadian Stage Company Canadian Stage is a Canadian non-profit contemporary theatre company, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History The company was founded in 1988 with the merger of Centre Stage and Toronto Free Theatre. Canadian Stage has produced more than 3 ...

in Toronto. He has starred in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' at the Arts Club Theatre Company ( Jessie Award nomination), is well known for his turn as

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...

in '' The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (

Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award (also known as the Sterling Award) is a local Edmonton, Alberta award presented annually which honours excellence in theatre. The award covers a number of categories, including production, performance, direction ...

Nomination), and as Mr. Darcy in ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

'' at the

Citadel Theatre The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located in the city's downtown core on Churchill Square. It is the third largest regional theatre in Canada. History It began in a former Salvati ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. He played "The Beast" in ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' at

Theatre Calgary Theatre Calgary, is a theatre company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, established as a professional company in 1968. It was preceded by Workshop 14, a theatre study group founded in 1944 by Betty Mitchell. Calgary's ''Betty Mitchell'' awards are nam ...

and the

, and played "Gaston" in the Neptune Theatre production.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cournoyer, Rejean Living people 1971 births Former Latter Day Saints Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male musical theatre actors Canadian male singers Male actors from Halifax, Nova Scotia Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Singers from Nova Scotia