Michael Mahonen (born April 27, 1964) is a Canadian actor, director and screen writer.

Biography

After graduating from the Theatre Arts Program at George Brown College in 1989, Michael auditioned for a young company being formed for The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. His first job as a professional actor was the role of James Keller in "The Miracle Worker," and the roles of Lucius and Popilious Lena in "Julius Caesar."

In 1990 he was chosen for the role of Gus Pike on the CBC television program Road to Avonlea. He garnered three Gemini Award nominations in 1993, 1994 and 1995 for his work on that series.

He starred opposite Billy Dee Williams in his 1992 film debut as Arvo Leek, the jazz trumpet prodigy, in Giant Steps. He auditioned for the part of Lee Colgan in the CBC miniseries Conspiracy of Silence. Under the direction of the late Frances Mankiewicz, the film focuses on the chilling 16-year silence of an entire town that knew the identity of the four assailants who murdered a young native girl, Helen Betty Osborne, in The Pas, Manitoba. During Conspiracy, Michael's character ages over 15 years from a teenager to alcoholic adult, and his performance captured the Gemini win for Best Actor in a Television Mini-Series or Film.

In 1994 Michael co-starred with Michael Riley in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, a breakthrough television special based on a short story of the same name. Michael played the character of Paul, a young man dying of the AIDS virus after contracting it from a blood transfusion a few years earlier. In the summer of 1994 he played the role of Jacob Mercer in Salt Water Moon, part of David French's Mercer family saga set in Newfoundland.

He guest starred in numerous American and Canadian television projects including an episode of Star Trek: Voyager entitled "Nemesis" in which he played the recognizable humanoid, Brone.

In 1997, Michael starred in the world premiere of Judith Thompson's Sled at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre then returned to film, co-starring in the cult thriller Captured. He went on to record The Red Badge of Courage for CBC Radio and was seen in the television productions of This is Wonderland. He went on to make several more films including a cameo in the 2008 mystery-drama Blindness starring Julianne Moore.

In 2003, Michael began work on his first feature film, Sandstorm, a fact-based drama about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. He wrote, directed and produced the entire project for under $5,000 with an all-volunteer cast. Mahonen, like the majority of the cast and crew of the picture, was a Falun Gong practitioner. Screened as a work-in-progress at film festivals around the world, the work received 29 awards including Best Feature Film, Best Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay.