Scott Speedman

Scott Speedman (born September 1, 1975) is a Britain-born Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for playing Ben Covington in the coming-of-age television drama Felicity and Lycan-Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror/action Underworld films. Speedman was born Robert Scott Speedman in London, England, to Scottish parents Mary Campbell, an elementary school teacher and champion runner, and Roy Speedman, a department store buyer. At the age of four, he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario. He was a competitive swimmer who attended Earl Haig Secondary School's now defunct gifted athlete program. As a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team, Speedman placed ninth at the 1992 Olympic trials. Suffering a neck injury soon after, he was forced to leave the sport. To find a new focus outside of athletics, Speedman became interested in acting. He went on to attend the University of Toronto and York University to study his craft. Encouraged by a friend to appear on Speaker’s Corner, a viewer open-forum run by Toronto’s City TV, Speedman professed interest in auditioning for the role of Robin in the film Batman Forever, which was being cast in Toronto at the time. Though the appearance did earn him an audition for the role, Speedman was not cast in the role. As the role of Robin was given to Chris O'Donnell, the audition did give Speedman the exposure he needed and quickly landed an agent and began auditioning for Canadian television and film roles.