Michael Seater
Canadian actor

Michael Seater

The basics
Quick facts
Intro
Canadian actor
Gender:
Male
Places:
Birth:
15 January 1987(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Biography menu
Menu

Jump to

Introduction Early life Career Personal life Filmography
The details
Biography

Introduction

Michael Bruce Patrick Seater (born January 15, 1987), known professionally as Michael Seater, is a Canadian actor, writer, director and producer. He is best known for his lead role as Derek in the popular Canadian sitcom Life with Derek. He was also a recurring character in Murdoch Mysteries as James Gillies.

Early life

Seater was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts and worked as a child actor.

Career

Early work

Seater began acting in the late 1990s and appeared in the short films Night of the Living and The Stone Skipper, and had minor roles in the direct-to-video film Future Fear and the made-for-television films Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples, Vanished Without a Trace, On Thin Ice, Dirty Pictures, Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life, the Hanukkah-themed Jenny and the Queen of Light, as well as in episodes of several television series, including The Zack Files.

2005–2010s: Life with Derek and further acting work

He voiced the title character in the series Mattimeo: A Tale of Redwall, which aired in 2000, starred as Lucas Randall in the television series Strange Days at Blake Holsey High, which began airing in 2002 and ended in 2006, and had a role in the 2005 film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, which starred Julianne Moore. Seater then appeared in the recurring role of Owen on the series ReGenesis, which ended after its fourth season.

Seater garnered wider public recognition for his role as Derek Venturi on the popular Canadian family sitcom, Life with Derek, which was a hit with teens. Seater starred on the series from its premiere in 2005 to its finale in 2009 after four seasons.

Before the show's cancellation, Seater had written a script for an episode of the fourth season with his brother, Graham.

In 2009, he played a character in the Degrassi movie Degrassi Goes Hollywood and in 2010 he starred in the CW series 18 to Life. He also plays the recurring role of murderer and criminal mastermind James Gillies in the Canadian series Murdoch Mysteries.

Seater also had a recurring role on the Canadian TV series Bomb Girls.

2015–present: Directing work

In 2015, Seater wrote and directed the feature film People Hold On, which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song (by Noah Reid). The film premiered at the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival in 2015. It received mixed reviews from critics.

In 2016, Seater wrote and directed his second feature film, Sadie's Last Days on Earth, which was produced by Shaftesbury Films. It was released on December 9, 2016 in theatres. It received mixed reviews from critics, scoring a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Personal life

Seater is part of the Stand up! Against Bullying campaign with his fellow co-star Ashley Leggat.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Night of the Living Dead Zack Short
1997 Future Fear Young Daniel
1999 Stone Skipper, TheThe Stone Skipper Simon Short
2005 Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, TheThe Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio Bub Ryan (age 15)
2012 Adventures in the Sin Bin Brian
2012 Water's Edge Lorne Short
2013 Bank$tas Neal
2014 Sly Cad Jack Short
2017 Definites, TheThe Definites Fitz

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples Peter TV film
1999 Real Kids, Real Adventures Robby Naylor "Desert Rescue: The Robby Naylor Story"
1999 Twice in a Lifetime Steven Stovall (age 12) "Death and Taxes"
1999 Jenny and the Queen of Light Eli TV film
2000 Dirty Pictures Ian Barrie TV film
2000–02 Zack Files, TheThe Zack Files Spencer Sharpe Main role
2001 Redwall Mattimeo (voice) Main role
2001 I Was a Rat Pikey TV miniseries
2002–06 Strange Days at Blake Holsey High Lucas Randall Main role
2003 On Thin Ice Jason McCartle TV film
2005 Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life Nolan Mitchell TV film
2005–09 Life with Derek Derek Venturi Lead role
2006 Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story Young Conrad Black TV film
2006–07 ReGenesis Owen Recurring role
2007 Naturally, Sadie Cole "As the Whirly Turns"
2007 She Drives Me Crazy Pete Valenti TV film
2009 Degrassi Goes Hollywood Michael Ray TV film
2009 Family Biz Warren Silverman "Out with the Intern", "Trading Up"
2009–17 Murdoch Mysteries James Gillies Recurring role
2010 Vacation with Derek Derek Venturi TV film
2010–11 18 to Life Tom Bellow Main role
2013 Long Story, Short Dave TV series
2013 Bomb Girls Ivan Buchinsky Regular role
2014 Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy Ivan Buchinsky TV film
2016 Brief, TheThe Brief Scoot TV miniseries