Michael Chan(XI)

Michael was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and grew up in Scarborough, North York, and Richmond Hill. With the original intention of becoming a doctor, Michael studied Human Biology and Sociology at the University of Toronto. In his second year, he was asked to voice characters for a couple of student productions, which is how he caught the "acting bug". After graduating, he enrolled at the Toronto Film School, which was part of the International Academy of Design and Technology in the CBC Building, and began auditioning for roles in theatre and independent film productions. He often volunteered to perform in student projects from the Film Production and Sound Engineering programs at the school and was interviewed by CBC Radio 1 for his work.

Michael's first role was as a Chinese pirate in the Toronto Pirate Festival's stage show. This was followed by Forward Theatre's critically acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" where he played Angus, and then the leading role in the Toronto Chinese Business Association's production of "The Legend of the Dragon Boat Festival". Michael's transition to an on-screen career began when he started doing background work on major productions. What he learned from those experiences prepared him for when he found an agent in order to audition professionally.

Now, Michael is an ACTRA member who works predominantly in film and television. He plays Alex Chang in the YTV/BBC show "Popularity Papers" and has also appeared in many other productions, including "Star Trek: Discovery", "Matlock", "The Hardy Boys", "The Kids in the Hall", "Blood & Treasure", "Mayday", "Unsettled", and "Swindler Seduction".

Outside of acting, Michael is the co-host of "The Hellbound Podcast", where he and Alex Blackburn discuss all things horror. He is also a contributor on the United Federation of Podcasts network. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Michael began to try his hand at filmmaking. His second film, the micro short "The ONLY Asian", has won a multitude of awards at international film festivals, including a Best Actor award for Michael at Calcutta International Cult Film Festival. He has since teamed up with some of the industry's finest to produce films that have been very well received in the festival circuit.