Michael Seater


Michael Seater is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. From 2005 to 2009, he starred as the titular role in the Canadian sitcom Life with Derek. He later portrayed James Gillies in Murdoch Mysteries, from 2009 to 2017. His directing credits include the independent feature films People Hold On and Sadie's Last Days on Earth.

Early life

Seater was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts and worked as a child actor. He identifies as queer, and had input into the creation of his character James, a gay man, on The Wedding Planners.

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, , 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 CBC series 18 to Life. He also played 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 television series Bomb Girls. He also appeared in , a television film based on the series.

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. 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 mostly negative reviews from critics, and scored a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Filmography

Film

Television