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Aaron Stanford | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stanford at 2013 Comic-Con | |
| Born | (1976-12-27)December 27, 1976 (age 48) Westford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Aaron Stanford (born December 27, 1976) is an American actor known for his roles asPyro in theX-Men filmsX2 (2003),X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) andDeadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Doug in the remake ofThe Hills Have Eyes (2006). On television, he also starred asBirkhoff inNikita (2010–2013) and as James Cole in12 Monkeys (2015–2018), based on the 1995film of the same name.
Stanford was born inWestford, Massachusetts, the son of Judith (née Dupras), an English professor, and Don Stanford, who works inpublishing. His brother David is a musician. Stanford attendedWestford Academy in Westford Massachusetts for high school and met his first acting teacher there. He initially attendedSUNY Purchase, but transferred toRutgers University Mason Gross School of Arts. He graduated in 2000,magna cum laude.[1][2][3]
Stanford's first major film role was in the low-budget indie filmTadpole (2002), in which he portrays Oscar Grubman, a precocious 15-year-old with a crush on his stepmother, played bySigourney Weaver.[4][5] For this performance he earned a nomination for theGolden Satellite Award. In 2001 and 2002 he appeared multiple times on thetelevision seriesThird Watch as Russian teen Sergei. That same year, he was named as one ofDaily Variety's "Top Ten Actors to Watch" and included onEntertainment Weekly's "It List". In 2004 he appeared inChristopher Shinn's playWhere Do We Live at the Vineyard Theatre. Stanford also starred asAnthony LaPaglia's son in the 2004 filmWinter Solstice.[6]
DirectorBryan Singer was impressed with Stanford's performance inTadpole, and cast him asPyro in the 2003 blockbusterX2, a sequel toX-Men. He continued the role in the third installment,X-Men: The Last Stand, released in May 2006. Both movies are based on theMarvel Comics seriesX-Men.[7]
Stanford also starred inABC's midseason replacementTraveler, a drama about two friends who believe they are set up by their good friend (Stanford) to make them look like the conspirators of a terrorist attack.[8]
Stanford appeared in the 2006 remake ofWes Craven'sThe Hills Have Eyes. He also won the "One To Watch" award at the 2006 Young Hollywood Awards. And in that same year, he starred in the New Hampshire–based comedy,Live Free or Die, playing a wannabe tough-guy criminal named John Rudgate. Aaron also was the voice actor for Pvt. Polonsky inCall of Duty: World at War. In 2009, he played a troubled poker genius in a season eight episode ofLaw & Order: Criminal Intent, as well as Horace Cook Jr. in an episode of AMC's acclaimed showMad Men. In 2010, he joined the CW'sNikita asBirkhoff. His character from the filmThe Hills Have Eyes appears in the 2012 video gameCall of Duty: Black Ops II via Zombies Mode.
Stanford played the lead role of James Cole in thetelevision adaptation of the movie12 Monkeys, which premiered in January 2015 onSyfy.[9] He also was cast in the AMC seriesFear the Walking Dead[10] as the recurring characterJim, first appearing in the episode that aired on August 26, 2018.
In 2024, Stanford reprised his role as Pyro in theMarvel Studios filmDeadpool & Wolverine. In an interview withEntertainment Weekly, Stanford said that he was "shocked and thrilled" to get the call to return and also voiced his delight at getting to wear a superhero costume, something he did not get to do in either of his previous performances. "In the original X-Men films, Pyro gets really shortchanged in terms of a costume", he toldEW. "InX2 [...] theSWAT team bursts in in the middle of the night and we have to flee. So for half the movie, I'm in my jammies. [...] And inX3, I was just dressed in an ensemble fromHot Topic [...] to have [Pyro] be in a proper superhero costume that was actually taken from the comics themselves was very cool."[7]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Tadpole | Oscar Grubman | Nominated—Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical—Satellite Award |
| Hollywood Ending | Actor | ||
| 25th Hour | Marcuse | ||
| 2003 | X2: X-Men United | John Allerdyce / Pyro | |
| Rick | Duke | ||
| 2004 | Winter Solstice | Gabe Winters | |
| Spartan | Michael Blake | ||
| 2005 | Runaway | Michael Adler | |
| Standing Still | Rich | ||
| 2006 | The Hills Have Eyes | Doug Bukowski | Bloodiest Beatdown—Fangoria Chainsaw Award |
| Live Free or Die | John "Rugged" Rudgate | ||
| X-Men: The Last Stand | John Allerdyce / Pyro | ||
| 2007 | Flakes | Neal Downs | |
| The Cake Eaters | Dwight "Beagle" Kimbrough | ||
| 2008 | Holy Money | Anthony | |
| How I Got Lost | Andrew Peterson | NY Emerging Talent Award—Big Apple Film Festival | |
| 2016 | We've Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew | Daniel | |
| 2017 | Furthest Witness | Kyle Braddock | |
| Clinical | Miles Richardson | ||
| 2020 | Horse Girl | Hades | |
| 2023 | Finestkind | Skeemo | |
| 2024 | Deadpool & Wolverine | John Allerdyce / Pyro |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Third Watch | Sergei | 5 episodes |
| 2007 | Traveler | Will Traveler | 8 episodes |
| Numb3rs | Brett Chandler | Episode: "Hollywood Homicide" | |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Josh Snow | Episode: "All In" |
| Mad Men | Horace Cook Jr. | Episode: "The Arrangements" | |
| Fear Itself | Stephen | Episode: "Echoes" | |
| 2010–2013 | Nikita | Seymour Birkhoff / Lionel Peller | Main role, 64 episodes |
| 2015–2018 | 12 Monkeys | James Cole | Lead role, 47 episodes |
| 2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Tom Holtby /Johnny Appleseed | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Fear the Walking Dead | Jim Brauer | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Perry Mason | George Gannon | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | Westworld | Peter Myers | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Star Trek: Picard | Sneed | Episode: "Disengage" |
| 2025 | Tracker | Ricky | Episode: "Nightingale" |
| 2025 | Criminal Minds | Kyle Mackey | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Call of Duty: World at War | Private Polonsky |
