Movie Cast
MARK RENDALL (Ben Spektor)
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Mark
started acting at the age of ten. He auditioned for a touring production of the
musical "Oliver" and, having no formal training in either acting or singing, was cast
in the role of Spider and as an understudy to the lead role. In 2000 he made his
television debut as Lucas Smith on the series "The War Next Door." After that he
starred in "Tales from the Neverending Story" for which he received a 2002
Gemini nomination. He also appeared in the multi-award-winning film Touching Wild Horses opposite Jane Seymour, receiving a 2003 Young Artists Award
nomination. In 2004 he received an ACTRA Award nomination for Outstanding
Performance for his role in "The Interrogation of Michael Crowe" and starred in
the comedy Childstar along with Jennifer Jason Lee and Dave Foley. Mark
returned to television in 2004 with "ReGenesis" and in NBC's Emmy Nominated
mini-series "Revelations" opposite Bill Pullman and Natascha MacElhone. His
voice is well-known as Arthur in the animated children's series "Arthur" and also
as Jester in "Jane and the Dragon" and "Wayside." Mark can be found onscreen in
films such as Charlie Bartlett, with Robert Downey Jr. and Kat Dennings, and Silk
with Keira Knightly. He also stars in the horror thriller 30 Days of Night with Ben
Foster and Josh Hartnett. His most recent films include The Exploding Girl,
opposite Zoe Kazan and My One and Only, opposite Kevin Bacon and Renee
Zellweger which will be released in 2009. He is currently in production on The
Year of the Carnivore.
SERGIY KOTELENETS (Yuri Spektor)
With over 14 years of professional
experience as an actor, dancer and soloist, Sergiy Kotelenets studied at the Kiev
State Theatrical Academy and performed at the Kiev State Theatre of Musical
Comedy in Kiev, Ukraine before moving to Canada. Sergiy is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian and English, and has worked in theatre, film and television. In Canada, he has
performed on stage at Phoenix Cultural Diversity Theatre in "Hello, I'm Your
Aunt," "Hypnosis," "Sylvia," and in "A Triumphant Woman" at the Ukrainian
Theatrical Ensemble ZAHRAVA. He also manages and directs children's theatre
groups.
NATALIYA ALYEXEYENKO (Mila Spektor)
Born in the Soviet Union,
Nataliya studied drama at the Dnepropertrovsk State Theatre College. Fluent in
Russian, Ukrainian and English, she has appeared on television and stage including
many productions at the Phoenix Theatre, Zagrava Theatre in Toronto and at the
Tu Theatre and the Antracyt Theatre in the Ukraine.
HOLLY DEVEAUX (Cayla Chapman)
Born in Toronto, Canada and
currently attends high school. She began acting recently and had a lead role in the
Decode Entertainment production of "The Classroom," as well as in "Baxter,"
three episodes of "Battling to Breathe" and a principal role in Disney's "Flash".
SCOTT BEAUDIN (Noah Hartsman)
Scott is 16 and lives in Hamilton, Ontario with his parents and sister. He began acting when he was seven and his first television role was in a children's show called "Backyard Bug Adventures" playing the lead Zack, an insect enthusiast. From there he landed a few more guest appearances on
television shows such as "The Zack Files," and "Sue Thomas F.B. Eye". He has
voiced over 20 different cartoons, commercials, and radio dramas. One of his
cartoons, "Peep and the Big Wide World" (‘Peep') won a Daytime Emmy Award.
His first movie role was a lead in Your Beautiful Cul-De-Sac Home. He attended
the world premiere of the film Summerhood in which he stars as ‘Reckless' (Santa
Barbara International Film Festival). Scott if also featured in the CTV movie "Sticks and
Stones". Scott spent a season (2006) at the Stratford Festival playing ‘The Artful
Dodger" in OLIVER! alongside Colm Feore. He is currently the lead singer in two
bands, The Italics and Supermen in his hometown of Hamilton, and has won a
variety of awards for his singing talent. Scott is currently reprising ‘The Artful
Dodger' for Theatre Aquarius's new production of OLIVER! to rave reviews.
Scott's most recent film work: the lead in the Canadian Film Centre short, The
French Horn.
JOHN MAVRO (Sammy Balaban)
John is making his acting debut in Victoria Day. He was discovered on stage at his high school, Earl Haig Secondary School in
Toronto, where he was a drama major until he graduated in 2008.
JEFF PUSTIL (Ira Chapman)
Jeff has been a professional actor for three decades. He studied acting at the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York City before
embarking on a career, first in theatre, then film and television. Jeff first gained
International attention as one of the leads of the iconic 80's television series
"Check It Out." His recent credits include the films Saw V, Real Time, the Academy
award-winning musical Chicago, Bleacher Bums, and the television series "Rent-
A-Goalie," for which he has received two Gemini award nominations. On the
Showtime series, "Street Time," Jeff worked both sides of the camera appearing as
a series regular, as well as creative producer and director.
MELANIE LEISHMAN (Melanie)
A Toronto native, Melanie Leishman has
been acting in film and television since 2003 and is currently studying at The Lee
Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. She began her professional
career as a series regular on "Darcy's Wild Life" (NBC/Discovery Kids) and then
proceeded to work on films such as "True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet"
(Lifetime) and "Never Cry Werewolf" (Sci-Fi Channel). Currently, she can be seen
on the Comedy Network's new series, "House Party".