Facts and Figures:
Name: Robert Scott Speedman
Birthdate: September 1, 1975
Born: London, England; moved to Toronto, Canada at
age 4
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Resides: Los Angeles, California
Family: parents Mary and the late Roy Speedman, sister
Tracey, brother-in-law Andy, nephew Jamie Roy, and niece Jessica Scott.
Pre-acting: Scott was a competitive swimmer for much of his
youth. He was a record-holder with the Canadian Junior National Team and was an Olympic
hopeful before an injury ended his career.
Education: Graduated from Earl Haig Secondary School in
Toronto; attended the University of Toronto for one year at New College.
Filmography:
Cool
Stuff Scott Has Done
Can I Get a Witness/Urban
Myth (1996)
Kitchen Party (1997)
Felicity (1998
2002)
Zoo Story --play (Summer 1999)
Dark Blue
(February 2003)
My Life Without Me
(March
2003)
Underworld (September 2003)
Stuff Scott Did
As A Struggling Actor That He Probably Wishes We Didnt Know About, But That
Were Willing to Accept Bribes to Forget About
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
(1995)
Nancy Drew (1995)
A Brother's Promise:
The Dan Jansen Story (1996)
Rescuers: Stories of
Courage: Two Couples (1997) Every Nine Seconds (1997)
Dead Silence (1997)
Stuff Scott Did
That Weve Never Seen And So Cant Judge (But If He Wants To Tell Us About Them,
Well Be Only Too Happy To Listen)
Net Worth (1995)
Giant Mine (1996)
Ursa Major (1997)
What Happened to Bobby Earl? (1997)
Hercules (1998)
Stuff Scott
Probably Thought Was Cool When He Did It, But Now Wonders What He Was Thinking (Or At
Least We Do)
Duets (2000)
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The
Story:
It Takes a Daring Man to Drop Trou
Dare Scott Speedman to do anything and hell follow
throughhes that good. Speedmans girlfriend challenged him to be an actor
by auditioning through Canadian TVs Speakers Corner. He drove to
the set, double-parked his car, rattled off his name and phone number, and noted he was
interested in the role of Boy Wonder in Batman Forever.
His appearance on the open-forum program earned him an audition for the part.
Although his mother worried that the audition might be for a porn movie because it
was being held in a hotel, Scott made it to the audition and, while he didnt get the
part, he got an agent. Soon, he had landed some small television roles and started
getting auditions. At one particularly memorable audition, he impressed casting
agents by pulling his pants down. Yep, you read that right; the script pages he was
given at his audition had lines that were blacked out. Sneaky Speedy used his super
powers to read through the blacked-out lines and realized in the script his character was
supposed to pull his pants down. And I was wondering, is this right? I
dont know, Speedman told Mike Bullard in Canada TVs Open Mike
talk show. He risked, and the powers that be were impressed. Who could blame them?
In 1995, Speedman was featured in the syndicated series Nancy Drew, based on the
popular fictional detective. Scott was so proud of this role, he once told a fan in
an online chat that he would pay [her] anything if she would burn her tapes of
the episodes. Later, Speedman appeared in A Brother's Promise: The Dan Jansen
Story (CBS, 1996) and was featured in the short Can I Get a Witness? (aka Urban
Myth) presented at the 1996 Toronto Film Festival.
Speedman's acting career continued throughout 1997 as he appeared in the HBO thriller Dead
Silence, the CBS TV-movie What Ever Happened to Bobby Earl, and NBC's suspense
movie Every Nine Seconds. That same year he starred in the Canadian
independent feature Kitchen Party. The Gary Burns film was a hit with critics
and festival audiences, even earning a rave review in The New York Times. Behold, a
shining worm er star was born!
In 1998, the man who bared his little briefs in a Canada hotel room got his
big break when he was cast as Ben Covington the mysteriously enticing boy that obsessed
Felicity Porter followed to New York City, on The WB's critically acclaimed college drama Felicity
(1998- ). The role of Ben had originally been awarded to Scott Foley (who plays
Noel Crane on the show), but when creators and executive producers J.J. Abrams and Matt
Reeves saw Speedmans sensitive portrayal of Ben on an audition videotape, they knew
they had found the perfect Ben. As J.J. later told CTV, Scott was really the first
guy who I could understand why a young woman would follow him 3,000 miles.
And so they immediately flew him from Canada to Los
Angeles, where filming on the pilot had already begun. Fans of the show have
enjoyed his touching portrayal of the complex and troubled young man as he tackles the
trials and tribulations of college life, and an evolving relationship with the title
character, ever since.
During the first season of Felicity, Scott was tapped by director Bruce Paltrow to replace
Brad Pitt in the feature film Duets. Scotts next film, Plague
Season, is slated to be released in Spring 2002. In the movie based on a story
by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) and written by David Ayer (Training Day),
Speedman plays the integral role of Bobby Tedrow, a Los Angeles police detective who finds
himself in the heart of police corruption along with his partner, played by Kurt Russell.
We dont know about you, but we cant wait to see it.
And thus is the story of the former up and coming swimmer who turned his passion to acting
when a neck injury ended his swimming dreams. What does the future hold for our Boy
Wonder? One thing we know for sure is that you wont see him in the next teen
comedy or slasher flick. As Scott told Detour magazine, I dont
want to do it . . . Ill disappear before I do it. The thought of Scott
disappearing horrifies us, so youll be happy to know that he says he hopes to be
acting for a long time. Personally, we predict a bright future for the talented and
sexy young star. But if it all went away, Scott says theres always other stuff
he can do: "I don't know what that is, but I know I'll be happy." |