Don McKellar is a Canadian actor, writer, screenwriter, director and producer. Winner of the Youth Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, he was nominated for the Sundance Independent Film Festival Grand Prix for the short film It's Not You.
The performer made his screen debut in 1989 in the film "Roadkil" by Canadian director Bruce McDonald. He also acted as a screenwriter and was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenwriter. The film won the Canadian Toronto-Citytv Award for Best Feature Film.
McKellar's creative biography includes more than 60 roles in television and film projects.
Since 1989 he has been writing, directing and producing. During his time in the film industry, he created scripts for 15 films and directed 12 of them.
In 2011, he was executive producer of Michael: On Tuesdays and Thursdays. In 2014 he worked on the Gentle Skin project.
For his contribution to the development of Canadian culture, as well as a performer, director, screenwriter and writer, McKellar was promoted to a member of the Order of Canada.
Biography facts
McKellar was born in the summer of 1963 in Canada. The family brought up three children, the boy was the middle child. He has an older brother and a younger sister. His father worked as a lawyer in a small company, and his mother was a teacher at the school.
He spent his entire childhood in Toronto, where he attended Glenview Senior Public School.
After completing his primary education, he entered the Graduated Lawrence Park Collegiate, and then continued his studies at the University of Toronto.
Creative career
In 1989, McKellar began acting in films and appeared on the screen in 64 projects.
He played his first role in the film "Roadkil", for which he himself wrote the script. This work brought him wide recognition and several prestigious awards.
In 1991, the artist played in the comedy "Insurance Agent" by Atom Egoyan. The picture tells about a young man named Noah. He works for an insurance company, is married, but at the same time leads a riotous lifestyle. Noah often meets with her clients, taking advantage of her official position. Noah's wife writes articles for a newsreel, and secretly makes films for adults.
The film was shown at the Moscow International Film Festival and received a special jury prize and a nomination for “Golden Saint George”.
The actor played the next role in the musical comedy "Highway 61". In this project, he again worked with director B. McDonald, wrote the script and appeared on the screen as Pokey Jones. The tape received high marks from viewers and film critics, was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actor and Best Screenplay.
In 1993, the artist appeared on the screen in the biographical drama "Thirty-two Stories of Glenn Gould", which consists of short sketches about the life and work of the famous pianist.
A year later, McKellar starred in A. Egoyan's drama Exotic. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and won the International Film Critics Association prize, as well as a Palme d'Or nomination.
In Patricia Rosema's melodrama When Night Falls, the actor appeared as Timothy. The film was shown at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival. He received high marks from film critics and a nomination for the Golden Bear.
In the career of the performer, there were roles in popular projects: "Robocop", "Taking a hit", "Born by a Thief", "In the Presence of My Enemies", "Bach. Suite No. 4 for solo cello: Sarabande "," Red Violin "," Last Night "," Made in Canada "," Ayn Rand's Secret Passion "," Existence "," People of the Sea "," Degrassi: The Next Generation "," I was a rat”,“Trudeau”,“Carrot and Stick”,“Chance”,“Slings and Arrows”,“Jack of All Trades”,“Purification”,“Star Child”,“Hour”,“Where the Truth Lies "," Hotel "," The story of Tommy Douglas "," Blindness "," I am the devil "," Trigger "," In the hope of salvation "," Three days in Havana "," Tender skin "," In focus "," Bloody honey."
McKellar made his directorial debut in 1998. He shot the film "The Last Night", which was highly praised by film critics. The tape received the Prix de la Jeuness prize and the Claude Jutra Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
The second film, Star Child, was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. The project was enthusiastically received by the audience and received high marks and positive reviews from filmmakers.
Later McKellar worked on several more films: "Michael: On Tuesdays and Thursdays", "Big Scam", "Tender Skin".
He wrote scripts for 15 films, including: "Highway 61", "Blue", "Thirty-two stories about Glen Gould", "Dance with me on the street", "Red violin", "Last night", "Star Child", "Blindness", "This Film Is Broken."
In 2006, Don, along with Bob Martins, won the Tony Award for Best Screenplay for the musical Sleepy Duenna. In the same year, the play was performed in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theater and won the Ovation Award.
Personal life
In January 2010, Don married his longtime girlfriend, actress Tracy Wright.
In 1989, he co-founded with Tracy the creative company Toronto's Augusta Company. They were connected not only by creativity, but also by personal relationships. But they decided to start a family only in 2010, when Tracy was already diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At that time, she already knew that she would not cope with the disease.
Wright passed away in the summer of that year. In 2011, the actress was posthumously awarded the ACTRA Toronto Awards. Don attended the awards ceremony and gave a speech, saying that this award means more to him than all his personal victories.
