David Hewlett

Template:Infobox Actor/Actress David Ian Hewlett (born 18 April 1968 in Redhill, Surrey, England, UK) is a British-born Canadian actor, writer and director best known for his role as Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay on the American/Canadian science fiction television shows, Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate Universe.

Biography

Early life

Hewlett was born on April 18, 1968 in Redhill, Surrey, England and moved to Canada with his family at an early age.

In later years Hewlett became a regular on the series Traders and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and starred in the movie Cube. He ran Darkyl Media, a web site design firm. He also founded Fusefilm.com, an internet community for filmmakers.

Career

Hewlett got his first computer in his mid-teens and became a self-described "computer nerd." While in high school in Toronto his acting career also began, starring in student films by Vincenzo Natali. He dropped out of high school in his senior year to pursue careers in acting and computing, beginning his acting career in 1984 when he was only sixteen years old.

He appeared in many low-budget horror movies, such as The Darkside and the minor cult favourite Pin. He also guest starred in several television series during the late 80s and early 90s.

In 1996 he got one of his better-known roles, as Grant Jansky on Traders. In 1997 Hewlett starred in Natali's critically acclaimed thriller Cube as Worth the architect, a role that saw the rise of his stardom due to the commercial success of the low budget Canadian film.

Hewlett is also a self-confessed science fiction fan, and is quoted as saying that Doctor Who, a sci-fi show in Hewlett's native Britain is what first sparked his love for the genre and that he made science fiction when he was younger in his native England on his 8 millimetre camera with friends. Hewlett was contacted by Robert C. Cooper while living in Los Angeles and asked to guest star in an episode of SG-1. He was originally invited to play Orlin in the Season 5 episode "Ascension", but a scheduling conflict meant he couldn't make it to Vancouver to play the part, resulting in Sean Patrick Flanery taking the role of Orlin instead.

He was later invited to play the part of Meredith Rodney McKay and more or less had his early dreams of working in science fiction made a reality. It became a three-episode guest role on Stargate SG-1, which eventually grew into his later starring role on Stargate Atlantis with his role on Stargate Atlantis bringing Hewlett to international attention and making him a household name all over the world.

In 2007, David appeared as a guest star in the first episode of the web series Sanctuary as Larry Tolson – a patient suffering from a form of psychosis who was shot and injured, and taken into custody by police as the suspect of homicide.

In 2006, Hewlett made his directional debut with his movie, "A Dog's Breakfast" and has also written and directed a movie, Debug which is scheduled for release in 2014 and stars his former Stargate Atlantis co-star Jason Momoa as well as Hewlett's younger sister, Kate.

Personal life

David Hewlett was previously married to Soo Garay, whom he divorced in 2004. He became engaged to Jane Loughman in late 2006, and announced their engagement in early January 2007. The couple share their house with the rottweiler-terrier mix Mars, whom they adopted from an animal shelter and who is now one of the stars of their new dark comedy feature film A Dog's Breakfast.

On October 6, 2007, at 9:11 p.m., Jane gave birth to their first child, Sebastian "Baz" Flynn Loughman Hewlett. David and Jane wed on June 21, 2008 at Warwick Castle in Warwick, Warwickshire, England.

He has three younger siblings. One, Kate Hewlett, who is also an actress, plays Jeannie Miller, McKay's sister in Stargate Atlantis. She also appears as Marilyn in his directorial debut, A Dog's Breakfast and will appear in his third directional movie, "Debug".

Roles

• Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay (See: List of Appearances)
• Rodney McKays from alternate realities (SG1: "The Road Not Taken") (SGA: "McKay and Mrs. Miller", "The Daedalus Variations", "Vegas")
• Rodney McKays from Alternate timelines (SG1: "Moebius, Part 1", "Moebius, Part 2") (SGA: "Before I Sleep", "The Last Man")
• Lt. Laura Cadman (SGA: "Duet")
• Meredith Rodney McKay (Organic Asuran) (SGA: "This Mortal Coil")

External links

• David Hewlett on Wikipedia
• David Hewlett on The Internet Movie Database

• David Hewlett on the Sanctuary Wiki, a Wikia wiki