James McGowan

James McGowan

Birth : 1960-05-30, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

History

James Robert McGowan was born on May 30, 1960, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. James is the youngest of three sons of Johnny McGowan a former light heavyweight boxer from Northern England. James grew up on the West Island in Montreal. He graduated from Concordia University with a B.A. in Communications. After graduation he took a job as a copy writer at an advertising agency rather than pursue an acting career as he did not believe he could make a living acting. He then took in the audio-visual department of McGill University. While there he got in touch with a friend who was directing plays at the Montreal university expecting to pursue acting as a hobby. He started out slowly doing student plays at the William Shatner Building. He loved it so much he decided to pursue it as a profession. It wasn't easy breaking into television in Toronto given his age (36) at the time as he was going up against other actors with lengthier resumes. It was hard at first to get auditions. He started out with guest spots in television shows such as the La Femme Nikita, Mutant-X, Falcon Beach, and Rent-a-Goalie. James also had minor roles in movies such as The Perfect Man with Heather Locklear, The Prince and Me with Julie Stiles, and Silent Night with Linda Hamilton. He has had success with two successful television ads. The first ad was entitled Doctor's Appointment and addressed the serious problem of erectile dysfunction. The ad was run continuously throughout the 2001 NHL Finals. The second ad was entitled The Deal and was for Verizon Wireless. One of his first big parts was a role in the TV movie 10,000 Black Men Named George. The 2002 film helped James find more work but he did not find substantial work until he auditioned for the CBC drama The Border. He had sent in an audition tape but had not heard back. He went to Winnipeg to film a guest part on the TV series Falcon Beach. While he was in Winnipeg, his agent contacted him and told him the show's casting directors wanted to meet with him. A second day of callbacks was added and he was able to return to Toronto in time. No one had heard of James but according to Peter Raymont, the co-creator of the show, James brought just the right degree of intelligence, compassion and authority to the character. While the producers were sure that James was right for the part, the network wasn't so sure. One of his biggest credits to that point was playing the goon in the Verizon Wireless commercial. His peers obviously approve of the portrayal. James received a Gemini nomination as outstanding actor in a drama. - IMDb Mini Biography

Profile

James McGowan

Movies

Fixation
Dora, a young woman at the center of an unusual murder trial, is subjected to a psychiatric evaluation, and as the tests become more personal — and frightening — she begins to question the true motives of her doctor and is forced to live through the recreations of her past.
Pyewacket
Rowen Dove
A frustrated, angry teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to invoke a witch to kill her mother.
A Song for Christmas
Russell
Pop superstar Adelaide Kay is so fed up with her controlling manager that she sneaks off the tour bus after their latest squabble. Though exhilarated to be free, she finds herself stranded in the freezing cold of a Pennsylvania winter, with no money and no plan. A local family, the Lapps, take her in. They know the true meaning of the season, even if they’re close to losing their dairy farm. No one in the family recognizes Adelaide except Dillon, the oldest son. He figures she’s the ticket to fast cash and plots to snap photos of Adelaide around the farm and sell them to the tabs. What he doesn’t plan, however, is their mutual attraction.
Suicide Squad
Panda Man
From DC Comics comes the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.
Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word
Louis Vertucci
Abby Knight, a former lawyer turned proud flower shop owner is starting over after the death of her husband with the support from her father, a new business and her daughter off to college. Life is good in the peaceful town of New Chapel but when a black SUV rams her prized vintage car, she’s determined to track down the driver. She begrudgingly accepts the help of a new neighbor, the handsome and charming ex-Marine Marco Salvare who just bought the bar down the street.
How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town
Spencer Goode
How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is about a group of friends who live in the picturesque town of Beaver’s Ridge—the epitome of wholesomeness and strong family values. Their orderly life is interrupted by the homecoming of Cassie Cranston (Jewel Staite), whom they slut-shamed into leaving town when she was a teenager. Now a big-city sex writer, Cassie returns home to face an unwelcome reception by her former friends, and finds an opportunity to seek revenge by writing a book about them when they ask her if she’ll help them plan an orgy.
Stage Fright
Victor Brady
A snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater.
Compulsion
Bob
A strange and destructive relationship develops between a chef and her neighbor, a former child actress.
Total Recall
Military Adjutant
Factory worker Doug Quaid takes a virtual mind-trip vacation with the Rekall company, opting for implanted memories of being a spy. When the procedure goes wrong, Quaid becomes a wanted man by the police and joins forces with a rebel fighter to stop the evil Chancellor Cohaagen.
The Perfect Teacher
Reid
A spoiled, selfish teenager becomes infatuated with her teacher. She befriends his daughter as a way of worming her way into the family, and sets about manipulating every aspect of his life.
All the Good Ones Are Married
Ben
Ben Gold gets the break of his life as aspiring author, but must stay home with his kids, Luke and Madison, to make his 5 months deadline. His feminist wife, workaholic fashion executive Alex, selfishly decides to take in promising rebel designer Zoe Miller, who left her boyfriend Trey. The teenager soon wins the family's hearts. Written by KGF Vissers
Christie's Revenge
Richard Colton
After years of plotting, Christie vows to get revenge on her uncle, whom she blames for her father's demise.
Savage Planet
John Stotzer
A team of scientists explore a new planet and find much more than expected.
Lies and Crimes
Charlie Danzinger
A woman moves to a new home after her police officer husband is killed. She soon discovers a place where growing prescription drug abuse is creating a nightmare of lies, crime, and murder.
Warriors of Terra
Peter Isaacs
A headstrong animal-rights activist group plans a raid on a bio-tech company to stop the cruelty. They discover the true nature of the experiments that are really taking place. As they break into a biotech lab only to have their idealism crushed by the terrifying things they find inside. But when a genetically mutated human with a taste for human flesh gets released, they all struggle to survive!
The Perfect Man
Jean's Suitor
Holly is tired of moving every time her mom Jean breaks up with yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad choice, Holly conceives the perfect plan for the perfect man, an imaginary secret admirer who will romance Jean and boost her self-esteem.
Plague City: SARS in Toronto
Ed
The once clean and healthy city of Toronto becomes the pariah of the western world when a deadly chain of infection lands in the city. Panic spreads as the number of SARS cases increases as there are no effective treatments.
My Brother's Keeper
Scout
Identical twin brothers Lou and Eric plan to compete together in the National Rowing Championships. But when Eric leaves their small town to attend an Ivy League University, the brother's bond is torn apart.
The Prince & Me
Photographer
A fairy tale love-story about pre-med student Paige who falls in love with a Danish Prince "Eddie" who refused to follow the traditions of his parents and has come to the US to quench his thirst for rebellion. Paige and Edward come from two different worlds, but there is an undeniable attraction between them.
Perfect
Michael
The delicate world of an upper-middle-class woman is suddenly turned upside down when her husband recounts a nightmare in which he brutally murders her.
DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
Michael Gerson
This is the story of the days directly after 9/11, and the president's whereabouts. Scheduled to air shortly before the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks, DC 9/11 takes an inside look at the Bush Administration, beginning with the day of the attacks, and following the President's journey to Ground Zero, culminating with his now famous national address nine days after the attacks.
Silent Night
Capt. Dietrich
Fact-based World War II story set on Christmas Eve, 1944, finds a German Mother and her son seeking refuge in a cabin on the war front. When she is invaded by three American soldiers and then three German soldiers, she successfully convinces the soldiers to put aside their differences for one evening and share a Christmas dinner.
Scent of Danger
Gideon
FBI agent Carol Blue was unwilling to take local help in the case of the kidnapping of little Zoe Hendricks, but ex-cop Chris Milos' private investigation bureau proves just too good. His dog handler, Brenna Shaw, and her Alsatian, Brie, find the kidnapper holding Zoe and dropping the kid in the water on purpose so he can escape. They soon conclude it's not a ransom case but more personal, are contacted under the Biblical name Gideon 'judge', and get caught up in his macabre, vindictive games and gruesome logic
10,000 Black Men Named George
Desmond
In the 1920s, the rights of American workers to join a labor union was still considered an open question, and African-Americans were routinely denied their civil and economic rights. 10,000 Black Men Named George, the title, refers to the fact Pullman porters were often called "George" by white passengers, which was considered a racial slur.
On Their Knees
Bartender
Willie and Mo are half sisters who have never seen eye to eye. A cross-country road trip in an ice cream truck carrying their dead grandmother may not change that, but it will give them the opportunity to laugh and learn.