# Michael Shanks

Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and as Dr Charles Harris in the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope. He is also known for his work on low budget genre work filmed in Canada.

## Early life

Shanks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up in Kamloops. After witnessing Richard Dean Anderson prepare for a scene of MacGyver, Shanks "decided to pursue [acting] a little further", opting to attend the University of British Columbia's fine arts program until 1994. He later appeared in several stage productions while serving a two-year apprenticeship with the prestigious Stratford Festival in Ontario. His television career began with guest appearances on shows including Highlander and The Commish. Parts in the television movies A Family Divided and The Call of the Wild preceded his casting in his breakthrough role as Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1.

## Career
### Stargate franchise

Shanks played archaeologist Dr Daniel Jackson throughout the first five seasons of Stargate SG-1 before leaving the show at the end of its fifth season, citing creative differences concerning the under-use of his character and the direction of the show as a whole. He made several guest appearances throughout the sixth season playing his own character, as well as voicing the Asgard character Thor. Shanks returned for the seventh and subsequent seasons, winning the Leo Award for Best Lead Performance By A Male in a Dramatic Series in 2004 for the seventh season episode "Lifeboat". During the series' tenth and final season, he signed up for 16 of the 20 episodes, taking some time off in March 2006 for the birth of his third child (second with wife and occasional co-star Lexa Doig).
He appeared in both direct-to-DVD Stargate films released in 2008, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, and won the 2009 Leo Award for Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama for Continuum.
In 2004, Shanks made a crossover appearance (as Daniel Jackson) in the Stargate Atlantis pilot, "Rising". He also appeared in the tenth and eleventh episodes of Atlantis' fifth and final season, and made a cameo appearance in the pilot of the third Stargate series Stargate Universe. He also appeared in the episodes "Human" and "Subversion".

### Other appearances

In 2001, Shanks guest starred in the episode "Star-Crossed" in the Sci-Fi series Andromeda, during which he met his future wife, Lexa Doig. Coincidentally, they played two androids who fell in love with each other. In 2002, Shanks starred in the German/UK/South African co-production Sumuru, a science fiction B-movie, as astronaut Adam Wade. He also auditioned for the role of Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis.
In 2007, Shanks joined the Fox Network series 24, guest-starring as lobbyist Mark Bishop in a three-episode arc for season 6. In 2008–2009, Shanks had a recurring role on the second season of the USA Network spy series Burn Notice, playing Victor Stecker-Epps, a fellow burned spy and maniacal counterpoint to series lead Jeffrey Donovan's character. In 2008, Shanks had a guest starring role in one episode of the SciFi Channel series Eureka, as an alchemist somewhat responsible for the near destruction of the town due to a student's mixing chemicals in his lab and thereby creating the "Alchemist curse". He appeared in the episode "All That Glitters...", with a mention of his character in the episode "A Night At Global Dynamics".
Shanks was featured in a lead role in the SciFi Channel's adventure film, The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon as Jacob Thain opposite Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed alumna Shannen Doherty. The film premiered on the cable network on December 20, 2008. In 2010, Shanks appeared in an episode of Sanctuary, which stars fellow Stargate actor Amanda Tapping. In the same year he starred in the film Arctic Blast, a disaster film, as physicist Jack Tate.
Shanks' had a guest role as archaeologist Carter Hall, DC Comics' superhero Hawkman, in the Smallville episode "Absolute Justice". He later reprised the role in the final episode of the ninth season.
Shanks then appeared in guest spots during the Smallville tenth season episodes "Shield" and "Icarus" as well as appearing in Supernatural season 5 episode "99 Problems".
Shanks stars in the Canadian thriller Faces in the Crowd.
Shanks has also starred in the Fox comedy The Good Guys as the pompous leader of the Strike Force. In 2011, Shanks was the guest star in the third episode of the Showcase show Endgame, where he plays an amnesiac.
In 2012, Shanks returned to primetime as Charles "Charlie" Harris on Saving Hope, reuniting with Stargate SG-1 and Smallville co-star Erica Durance.
In 2019, Shanks played the role of Horace Axley on the second season of the Netflix science-fiction series Altered Carbon.

## Personal life

Shanks has a daughter from his relationship with model and actress Vaitiare Bandera, who portrayed Sha're, his character's wife on Stargate SG-1.
On August 2, 2003, Shanks married actress Lexa Doig, whom he met in 2001 while guest-starring on the series Andromeda. (They would also work together on Stargate SG-1, when Doig was cast as Dr Carolyn Lam, a recurring character in seasons nine and ten). They have two children.
Shanks enjoys playing ice hockey, and once considered playing professionally. He was on the Stargate SG-1 hockey team, competing against the teams of other Vancouver-based productions such as Smallville, and also displayed his aptitude for the sport in the 2006 television film Under the Mistletoe, in which he played the part of a school hockey coach. This aptitude was also highlighted in his 2013 role as the title character in the television film Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Suspicious River | Ball cap man | |
| 2000 | Mr Fortune's Smile | James | |
| 2001 | The Artist's Circle | Artist | Short film |
| 2001 | Suddenly Naked (aka Show and Tell) | Danny Blair/Donny Blitzer | |
| 2002 | SF Seeks | | Not released |
| 2003 | Sumuru | Adam Wade | |
| 2003 | Dismiss Yourself | Jonny Label | |
| 2007 | Mega Snake | Les | |
| 2007 | Judicial Indiscretion | Jack Sullivan | |
| 2010 | Arctic Blast | Jack Tate | |
| 2010 | Red Riding Hood | Adrien Lazar | |
| 2011 | Tactical Force | Demetrius | Direct-to-video film; originally titled Hangar 14 |
| 2011 | Faces in the Crowd | Bryce | |
| 2011 | Elysium | Technician #3 | |
| 2011 | 13 Eerie | Professor Tomkins | |
| 2012 | The Bouquet | Sam | |
| 2024 | Time Cut | Gil Field | Post-production |
| TBA | Never Forget | Hook | Short film Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Highlander: The Series | Jesse | Episode: "The Zone" |
| 1995 | A Family Divided | Todd | Television film |
| 1997 | The Call Of The Wild: Dog Of The Yukon | A gambler | Television film |
| 1997–2007 | Stargate SG-1 | Daniel Jackson / Machello / Voice of Thor | Main role |
| 1998, 2000 | The Outer Limits | Melburn Ross / Dr. Will Olsten | Episode: "Mary 25" / Episode: "Manifest Destiny" |
| 1999 | Escape from Mars | Bill Malone, Mission Architect | Television film |
| 2001 | Andromeda | Balance of Judgment/Gabriel | Episode: "Star-Crossed", "Day of judgement, Day of Wrath" |
| 2002 | All Around the Town | Justin Donnelly | Television film |
| 2002 | Door to Door | John Brady | Television film |
| 2004 | Stargate Atlantis | Daniel Jackson | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Swarmed | Kent Horvath | Television film |
| 2006 | Under the Mistletoe | Kevin Harrison | Television film |
| 2007 | Mega Snake | Les Daniels | Television film |
| 2007 | 24 | Mark Bishop | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | Eureka | Christopher Dactylos | Episode: "All That Glitters..." |
| 2008 | The Lost Treasure of The Grand Canyon | Jacob Thain | Television film |
| 2008 | Stargate: The Ark of Truth | Daniel Jackson | Television film |
| 2008 | Stargate: Continuum | Daniel Jackson | Television film |
| 2008 | Desperate Escape | Michael Coleman | Television film |
| 2008 | Burn Notice | Victor | 4 episodes |
| 2008 | Living Out Loud | Brad Marshall | Television film |
| 2009 | Sanctuary | Jimmy | Episode: "Penance" |
| 2009–2010 | Stargate Universe | Daniel Jackson | 3 Episodes |
| 2010 | Tower Prep | Dr. Literature | Episode: "Book Report" |
| 2010 | Smallville | Hawkman / Carter Hall | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Supernatural | Rob | Episode: "99 Problems" |
| 2011 | Flashpoint | David Fleming | Episode: "Blue on Blue" |
| 2011 | Christmas Lodge | Jack Rand | Television film |
| 2011 | The Pastor's Wife | Matthew Winkler | Television film |
| 2012–2017 | Saving Hope | Charlie Harris | Main role |
| 2013 | Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story | Gordie Howe | Television film |
| 2013 | The Bouquet | Sam | Television film |
| 2016 | Hearts of Spring | Andy | Television film |
| 2017 | Christmas Homecoming | Sgt. Jim Mullins | Television film |
| 2018 | The Detectives | Det. Doug Morrison | Episode: "The Last Fare" |
| 2019 | Unspeakable | Will Sanders | 8 episodes |
| 2019 | Virgin River | Paul/Wes | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | The College Admissions Scandal | Rick Singer | Television film |
| 2019 | Heritage Minutes: D-Day | Major Archie MacNaughton | Canadian history short film |
| 2020 | Altered Carbon | Horace Axley | Recurring role |
| 2020 | Project Blue Book | Air vice-marshal Christopher Thomas | Episode: "Broken Arrow" |
| 2022 | The Good Doctor | Paul | Episode: "A Big Sign" |

### Director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2001 | Stargate SG-1 | Episode 4.21: "Double Jeopardy" |
| 2014 | Saving Hope | Episode 3.04: "Stand By Me" |
| 2016 | Saving Hope | Episode 4.14: "You Can't Always Get What You Want" |
| 2017 | Saving Hope | Episode 5.14: "We need to talk about Charlie Harris" |

### Writer

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2003 | Stargate SG-1 | Episode 7.11 "Evolution: Part 1" |
| 2004 | Stargate SG-1 | Episode 7.19: "Resurrection" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Stargate SG-1: The Alliance | Dr. Daniel Jackson (voice) | Cancelled |

## Theatre
### Stratford Festival

| Year | Title | Character | Production |
| 1995 & 1996 | The merchant of Venice | Lorenzo | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario |
| 1995 & 1996 | King Lear | Cast | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario |
| 1995 & 1996 | The merry wives of Windsor | Cast | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario |
| 1995 & 1996 | Amadeus | Cast | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario |
| 1995 & 1996 | Macbeth | Mentieth | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario |

### University of British Columbia

| Play | Role | Location |
| Love's Labours Lost | Don Armado | Frederic Wood Theatre |
| Dombey & Son | Walter Gray | Frederic Wood Theatre |
| Leonce & Lena | Leonce | Frederic Wood Theatre |
| Love of the Nightingale | Tereus | Frederic Wood Theatre |
| Translations | Lt. Yolland | Frederic Wood Theatre |
| You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown | Schroeder | Summer Players, Dorothy Somerset Studio |
| Wait Until Dark | Roat | Summer Players, Dorothy Somerset Studio |
| Loot | Dennis | Summer Players, Dorothy Somerset Studio |
| Sure Thing | Clarke | Vancouver Men's Festival |
| Hopscotch | Will | |
| The Lion in Winter | | |

### Arts Club

| Year | Title | Character | Production |
| 1998 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Stanley Theatre Arts Club, Vancouver, B.C. |