# Michael Welch (actor)

Michael Welch (born July 25, 1987) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Luke Girardi on the television series Joan of Arcadia and for the role of Mike Newton in the films Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

## Career

Welch is known for his role as Mike Newton in The Twilight Saga film series. Although he auditioned for the part of Edward Cullen, he was cast in the role of Mike Newton. He's also well known for his role as Luke Girardi in the television series Joan of Arcadia, which ran for two seasons (2003–05).
Welch was cast in the series Z Nation on Syfy, which began airing in the fall of 2014. He also appeared in the 2014 film Boy Meets Girl, a romantic comedy which received many awards at LGBT film festivals in the U.S. and internationally.

### Awards

* Los Angeles FirstGlance Film Festival (2011) — Won, Festival Award – Best Actor for Unrequited (2010) (Lucky Day Studios)
* FilmOut San Diego (2014) — Won, FilmOut Festival Award – Best Actor for Boy Meets Girl.
Welch is the recipient of two Young Artist Awards. His first was for his performance in the film Star Trek: Insurrection at the age of 10. The second was for his work as Luke Girardi on Joan of Arcadia.

## Personal life

Welch's father is Protestant, and his mother is Jewish.
Welch married Marissa Lefton in 2008. The couple separated in 2011 and jointly filed for divorce in California on February 14, 2013. He married model Samantha Maggio in 2016. Welch has two children.

## Selected filmography

Film roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Star Trek: Insurrection | Artim | |
| 2001 | Delivering Milo | Mr. Owen | |
| 2001 | Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse | Pinocchio | Voice; direct-to-video film |
| 2002 | The Angel Doll | Little Jerry Barlow | |
| 2006 | All the Boys Love Mandy Lane | Emmet | |
| 2007 | An American Crime | Teddy Lewis | |
| 2008 | Twilight | Mike Newton | |
| 2008 | Archie's Final Project | Earl | |
| 2008 | The Coverup | Kevin Thacker | |
| 2008 | Day of the Dead | Trevor Cross | |
| 2009 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Mike Newton | |
| 2010 | Unrequited | Ben Jacobs | |
| 2010 | The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Mike Newton | |
| 2011 | Born Bad | Denny | Straight-to-DVD |
| 2011 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 | Mike Newton | |
| 2012 | Frankenweenie | Mr Whiskers | Voice |
| 2013 | Grace Unplugged | Quentin | |
| 2013 | Hansel & Gretel Get Baked | Hansel Jaeger | |
| 2014 | Boy Meets Girl | Robby | |
| 2014 | Boys of Abu Ghraib | Pits | |
| 2017 | M.F.A. | Mason | |
| 2017 | The Bachelor Next Door | Donnie | Lifetime Movie |
| 2019 | The Final Wish | Aaron | |
| 2020 | A Soldier's Revenge | Danziger | |
| 2021 | Last Shoot Out | Jody | |
Television roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Frasier | Young Niles | Episode: "Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name" (season 5, episode 10) |
| 1998–1999 | Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place | Michael Rush | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | 7th Heaven | Donovan Birbeck | Episode: "All Dogs Go to Heaven" (season 3, episode 20) |
| 1999 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Adam Crossland | "Jacob's Ladder" |
| 1999 | Jesse | Gabe | 3 episodes |
| 2000 | The Pretender | Eric Gantry | Episode: "School Daze" (Season 4, episode 16) |
| 2001 | The X-Files | Trevor | Episode: "Badlaa" (season 8, episode 10) |
| 2001 | Malcolm In The Middle | Josh | Episode: "New Neighbors" (season 2, episode 13) |
| 2001–2003 | House of Mouse | Pinocchio | |
| 2002 | Fillmore! | | |
| 2002 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Todd Branson | Episode: "Blood Lust" (season 3, episode 9) |
| 2003 | Stargate SG-1 | Young Jack | Episode: "Fragile Balance" (season 7, episode 3) |
| 2003–2005 | Joan of Arcadia | Luke Girardi | Main role; Young Artist Award winner |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Daniel Potter – 1972 | Episode: "Honor" (season 3, episode 8) |
| 2005 | Crossing Jordan | Boy raised from the dead | Episode "Mysterious Ways" (season 5, episode 19) |
| 2006 | NCIS | Kody Meyers | Episode: "Bait" (season 3, episode 18) |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Shane Partner | Episode: "Permanent Vacation" (season 6, episode 8) |
| 2007 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Scott Heston | Episode: "Pretend" (season 8, episode 21) |
| 2008 | The Riches | Ike | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Criminal Minds | Syd Pearson | Episode: "JJ" (season 6, episode 2) |
| 2011 | Bones | Norman Hayes | Episode: "The Feet on the Beach" (season 6, episode 17) |
| 2013 | Grimm | Jake Barnes | Episode: "One Night Stand" (season 3, episode 4) |
| 2014–2015 | Z Nation | Mack Thompson | Main role |
| 2015 | Scandal | Officer Newton | Episode: "The Lawn Chair" (season 4, episode 14) |
| 2015 | NCIS: New Orleans | Kevin Heller | Episode: "The List" (season 1, episode 18) |
| 2016 | Lucifer | Kyle Erikson | Episode: "St. Lucifer" (season 1, episode 11) |
| 2016 | The Catch | Teddy Seavers | Episode: "The Ringer" (season 1, episode 7) |
| 2016 | Another Period | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Episode: "Roosevelt" (season 2, episode 5) |
| 2017–2019 | Star vs the Forces of Evil | Mewni Crowd | |
| 2018 | Home by Spring | Howard | Television film |
| 2019 | Station 19 | Harold | Episode: "Crazy Train" (season 2, episode 10) |