Michael A. Goorjian

Michael A. Goorjian (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor, filmmaker, and writer. Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his role as David Goodson in the television film David's Mother. He is also known for his role as Justin, Neve Campbell’s love interest on the series Party of Five (1994–2000), as well as Heroin Bob in the film SLC Punk! (1998) and its sequel, Punk's Dead (2016). As a director, Goorjian achieved recognition for his first major independent film, Illusion (2004), which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Kirk Douglas. In 2022, Goorjian wrote, directed, and starred in Amerikatsi, an Armenian-language feature that premiered to strong critical acclaim and was selected as Armenia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards.

Biography

Acting Goorjian was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His father, Peter, is Armenian, with his paternal grandparents being survivors of the Armenian genocide; his mother, Sarah, is of Scottish-American descent. Goorjian grew up in Oakland, California, and attended Bishop O'Dowd High School, which had a strong drama program. At the age of 14, he decided to audition for a local theatre company, thinking it was a ‘cool way’ to skip class; after successfully landing the lead role in a 'not-so-cool' play called Computer Crazy, Goorjian soon found out that the rest of the cast were all senior citizens and that he would have to perform the play at his own junior high school. Despite this seemingly rather humiliating experience, Goorjian stuck with acting, eventually training at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television.

Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for the TV movie David's Mother (starring Kirstie Alley). Ray Loynd commented that Goorjian contributed "a wealth of physical and emotional detail that underscores the familial havoc".

Goorjian’s first big Hollywood break came as a dancer when, in 1992, he was cast as ‘Skittery’ in the Disney film Newsies (starring Christian Bale and Robert Duvall). What followed were roles in numerous subsequent films, including Chaplin (with Robert Downey Jr.), Forever Young (with Mel Gibson), the Oscar-nominated Leaving Las Vegas, Hard Rain (with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater), SLC Punk! (with Devon Sawa), The Invisibles (with Portia de Rossi), Broken (with Heather Graham) and Conversations with God.

Director Goorjian made his first real foray into directing with the mock-documentary Oakland Underground, a comedy about an underground occult music scene in Oakland, CA. From there, Goorjian made Illusion with Kirk Douglas, which was released theatrically in 2006 after racking up over a dozen festival awards, including Best Screenplay at The Hampton’s International Film Festival, Best Feature at the Lake Tahoe International Film Festival and The Audience Award at the Sonoma International Film Festival. With Illusion Goorjian was critically lauded for his ability to blend great filmmaking with philosophical depth. Soon after Illusion, Goorjian began collaborating with the publishing company Hay House to produce and direct a number of films including the documentary You Can Heal Your Life (2007), starring metaphysical author and teacher, Louise L. Hay and The Shift, starring author Dr. Wayne Dyer, along with Michael DeLuise and Portia de Rossi. His most recent work with Hay House is an original film anthology called Tales of Everyday Magic, which explores meaningful philosophical ideas through intimate character-driven stories.

Additional directing credits include the short film Players’ Club, which swept the 2006 Elevate Film Festival in Los Angeles, including Best Director and The War Prayer, an adaptation of Mark Twain’s short story by the same title starring Jeremy Sisto. Occasionally, Goorjian also moonlights directing a circus/cabaret show in Eastern Europe called Palazzo.

In the 2020s, Goorjian returned to feature filmmaking with Amerikatsi (2022), a project he wrote, directed, and starred in. Shot on location in Armenia, the film follows an Armenian-American navigating life under Soviet rule in the postwar era. Amerikatsi screened at several international festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival and the Woodstock Film Festival, and received positive reviews from outlets such as Variety and ScreenDaily. Armenia selected the film as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards.

Filmography Short film Director Blood Drips Heavily on Newsies Square (1991) Call Waiting (1998) Players' Club (2006) The War Prayer (2007)

Actor

Feature film Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1997 Oakland Underground 1999 The Invisibles 2002 The Mesmerist 2004 Illusion 2007 You Can Heal Your Life Documentary film 2009 The Shift Direct-to-video 2011 Part Time Fabulous 2012 The Magic Hand of Chance Tales of Everyday Magic Painting the Future My Greatest Teacher 2022 Amerikatsi

Actor Year Title Role Notes 1992 Newsies Skittery 1992 Forever Young Steven 1992 Chaplin Charles Chaplin Jr 1995 Leaving Las Vegas College Boy #1 1998 Hard Rain Kenny 1998 SLC Punk! Bob 1998 Art House Danny Farthing 1999 The Invisibles Jude 1999 Something More Sam 1999 Do Not Disturb Billy Boy Manson 1999 How to Get Laid at the End of the World Michael 1999 Here Lies Lonely Sid 1999 Deal of a Lifetime Henry Spooner 2001 Amerikana Peter 2002 The Mesmerist Coroner #1 2002 Go for Broke Rome / Romie 2003 Leisure Barney Direct-to-DVD 2004 Happily Even After Stuart 2004 Illusion Christopher 2005 Pomegranate Jack 2006 Conversations with God Roy the Morning Boy 2006 Broken Thomas 2008 Around June Mr. Lewis 2014 My Eleventh 2016 Punk's Dead Bob 2022 Amerikatsi Charlie

Television Year Title Role Notes 1991 Growing Pains Hank Miller Episode: "Like Father, Like Son" 1991–1993 Life Goes On Ray Nelson 8 episodes 1994 Sweet Justice Jimmy 2 episodes 1994 Under Suspicion Johnny Episode: "Arson/Murder Story" 1994–2000 Party of Five Justin Thompson 44 episodes 1997 Touched by an Angel Budd Glaser Episode: "Charades" 1998 Chicago Hope Jacob Joffe Episode: "Austin Space" 2001 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Aaron Pratt Episode: "Caged" 2004 Without a Trace Ricky Wilson Episode: "Two Families" 2005 Alias Andre Sterescu Episode: "Nocturne" 2005 Monk Jacob Carlyle Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Kid" 2005 House Sean Randolph Episode: "Babies & Bathwater" 2005 Killer Instinct Rafe Bradford Episode: "Who's Your Daddy" 2006 CSI: Miami John Stockman Episode: "Darkroom" 2007 Eyes Bobby Creech Episode: "Innocence" 2009 Lie to Me Franko James Vincent / Glen Welsh Episode: "Secret Santa" 2014 Covert Affairs Borz Altan 3 episodes 2016 Code Black Emanuel Episode: "The Fifth Stage" 2016 Lucifer Elliot Richards Episode: "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire" 2023-2025 The Lincoln Lawyer Alex Grant/Gazarian Recurring Role (Seasons 2 & 4)

TV movies Director Entanglement (2012)

Actor Year Title RoleNotes 1991 Never Forget Chuck 1993 The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? Scott Chapman 1994 David's Mother David Goodson Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie 1994 Blind Justice Soldier #1 1999 Life in a Day Dr. Peter Hamilton 2005 Reefer Madness Mickey Druther 2007 Company Man Jeff Greenwald 2017 The Wizard of Lies Dan Horwitz