Shane West

Shannon Bruce Snaith (born June 10, 1978), better known as Shane West, is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He is known for his portrayal of Eli Sammler in the ABC family drama Once and Again, Landon Carter in A Walk to Remember, Dr. Ray Barnett in the NBC medical drama ER, Michael Bishop in The CW spy drama Nikita and in the WGN fantasy adventure historical drama Salem as John Alden. West received critical acclaim for his performance portraying Darby Crash in the biopic What We Do Is Secret.

As well as acting, West has performed with punk rock bands the Germs, Jonny Was, and the Twilight Creeps.

Early life West was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Leah Catherine ( Launey), a lawyer, and Don Snaith, a drugstore owner. Both his parents were musicians and had their own punk rock bands. His mother is of Cajun French descent. His father was born in Jamaica, of English and Portuguese-Jewish origin. He is the eldest of three children, with a sister Simone and a half-sister Marli Ann. His parents divorced in 1982 when he was four years old. Influenced by his parents, he grew up listening to the Clash, the Jam, Blondie, Elvis Costello, and the Kinks. Embarrassed by his feminine first name, West went by his middle name Bruce but changed his name to Shane West in high school when he took up acting.

Career

Acting

West struggled to land acting work for two years and resided at his manager's house before making his acting debut in 1995, playing Dave Lattimore in the CBS drama Picket Fences (season 4, episode 6, "Heart of Saturday Night")

In 1998, West guest-starred in several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and played Mark Tapper in the stage production of The Cider House Rules. He landed his first major role in 1999 in the ABC family drama Once and Again, playing Eli Sammler for three seasons. West's feature film debut was in Liberty Heights, a film about a Jewish family in Baltimore, directed by Barry Levinson. He also co-starred in teen comedies Whatever It Takes (2000) and Get Over It (2001).

West was cast as Landon Carter opposite singer and actress Mandy Moore in 2002's adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel A Walk to Remember. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found him "quietly convincing". His performance in the film earned him a Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry with Moore. He also appeared in the Mandy Moore music video "Cry". That year, West won the Young Hollywood Award Male Superstar of Tomorrow.

In 2003, West starred as an adult version of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen alongside Sean Connery. A year later, he joined the cast of the NBC medical drama, ER in the eleventh-season premiere, playing resident Ray Barnett. In May 2007, West left ER at the end of the thirteenth season after winning a role in Supreme Courtships, but the series was not picked up by the Fox Network. In October 2008, West returned to ER for three episodes during its fifteenth and final season.

During hiatus between seasons of ER, West worked on shooting What We Do Is Secret, an independent film, which premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival after much delay. West helped to finance it. In the film, he portrays Darby Crash, a member of the 1970s punk band the Germs. Members of the band were so impressed by West's performance that they re-formed the band with West taking the deceased Crash's place. West received positive reviews for his portrayal in the movie; the San Francisco Chronicle stated that he is the one who "lifts the entire film to a whole other level". Similarly, The Seattle Times wrote that his impersonation was "worth saluting" while TV Guide called it "pretty impressive". In 2008, he received the Rising Star Award in Philadelphia Film Festival for his work in What We Do is Secret.

West starred as Michael Bishop in The CW spy drama Nikita from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, he began starring in the WGN America adventure/historical/fantasy drama Salem as John Alden for three seasons before the show ended in 2017.

West starred in post-apocalyptic film, Here Alone which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically on March 30, 2017. The film received the Audience Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival

In 2018, West was cast as Eduardo Dorrance in the fifth and final season of Gotham. In November 2018, it was revealed that West would portray the role of Billy Millikin in the then upcoming feature film Gossamer Folds. In November 2019, it was announced that West would star in the then upcoming sci-fi thriller No Running; the film was retitled Outsiders and released in 2022.

Music

West was the lead singer of punk rock band Jonny Was for "seven or eight years". The band contributed to the A Walk to Remember soundtrack, appearing under the names "West, Gould, and Fitzgerald" because they had not yet decided on a new name. He performed with the band for nearly five years, doing an American tour (including the 2006 Warped Tour) and a European Tour. He described the experience as "more exciting" than acting. However, after booking a leading role in Nikita, West had less time to play with the band. His last performance was in December 2009. In January 2019, they announced they are releasing their second album on February 1. In December 2020, the Twilight Creeps released their first Christmas song entitled "Poison in the Mistletoe".

Personal life West is a supporter of the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers football teams. In 2019, contributed voice work for some of the Saints' preseason videos.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1997 The Westing Game Chris Theodorakis 1999 Liberty Heights Ted 2000 A Time for Dancing Paul, The DJ 2000 Whatever It Takes Ryan Woodman 2000 Dracula 2000 J.T. 2001 Get Over It! Bentley 'Striker' Scrumfeld 2001 Ocean's Eleven Himself 2002 A Walk to Remember Landon Carter 2003 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Tom Sawyer 2006 The Elder Son Bo 2007 What We Do Is Secret Darby Crash 2009 The Lodger 'Street' Wilkenson 2009 Red Sands Specialist Jeff Keller Also co-producer 2009 Echelon Conspiracy Max Peterson 2010 The Presence Ghost 2014 Red Sky Tom Craig 2016 Here Alone Jason 2017 Awakening the Zodiac Mick Branson 2020 Gossamer Folds Billy Millikin 2022 Escape the Field Ryan 2022 Outsiders Sheriff O'Hare 2022 Chariot Rory Calhoun 2022 Mid-Century Tom Also executive producer 2023 La Usurpadora: The Musical Chad 2023 The Dirty South Post-production 2023 Walden Post-production 2025Deadly VowsMax

Television Year Title Role Notes 1995 Picket Fences Dave Lattimore Episode: "Heart of Saturday Night" 1995 California Dreams Doug Episode: "Community Service" 1996 The Crew Store Manager Episode: "Retail Slut" 1996 Boy Meets World Nick Episode: "A Kiss Is More Than a Kiss" 1997 Get a Clue Chris Theodorakis Television 1997 Mr. Rhodes Mick Episode: "The Valentine Show" 1997 Meego Guy With Big Hat Episode: "Morality Bites" 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sean Episode: "Go fish" 1997 Sliders Kirk Episode: "California Reich" 1997 To Have & to Hold Mitch Maloney Episode: "Tangled Up in You" 1998 1999–2002 Once and Again Eli Sammler Main Role; 55 episodes 2004–2009 ER Dr. Ray Barnett Main Role (seasons 11–13), recurring (seasons 15); 70 episodes 2007 Supreme Courtships Unknown Unsold TV pilot 2010 El Dorado Jack Wilder 2 episodes 2010–2013 Nikita Michael Main Role 2014–2017 Salem John Alden Main Role 2019 Gotham Eduardo Dorrance / Bane 4 episodes

Music videos Year Artist TitleRole 2001 Mandy Moore "Cry"Landon Carter 2001 Mandy Moore "Only Hope" 2001 Mandy Moore "Someday We'll Know"

Discography Studio albums with Jonny Was Just Shy of the Ride (2011)

with Twilight Creeps Twilight Creeps (2016) Along Came a Spider (2019) Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls (2021)

Awards