Michael Welch
Welch at the 2015 Florida SuperCon
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
Spouses
Marissa Lefton
​
​
(m. 2008; div. 2013)​
Samantha Maggio
​
(m. 2016)​
Children2

Michael Welch 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.

Life and career

Welch's father is Protestant, and his mother is Jewish.[1]

Welch is known for his role as the popular 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.[2] 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).[3]

Welch was cast in the series Z Nation on Syfy, which began airing in the fall of 2014.[4] 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.[5]

Awards

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.[6]

Personal life

Welch married Marissa Lefton in 2008. The couple separated in 2011, and jointly filed for divorce in California on February 14, 2013.[7] He married model Samantha Maggio in 2016.[8] Welch has two children.[9][10]

Select 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
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
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)

References

  1. ^ "Joan of Arcadia's Michael Welch Keeps the Holiday Light". People.com. December 3, 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  2. ^ Carroll, Larry (July 1, 2008). "Twilight Actor Michael Welch Auditioned For Edward Cullen But Found Right Fit With Athletic Geek Mike Newton". MTV. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  3. ^ Mainon, Dominique; Ursini, James (2006). Modern Amazons: Warrior Women on Screen. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Limelight Editions. p. 367. ISBN 9780879103279.
  4. ^ Weinstein, Shelli (August 19, 2014). "Syfy Releases Z Nation Trailer, Can It Compete with The Walking Dead?". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  5. ^ Kramer, Gary M. (June 25, 2014). "Frameline Interview: Eric Schaeffer On His Trans Rom Com Boy Meets Girl". Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  6. ^ Spencer, Liv (2010). Love Bites: The Unofficial Saga of Twilight. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 96. ISBN 9781554909308.
  7. ^ "Twilight Star Michael Welch Divorces". Glamour. February 26, 2013. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  8. ^ Welch, Michael [@MichaelWelchAct] (November 7, 2016). "Let me tell you all about the secrets to a happy marriage kids, & I'm in my 20s and have been married for a day, so youre gonna wanna listen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Welch, Michael [@michaelwelchact] (July 8, 2020). "Wow. Day 1. Here we go. #GirlDad". Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Instagram.
  10. ^ Welch, Michael [@MichaelWelchAct] (June 2, 2018). "Twitter official" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

Authority control databases
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