Michael A. Goorjian

Birthday:

02/04/1971

Place of birth:

San Francisco, California, USA:

Biography:

Michael A. Goorjian (born February 4, 1971; San Francisco) is an American filmmaker, writer and actor. 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 (1994). 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 Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. 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’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. 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.



Credits

Land of Dreams (2022)
Bartender
Amerikatsi (2022)
Charlie
Pin-Up (2018)
Guy
The Wizard of Lies (2017)
Dan Horwitz
Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2 (2016)
Bob
Around June (2008)
Mr. Lewis
Broken (2007)
Thomas
Conversations with God (2006)
Roy
Illusion (2004)
Christopher
Go for Broke (2002)
Rome / Romie
The Mesmerist (2002)
Coroner #1
Amerikana (2001)
Peter
Something More (2000)
Sam
Deal of a Lifetime (2000)
Henry
Do Not Disturb (1999)
Billy Boy Manson
Here Lies Lonely (1999)
Sid
Life in a Day (1999)
Dr. Peter Hamilton
The Invisibles (1999)
Jude
SLC Punk (1998)
Bob
Hard Rain (1998)
Kenny
Art House (1998)
Danny Farthing
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
College Boy 1
David's Mother (1994)
David Goodson
The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? (1993)
Scott Chapman
Chaplin (1992)
Charles Chaplin Jr
Forever Young (1992)
Steven
Newsies (1992)
Skittery
Amerikatsi (2022)
Director
Amerikatsi (2022)
Writer
Amerikatsi (2022)
Producer
Amerikatsi (2022)
Editor
Entanglement (2012)
Director
Entanglement (2012)
Writer
The Magic Hand of Chance (2012)
Director
The Magic Hand of Chance (2012)
Writer
Painting the Future (2012)
Director
Painting the Future (2012)
Writer
Tales of Everyday Magic (2012)
Director
Tales of Everyday Magic (2012)
Writer
My Greatest Teacher (2012)
Director
My Greatest Teacher (2012)
Writer
Part Time Fabulous (2011)
Associate Producer
The Shift (2009)
Director
You Can Heal Your Life (2007)
Director
The War Prayer (2007)
Director
The War Prayer (2007)
Editor
The War Prayer (2007)
Technical Supervisor
Players' Club (2006)
Director
Illusion (2004)
Director
Illusion (2004)
Writer
The Mesmerist (2002)
Screenplay
Amerikana (2001)
Writer
The Invisibles (1999)
Producer
Call Waiting (1998)
Director
Oakland Underground (1997)
Director
Oakland Underground (1997)
Writer
Oakland Underground (1997)
Producer
Blood Drips Heavily on Newsie Square (1991)
Director