Michael Goorjian

A dark-haired, intense actor of Armenian descent, Michael Goorjian first got hired as a dancer for the short-lived musical comedy series "Hull High" (NBC, 1990) and the forgettable feature musical "Newsies" (1992). He also appeared in "Chaplin" (as Charles Chaplin Jr.) and "Forever Young" (both 1992) and earned a measure of success with a recurring role during the 1991-1992 season on the acclaimed ABC series "Life Goes On". He achieved his highest profile, however, for his Emmy-winning turn as an autistic teenager in the CBS telefilm "David's Mother" (1994), starring Kirstie Alley. Goorjian's commitment to the role was so complete that most of the crew believed he truly was autistic, and his amazingly authentic creation enabled him to beat out established pros like Alan Alda, Richard Gere, Ian McKellen and Matthew Broderick for the coveted statue. Added to the cast of the Fox drama "Party of Five" (1994-1999) as a suitor to Julia Salinger (Neve Campbell), he was popular enough to receive an upgrade from "recurring" character to series regular for the 1995-96 season. Goorjian harbored mixed feelings over the experience and opted not to sign a lucrative contract to become a series regular, relegating the character of Justin to and infrequent guest spots thereafter.

Cast against type, Goorjian played a college boy who participated in the rape of Elisabeth Shue's hooker Sera in "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995) but the performer opted to concentrate on more personal efforts. Retreating to his native Oakland, he made numerous unreleased films, ranging from shorts to features to documentaries (i.e., "Oakland Underground" which as of 1999 was still in post-production). Goorjian also sold a screenplay, "Waking the Magician" (which remains in development with the actor attached to direct) and continued to act in features if the roles appealed to him. He accepted the role of Kenny in "Hard Rain" (1998) more for the opportunity for a great onscreen death scene than anything else. In 1999, his career picked up somewhat with prominent roles in the independent features "SLC Punk!" and "The Invisibles". Sporting a mohawk as Heroin Bob, the best friend of blue-haired Stevo (Matthew Lillard) in the former, he had a meaty supporting role as an anti-drug anarchist exploring the punk scene in Salt Lake City, while the latter cast him as a drug-abusing rock star who romances an equally addicted model (Portia de Rossi).