Young sandy-haired actor Shane West got his start with guest roles on the small screen that made the most of his boy-next-door good looks and unimposing presence. He quickly worked his way up the television ladder to series regular on the surprise hit ABC drama "Once and Again" in 1999. West played Eli, the teenage son of a man (Billy Campbell) who gets involved with a divorced mother (Sela Ward) following his own divorce. The actor capably handled the part's emotional range, with a role as a burdened young man struggling with a learning disability and carrying on a teen romance while trying to fill the void left in his household by looking out for his younger sister (Evan Rachel Wood) and shielding his mother (Susanna Thompson) from her ex-husband's new relationship. Deciding to pursue an acting career at age 15, West did some local stage work before a 1995 move to Los Angeles in the hopes of securing acting jobs in film and television. That year he landed a guest role in CBS' "Picket Fences" and went on to appear on the series "Boy Meets World" (ABC) and "The Crew" (Fox) in 1996. In 1997 West made his TV-movie debut playing speech impaired computer whiz kid Christopher Theodorakis in Showtime's original "The Westing Game", a thriller based on Ellen Raskin's popular children's mystery novel. The ambitious performer made his Los Angeles stage debut soon after, playing Angel, the illegitimate son of primary character Homer in the Mark Taper Forum's six hour production of John Irving's "The Cider House Rules" (1998). More television work followed, including guest stints on "The Closer" and "To Have and To Hold" on CBS, Sci-Fi Channel's "Sliders" and The WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
A familiar face to audiences for his work on the highly-rated "Once and Again", West made his film debut with a role in Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights" (1999), a look at a Jewish family in 1954 Baltimore. Early the following year he starred as a brainy unpopular high schooler who teams up with an inarticulate jock in a ploy to win the respective girls of their dreams in "Whatever It Takes", a modern teen reworking of "Cyrano de Bergerac". West was again thrust into the limelight when he played the opposite Mandy Moore in the hit teen drama "A Walk to Remember" (2002), a sappy but popular teen variation on "Love Story." West's next big-screen outing was in 2003's promising but ultimately disappointing comic book adventure "The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen." West played an adult Tom Sawyer--now a U.S. espionage agent--as part of the team of fictional characters from late 19th Century novels
Profession(s):
Actor, musician, songwriter
Sometimes Credited As:
Family
father:Don West (divorced c. 1982)
mother:Catherine West (divorced c. 1982)
Companion(s)
Dina Meyer
, Companion
, ```..dated in 2002
Jenna Dewan
, Companion
, ```..dating since 2003
Rachael Leigh Cook
, Companion
, ```..dated in 1998; no longer together
2004 Joined the cast of "ER" (NBC) as intern Dr. Ray Barnett
2003 Appeared with Sean Connery in the film "The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen"
2002 Had lead opposite Mandy Moore in the teen romance "A Walk to Remember"
2001 Was featured in the teen romance "Get Over It"
2000 Starred in "Whatever It Takes", a modern-day teenage take on "Cyrano de Bergerac"
1999 - 2002 TV series debut as regular, playing Eli, the 16-year-old son of a divorced man who has started a new relationship, on the ABC drama "Once and Again"
1998 Made Los Angeles stage debut in the Mark Taper Forum production of "The Cider House Rules", playing Angel
1998 Appeared in episodes of "The Closer", "To Have and to Hold" (both CBS), "Sliders" (Sci-Fi Channel) and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" (The WB)
1997 Played a speech impaired computer whiz teen in the Showtime thriller "The Westing Game"
1996 Guest starred on "Boy Meets World" (ABC) and "The Crew" (Fox)
1995 Moved to Los Angeles from Norwalk, California to pursue an acting career (date approximate)
1995 Appeared in an episode of "Picket Fences"
