Thomas Dekker (actor)

Thomas Dekker

Dekker in 2010
Born Thomas Alexander Dekker
(1987-12-28) December 28, 1987
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Occupation Actor, director, producer, singer, voice actor
Years active 1993–present

Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American film, television actor, musician and voice actor. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums.

He is best known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Adam Conant on The Secret Circle, and Zach on Heroes. He also did the voice of Littlefoot in The Land Before Time V-IX (singing voice in The Land Before Time V) and as Fievel Mousekewitz in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. He is also known for playing Jesse Braun in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Smith in Gregg Araki's film Kaboom. Dekker also starred as Gregory Valentine in the TV show Backstrom.

Early life

Dekker was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother, Hilary, is a concert pianist, acting coach, actress, and singer, and his late father, David John Ellis Dekker, was an artist, set designer, opera singer, and actor.[1][2] His mother is British (Welsh) and his father was American, with English and Dutch ancestry.[3][4][5] As a child, he and his parents moved all over the world, including his mother's native United Kingdom and Canada.[6]

Career

Early career

Starting his acting career at age six, Dekker was first seen in the soap The Young and the Restless. He then appeared in Star Trek Generations two episodes of Star Trek Voyager and Village of the Damned. He has also appeared as Bobby on "Seinfeld" (Season 7 Episode 4). Later, in 1997, he became a regular on the Disney Channel Original Show Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show based on the movie of the same name where he played Nick Szalinski for three years. After the show ended in 2000, he went on to appear in Run of the House, Fillmore!, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House, Boston Public, Reba and 7th Heaven. He appeared in films such as Campus Confidential and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. He has won three Young Artist Awards for his work in The Land Before Time films and one for his guest appearance on Boston Public. In 2001 he played the part of young "Donny Osmond" in the film "Inside The Osmonds".

2006–present

In 2006, Dekker landed a recurring role on Heroes playing the character of Zach, (Claire Bennet's best friend). He played Zach for eleven episodes before leaving Heroes to take a starring role in Fox's new show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as John Connor, starring opposite Lena Headey and Summer Glau. That show debuted January 13, 2008 and was canceled on May 18, 2009. Dekker also played the lead character Nate Palmer in the web based science fiction series IQ-145.[7]

In 2009, Dekker appeared in From Within, a thriller filmed in 2007, and My Sister's Keeper, a drama in which he starred alongside Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin and Medium star Sofia Vassilieva.

Recent roles include Laid to Rest, which also stars Lena Headey, All About Evil, an indie horror film,[8] Slaughter's Road, a werewolf film co-starring Ray Stevenson and directed by David Hayter, and Cinema Verite, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family in which he plays Lance Loud. He starred in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, released on April 30, 2010. His character's name was Jesse Braun, loosely based on the character Rod Lane in the original.

Dekker stars in Gregg Araki's Kaboom. It is the first film ever awarded the Cannes Film Festival "Queer Palm Award" for its contribution to LGBT presence in cinema. Dekker was a "top candidate" for the lead role in Paramount's remake of Footloose, but the role went to Kenny Wormald.[9]

In April 2011, Dekker starred as Lance Loud in the HBO original film Cinema Verite, about the creation of America's first reality television series, An American Family.

As of 2011, he has been cast as Adam, the male lead on the TV series The Secret Circle developed by The CW.[10]

He appeared in Daughtry's music video for their new single, Waiting for Superman, which was released September 17, 2013.[11]

Dekker was a regular on the 2015 Fox crime drama Backstrom, playing Gregory Valentine, the gay underworld contact and roommate of Rainn Wilson's title character, revealed to be his half-brother..

Music

Dekker was brought up with a musical background, and started writing music at age ten while living in Canada. At the age of fifteen he landed a record deal; however after feeling that he wasn't as involved in the music as he would have liked, he left to concentrate on making his own music. At the age of sixteen, Dekker started writing and producing his own classical music influenced by electronica which he describes as "electrofolk". His' debut album Psyanotic[12] was released in 2008.[13]

Personal life

On a panel at the 2008 Comic-Con

Dekker has stated that for much of his childhood, he was a victim of sexual molestation.[14] In his teenage years, he was part of a "metalhead" subculture, where he "caused trouble in Las Vegas", and was arrested "five or six times".[14]

Dekker was involved in an auto accident on October 15, 2009, when he hit a 17-year-old cyclist training for a race on a freeway onramp.[15][16] Originally charged with two counts of felony DUI, the charge was reduced to one count of misdemeanor reckless driving when it was found that the cyclist was at fault. He pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to a fine of $300 and two years of informal probation, and ordered to attend a 12-hour alcohol-education class.[17]

Dekker is a vegan.[18][19][20][21]

On April 20, 2011 in an interview with Out magazine Dekker spoke about his sexuality, which has been the subject of speculation. "I’ve only really had relationships with women, but I'm certainly not closed to it. If there are possibilities of being able to do anything in life, why would you say you would never take any up? In the later chunk of my teen years I was so all over the place with sex. It was terrible. I never really had a real relationship at all. During puberty, it's all about sex, and it's all about figuring yourself out. I think I overdid it when I was younger."[22]

Awards

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1994 Star Trek Generations Thomas Picard Credited as Thomas Alexander Dekker
1995 Village of the Damned David McGowan
1998 The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island Littlefoot Singing voice
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island Fievel Voice only
The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock Littlefoot Voice only
2000 An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster Fievel Voice only
The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire Littlefoot Voice only
2001 The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze Voice only
2002 Help, I'm a Boy! Mickey Voice: English version
The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water Littlefoot Voice only
2006 Simple Joys Stephen Short film
2007 The War Prayer The Singer Short film
2008 From Within Aidan Main role
Whore Tom Main role
2009 Laid to Rest Tommy
My Sister's Keeper Taylor Ambrose
2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street Jesse Braun
All About Evil Steven
Kaboom Smith Main role
2011 Angels Crest Ethan Main role
ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 Tommy
2012 Foreverland Bobby Post-production
The Good Lie Cullen Francis Main role
2013 Plush Jack St. Claire
Waiting for Superman The Hero Main role, music video
Enter the Dangerous Mind Jake
2014 The White City Kyle
Squatters Jonas Main Role
Fear Clinic Blake
TBA The Potters Asher Potter Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Young and the Restless Phillip Chancellor IV #4
1994 The Nanny J.B. Bingington's Son Episode 1.12: "The Show Must Go On"
1994–1995 Seinfeld Porter / Son
Bobby 		Episode 5.16: "The Stand In"
Episode 7.04: "The Wink"
1995 Star Trek: Voyager Henry Burleigh Episode 1.16: "Learning Curve"
Episode 2.08: "Persistence of Vision"
1996 Caroline in the City Young Richard Episode 2.09: "Caroline and the Therapist"
1997 The Weird Al Show Son Episode 1.04: "Back to School"
Extreme Ghostbusters Kevin Rivera Voice only; 2 episodes
1997–2000 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show Nick Szalinski Main cast (Seasons 1–3; 1997–2000)
2000 Touched by an Angel Dennis Episode 7.03: "The Invitation"
Grosse Pointe Leslie Bicks Episode 1.09: "Boys on the Side"
2001 Inside the Osmonds Donny Osmond (younger) Made-for-television film
Family Guy Student Voice only;
Episode 3.01: "The Thin White Line"
2001–2003 Jackie Chan Adventures Little Valmont / Young Valmont Voice only;
Episode 2.01: "Through the Rabbit Hole"
Episode 3.11: "Little Valmont, Big Jade"
2002 The Mummy: The Animated Series Simon Montgomery Voice only;
Episode 1.12: "The Puzzle"
Family Affair Jeremy Episode 1.07: "No Small Parts"
2003 Run of the House Seth Episode 1.03: "The Party"
Fillmore! Crockett, Biggie, James Heron Voice only;
Episode 2.04: "South of Friendship, North of Honor"
Episode 2.06: "The Nineteenth Hole Is A Shallow Grave"
Episode 2.07: "Links in a Chain of Honor"
Boston Public Julien McNeal Episode 4.06: "Chapter Seventy-Two"
Episode 4.08: "Chapter Seventy-Four"
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jimmy Jones Episode 5.03: "Harvest"
2005 7th Heaven Vincent 9 episodes
Campus Confidential Brett Made-for-television film
Reba Buzzer Episode 5.10: "Issues"
2006 House Boyd Episode 2.19: "House vs. God"
Shark Ben Channing Episode 1.08: "Love Triangle"
2006–2007 Heroes Zach 12 episodes
2008 Psi-Kix Jacque Voice only
IQ-145 Nate Palmer 10 episodes
2008–2009 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles John Connor Main cast (Seasons 1–2; 2008–2009)
2009 Glenn Martin, DDS Unknown role Voice only;
Episode 1.07: "From Here to Fraternity"
2011 Elvira's Movie Macabre Elrick / Jack Shemansky Episode 1.15: "Lady Frankenstein"
Cinema Verite Lance Loud
2011–2012 The Secret Circle Adam Conant Main cast
2015 Backstrom Gregory Valentine Main role

Discography

Albums

Soundtracks

  • 1997: "Friends for Dinner", "Always There", "Big Water"
  • 1998: "Anywhere in Your Dreams"
  • 1998: "Bad Luck", "The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur", "On Your Own"
  • 1999: "Get the Facts", "Who Will"
  • 2000: "Beyond the Mysterious Beyond", "Good Inside"
  • 2001: "Family", "The Lesson"
  • 2002: "Imaginary Friends", "No One Has to Be Alone", "Chanson D'Ennui", "Big Water"
  • From the episode Red Socks
  • 2005: "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"
  • 2008: "From Within"

References

  1. ↑ "Obituaries | LexisNexis | Professional Journal archives from". AllBusiness.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  2. ↑ "Henderson resident Thomas Dekker expands TV credits with role on witchy 'Secret Circle' - Living - ReviewJournal.com". Lvrj.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  3. ↑ Barker, Lynn (2008-01-08). "Thomas Dekker: Saving the Future". TeenTelevision.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  4. ↑ "Thomas Dekker Biography (1987-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  5. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215281/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
  6. ↑ "The Many Shades of Thomas Dekker | Out Magazine". Out.com. 2011-04-17. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  7. ↑ "home". Iq-145thewebseries.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  8. ↑ "Thomas Dekker is All About Evil | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  9. ↑ "Will 'Footloose' hit the Dekker? - latimes.com". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  10. ↑ "Thomas Dekker in Secret Circle, Titus Welliver in Awakening - CW Pilots". Bscreview.com. 2011-03-20. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXjXKT98esw&list=UU3EKokt8lCDZm1F-VwPNliA
  12. ↑ http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/322817
  13. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/artists/thomas-dekker/discography/2325243/
  14. 1 2 "SCENE + HEARD: Thomas Dekker Talks Sex, Nudity, Molestation at "Kaboom" Premiere Party". Next Magazine. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  15. ↑ "'Terminator's Dekker charged over run-in - Showbiz News". Digital Spy. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  16. ↑ "'Terminator' star Thomas Dekker charged with DUI". azcentral.com. 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  17. ↑ "Thomas Dekker Sentenced To Two Years Probation". Starpulse.com. 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  18. ↑ Miller, Gerri (2010-09-30). "Ecollywood: Celebs celebrate PETA's 30th anniversary". MNN Holdings, LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  19. ↑ DuDell, Michael (2009-03-06). "The Green Quote: Terminator Star Thomas Dekker Is A Longtime VEG!". Ecorazzi, LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  20. ↑ "Thomas Dekker Terminated Meat Chronicles At 12". Vegetarian Star. 2009-03-06. Archived from the original on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  21. ↑ Harradine, Gabrielle (March 2009). "ONE-MAN BAND". Vegetarian Times (Cruz Bay Publishing) (366): 22.
  22. ↑ "The Many Shades of Thomas Dekker". Out.com. 2011-04-17. Retrieved 2011-11-20.

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