Personal Info
Birth date
1963-08-17 (62 Years)
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Also known as
-Don McKellar
Biography
Don McKellar CM (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing the film Last Night, which won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, as well as his screenplays for films such as Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Red Violin, and Blindness. McKellar frequently acts in his own projects, and has also appeared in Atom Egoyan's Exotica and David Cronenberg's eXistenZ and Crimes of the Future. He is also known for being a fixture on Canadian television, with series including Twitch City, Odd Job Jack, and Slings & Arrows, as well as writing the book for the popular Tony Award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone. He is an eight-time nominee and two-time Genie Award winner. Description above from the Wikipedia article Don McKellar, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
No Other Choice
7.808
Overview:
After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.Degrassi
7.5
Overview:
The life of a group of adolescents going through the trials and tribulations of teendom at Degrassi Community School.eXistenZ
6.794
Overview:
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.Clean
6.4
Overview:
After she ends up in prison and loses custody of her son, a woman struggles to assimilate outside her former life and remain clean long enough to regain custody of her son.Blindness
6.5
Overview:
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.American Woman
4.9
Overview:
A political activist helps take care of a group of America’s most wanted fugitives, including a well-known, recently radicalized heiress.The Adjuster
6
Overview:
An uptight insurance man and his film-censor wife become a kinky couple's landlords.Republic of Doyle
7
Overview:
Jake Doyle and his ex-cop father, Malachy, run a Newfoundland detective agency. Their rugged seaside town never lacks for intriguing cases, and the Doyles don't always land on the right side of the law.Redacted
5.997
Overview:
A fictional documentary discusses the effects the Iraq war has had on soldiers and local people through interviews with members of an American military unit, the media, and local Iraqis.Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
7.487
Overview:
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.Meditation Park
6.553
Overview:
A devoted wife and mother is forced to reassess her reverence for her husband after she finds another woman’s thong in his laundry.Childstar
5.083
Overview:
An experimental filmmaker takes a job as a driver for a foul-mouthed child actor and his ambitious stage mother.Exotica
6.597
Overview:
In the upscale Toronto strip club Exotica, dancer Christina is visited nightly by the obsessive Francis, a depressed tax auditor. Her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric, still jealously pines for her even as he introduces her onstage, but Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's female owner. Thomas, a mysterious pet-shop owner, is about to become unexpectedly involved in their lives.The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw
5.4
Overview:
A devout community suffering from a plague is torn apart by a beautiful young woman and the forces of witchcraft, black magic, and possession.Closet Monster
7.07
Overview:
A creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.Highway 61
6.8
Overview:
A naive Canadian barber who knows US popular culture inside and out meets a flamboyant roadie who needs someone to drive her and her "brother's" corpse from Thunder Bay, Ontario to New Orleans. Chaos ensues after the barber agrees to drive her, the corpse, and the drugs stashed within all the way.When Night Is Falling
6.3
Overview:
Camille is a professor at a Protestant college and is in a long-term relationship with Martin, a respected minister and fellow professor. When Camille meets Petra, a bold and flamboyant performer in a circus troupe, she is inexplicably drawn. Pursuing Petra, Camille throws her whole conservative life into disarray.Last Night
6.64
Overview:
Various citizens of Toronto anxiously await the end of the world, which is occurring at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.The Red Violin
7.359
Overview:
300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.Sea People
6.3
Overview:
At 14, Amanda is a perfect swimmer and a great student. When the factory where his father works closes and he must go to work in another city, she feels very sad. One morning she meets the McRea, a very nice elderly couple who, like her, cannot live without the sea, although in another sense.Treading Water
5.2
Overview:
Mica is born smelling of fish that soap and doctors can't remove. Problems increase starting school as no one'll be his friend. He sees a therapist. His life seems doomed until he meets Laura.Crimes of the Future
6.035
Overview:
With his partner, a celebrity performance artist publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. An investigator from the National Organ Registry obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission — to use the artist's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.The Event
5.625
Overview:
Manhattan prosecutor Nick is charged with looking into the untimely death of city resident Matt, a musician who had AIDS. As she questions Matt's loyal family members — mother Lila and sister Dana — she comes to learn that his closest pal, health-care worker Brian, is an ardent believer in assisted suicide and that he threw Matt a big party before his death. This presents a dilemma for the humane but dutiful Nick.The Sympathizer
6.977
Overview:
Near the end of the Vietnam War, a spy who was embedded in the South Vietnam army flees to the United States and takes up residence in a refugee community, where he continues to gather intelligence and report back to the Viet Cong.Zoom
5.851
Overview:
A multi-dimensional interface between a comic book artist, a novelist, and a film director. Each lives in a separate reality but authors a story about one of the others.Once a Thief
5.6
Overview:
Once a Thief is a 1997 Canadian television show inspired by the 1996 film of the same name.Elimination Dance
7
Overview:
Ever more bizarre criteria are used to eliminate couples from a secret dance event.Sarabande
6.5
Overview:
The film explores the relationships that a limousine driver, a doctor, and a real estate agent have amongst each other and with Yo-Yo Ma as he travels to Canada to perform Bach's Cello Suites.Subconscious Password
5.9
Overview:
In this short animation, Oscar®-winning director Chris Landreth uses a common social gaffe - forgetting somebody's name - as the starting point for a mind-bending romp through the unconscious. Inspired by the classic TV game show Password, the film features a wealth of animated celebrity guests who try (and try, and try) to prompt Charles to remember the name. Finally, he realizes he will simply have to surrender himself to his predicament.Acting
2025The Occupant of the Room as Unknown
2022Crimes of the Future as Wippet
2021The Middle Man as Doctor
2020The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw as Bernard Buckley
2020Target Number One as Norm
2020Hey Lady! (5 Episodes) as Dr. Wolfe
2019American Woman as Newscaster 1 (voice)
2019Through Black Spruce as Journalist
2017Waiting for Ishtar as Self
2017Meditation Park as Gabriel
2017Blood Honey as Dr. Bert Morrison
2017Lolz-ita as Eric
2017Window Horses as Dietmar (voice)
2016Your Mother and I as Father
2016Zoom as Horowitz
2014Sensitive Skin (12 Episodes) as Al
2014Three Days in Havana as Pepe
2013Treading Water as Richard
2013Subconscious Password as The Host (voice)
2012I'm Yours as Phil
2010Trigger as Brian
2010Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as Director
2010Cooking With Stella as Michael Laffont
2010Republic of Doyle (1 Episode) as J.J. Murphy
2009Leslie, My Name Is Evil as Prosecutor
2008Green Door as Ron
2008Blindness as Thief
2007Redacted as Criminal Investigator (voice)
2006Monkey Warfare as Dan
2006Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (2 Episodes) as Clarence Fines
2005Where the Truth Lies as Publishing Executive
2004Childstar as Rick Shille
2004Clean as Vernon
2004Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche as Self / Pokey Jones / Patrick Wheeler / Matt Shapiro / Brad
2003Slings & Arrows (18 Episodes) as Darren Nichols
2003Odd Job Jack (52 Episodes) as Jack Ryder (voice)
2003The Event as Matt Shapiro
2003Public Domain as Host
2002Rub & Tug as Conrad
2002Trudeau as Greenbaum
2002Waydowntown as Brad
2001I Was a Rat as Oliver Tapscrew
2001Degrassi (2 Episodes) as Keith
2001The Art of Woo as Nathan
2000This Might Be Good as Unknown
2000Vinyl as Himself
1999Sea People as Mr. Whittaker
1999eXistenZ as Yevgeny Nourish
1999The Passion of Ayn Rand as Alfred
1998The Red Violin as Evan Williams (Montréal)
1998Last Night as Patrick Wheeler
1998Elimination Dance as Male Dance Partner
1998Twitch City (13 Episodes) as Curtis
1997Sarabande as Max
1997In the Presence of Mine Enemies as Paul Heller
1997Joe's So Mean to Josephine as Mike
1996Once a Thief (1 Episode) as Unknown
1996Never Met Picasso as Jerry
1995When Night Is Falling as Timothy
1994Camilla as Security Guard
1994Exotica as Thomas
1994Arrowhead as Ray Bud
1993Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould as Concert Promoter
1992Giant Steps as Real Estate Hucker
1992My Niagara as Cabel
1991The Adjuster as Tyler, the young censor
1991Highway 61 as Pokey Jones
1989Roadkill as Russel, the Serial Killer
Writing
2025No Other Choice ... Writer
2024The Sympathizer (7 Episodes) ... Writer
2016Closet Monster ... Story Editor
2015It's Not You ... Writer
2010This Movie Is Broken ... Idea, Writer
2008Blindness ... Screenplay
2007Phone Call From Imaginary Girlfriends: Istanbul ... Writer
2007Phone Call From Imaginary Girlfriends: Ankara ... Writer
2004Childstar ... Writer
2000A Word from the Management ... Writer
1998The Red Violin ... Writer
1998Last Night ... Writer
1998Elimination Dance ... Writer
1998Twitch City (7, 7, 6 Episode) ... Story, Teleplay, Writer
1995Dance Me Outside ... Writer
1993Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould ... Screenplay
1992Blue ... Writer
1991Highway 61 ... Screenplay, Story
1989Roadkill ... Screenplay
Production
2024The Sympathizer (7 Episodes) ... Executive Producer
2017Michael: Every Day (6 Episodes) ... Executive Producer
2014Sensitive Skin (12 Episodes) ... Executive Producer
Directing
2019Through Black Spruce ... Director
2015It's Not You ... Director
2014The Grand Seduction ... Director
2007Phone Call From Imaginary Girlfriends: Istanbul ... Director
2007Phone Call From Imaginary Girlfriends: Ankara ... Director
2004Childstar ... Director
2000Preludes ... Director
2000A Word from the Management ... Director
1998Last Night ... Director
1998Elimination Dance ... Director
1992Blue ... Director