Zachary Bennett
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Zacahry Bennett, actor, was born in London, Ontario, and is the third of four siblings--Gareth, Mairon, and Sophie--all of whom are actors themselves. It all started after their mother--then an actress doing local theatre--brought him and Gareth and Mairon along on an audition. Before they knew it, the Bennett family moved to Toronto, and the kids got an agent. Zach was just five years old, not having any clue that this move would change everything.
Before the age of ten, Zach would get the chance to work with some of Hollywood's elite actors, have a theatre role (Billy in CanStage's production of David French's 1949 in 1989) and would also receive an Daytime Emmy nomination for his first leading role in the Sullivan Entertainment project Looking For Miracles. But that was just the beginning. In the beginning of 1990, Canadians and others around the world would begin to watch him grow up as the irrepressible, lovable Felix King on Road to Avonlea. He would receive a Gemini nomination for that role in 1993.
Meanwhile, he continued to do more work, carrying the lead role in the miniseries By Way of the Stars as well as taking on smaller roles in other projects. Between 1994 and 1995, when Avonlea was in its fifth and sixth seasons in Canada and the US, viewers saw Zach transform from the dapper young boy they were used to for so long into a taller, deeper-voiced, handsome, maturing young man. In a 1997/98 interview, he quipped, "From the fifth to the sixth season I grew up so much that the fans thought Sullivan [Productions] had re-cast Felix King."
When Avonlea ended in 1996, Zach had great memories to take with him, but at the same time he was ready to move on to other things, to "let fans know who I really am." He took time off in 1997, but returned the following year carrying small roles in Strike! (also known as All I Wanna Do), Dog Park, Blind Faith, and the movie pilot of Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy (also featuring his sister Mairon). That same year, he reprised his role as Felix in the Avonlea Christmas movie, Happy Christmas, Miss King. In 1999, he held small roles in The Secret Path, Life in a Day, and a supporting role in the cable miniseries Bonanno: A Godfather's Story. It was also during 1999 that he would film the role that he believes was his big break: the role of Francis in Colleen Murphy's psychological drama/thriller desire. In an interview that year, he said, "Colleen asked me to lunch to discuss the project and I made it clear that I was extremely interested in playing such a crazy person because it was so different from anything I've done before." Three years after filming, Zach received a Genie nomination--his first--for his performance.
Zach continues to have a love for the theatre; and rediscovered that love in 2000, when he helped mount an independent production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?--his first theatre production in over ten years. A year later, he was in a one-man production of Eric Bogosian's Drinking in America. More recently, he's been involved in productions for Toronto's Alumnae Theatre--The Evil That Men Do (2001 for their New Ideas Festival), Beautiful City (2002), and A Lie of the Mind (2004). In 2006, he received his first Dora nomination for his stirring performance in Lovesick Production's mounting of Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave.
On-screen, in 2001, he completed work on two other projects: a supporting role in the CBS miniseries Salem Witch Trials (also featuring his sisters Mairon and Sophie), and The Bay of Love and Sorrows (based on the novel by David Adams Richards). He also had a bit part in the two Joanna Kilbourn mystery movies for CTV--Verdict in Blood and A Killing Spring. In the spring of 2003, he landed a supporting role in CBC's Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, which garnered huge ratings when it was broadcast that fall; as well as a part in the short film Guest Room, which played the film festival circuit in Canada. A year later, he was seen in the sci-fi thriller Cube Zero and the short film The Sadness of Johnson Joe Jangles. In 2006, fans can see him in a modern-day remake of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, simply titled Jekyll + Hyde; and in 2007, he'll be in the CBC miniseries Everest '82, the Lifetime miniseries RPM, and the feature film Stir of Echoes: The Dead Speak.
Zach also aspires to write and direct, having worked on both a stage play and a screenplay. As well, he is the guitarist and lead vocalist for his band, Yonder, which was formed in late 2004. In late September 2006, the band will record their debut album.
