Van Hansis

Van Hansis
Born	Evan Vanfossen Hansis (1981-09-25) September 25, 1981 North Adams, Massachusetts, US
Occupation	Film, television actor

Van Hansis (born Evan Vanfossen Hansis on September 25, 1981 in North Adams, Massachusetts) is an American actor. Hansis, who uses the name Van professionally, starred on the long-running CBS soap opera As the World Turns as Luke Snyder, the son of one of the show's signature supercouples, Holden and Lily Snyder (played by Jon Hensley and Martha Byrne, later Noelle Beck), although the character's biological father is Damian Grimaldi. Hansis made his first appearance on December 14, 2005, taking over the role from Jake Weary, and played the character until the end of the show's run, appearing in its final episode, which aired on September 17, 2010.

More recently, Hansis has had guest roles on television series and starred in a feature film, Occupant. In addition, he played the male lead role in a short film, Wedding Day (2012), produced by Peter Sterling. In December 2012, Van began playing the role of Thom in a dark comedy webseries, Eastsiders. In addition, he played the role of, Jessie, in the movie, "Devil May Call" which is currently in post-production.^[1]

Biography

Hansis is originally from North Adams,^[2] but moved to Greenfield in the third grade when his mother became a principal in the Gill-Montague Regional School District.^[2] He attended Four Corners School and later the Greenfield Center School. Hansis began acting in theater camp as a child. He attended high school at a boarding school called Walnut Hill, in Natick, because, he says, he knew by then he wanted to be an actor "and it was a good school for that." He was able to flex his early acting muscles performing at the Shea Theater.

Hansis graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the School of Drama. Prior to joining As The World Turns, he starred in the Broadway play The Laramie Project in Pittsburgh, among other stage shows. In 2006 he also starred in the short film The Time Machine. He has worked professionally at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, in productions of On the Razzle, Twelfth Night, and The Indian Wants the Bronx. From Sept. 2007 to mid-January 2008 he appeared off-Broadway in a production of Charles Busch's Die, Mommie, Die! In 2007, he was nominated for his first Daytime Emmy Award. He received a second nomination in 2008 and a third in 2009.

In March 2010, Hansis was cast in his first movie, an independent horror movie titled "Occupant"^[3] that was filmed in late April and early May 2010. The film premiered on the opening night of the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest on October 14, 2011 in New York City. On October 18, 2011, the film was released on-demand in many cable systems and on most digital platforms (i.e., iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster, PlayStation) in the U.S. and Canada.

On October 26, 2011, Van Hansis was guest star on the series Psych (season 6) episode 3. He played the character Adrian Viccellio, a man with a rare blood disease who attempted to drain Lassiter's blood for his own use.

On November 4, 2011, Hansis was a guest star on the series Nikita (season 2) episode 7. He played Yuri Lavrov, a man from Alexandra's past who was sent to kill her.

On February 2, 2012, Hansis was a guest star on the series The Mentalist (season 4) episode 13. He played Derek, an aspiring fashion designer suspected of committing a murder.

In November 2012, Van began filming a new web series called, Eastsiders.^[4] Written and directed by award winning playwright Kit Williamson, Eastsiders explores the aftermath of infidelity on a gay couple in Silverlake. The series premiered online on December 14, 2012.

In December 2012, Van began filming the horror film, "Devil May Call." It is in post-production and due out in March 2013.

Career

As the World Turns

Shortly after Hansis took over the role, the character came out as gay in a storyline in spring 2006. Luke subsequently became romantically involved with Noah Mayer (played by Jake Silbermann), a pairing hailed as the first gay supercouple in soap opera history, despite controversy about their storyline. In the last months of the show, after having broken up with Noah, Luke became romantically involved with Dr. Reid Oliver (played by Eric Sheffer Stevens), until Reid's death following an accident. Luke and Noah appeared together for the last time on the show's penultimate episode: Noah was preparing to move to Los Angeles to make a film, while Luke was remaining behind in Oakdale, still grief-stricken over the loss of Reid. It was not made clear whether Luke and Noah would ever renew their romance. Their final interaction ended with Noah inviting Luke to come to L.A. someday and then briefly kissing him in the WOAK newsroom in an homage to their first kiss, with which Hansis and Silbermann made television history in an episode that aired August 17, 2007, by portraying American daytime drama's first ever gay male kiss.

While many fans bemoaned the fact that the three gay characters ended up either alone or dead, in stark contrast to the happier resolutions provided for many of the heterosexual characters, Hansis noted in an interview that "Luke becomes the focused character of the end of the show, and he is a gay character", and sees Luke as "the point of view character for the wrapping up [of] this 54-year-old show." Hansis further noted that Luke "has got a whole life out there somewhere for him, and he is going to rise above these tragedies. I think it's in his character to do that."^[5]

Filmography

Hansis starred as, Danny Hill, in the thriller Occupant. The film premiered on the opening night of the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest on October 14, 2011 in New York City. On October 18, 2011, the film was released on-demand in many cable systems and on most digital platforms (i.e., iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster, PlayStation) in the U.S. and Canada.

Hansis also has the lead role in Wedding Day (in production), a short film produced by Peter Sterling and written by Shai Trichter. Hansis plays Chris, the former boyfriend of the bride who arrives at the rehearsal dinner after party and the joyous evening takes an unexpected turn.

Television

On October 26, 2011, Van Hansis was guest star on the series Psych episode 3. He played the character Adrian Viccellio, a man with a rare blood disease who attempted to drain Lassiter's blood for his own use.

On November 4, 2011, Hansis was a guest star on the series Nikita episode 7. He played Yuri Lavrov, a man from Alexandra's past who was sent to kill her.

On February 2, 2012, Hansis guest starred on the series The Mentalist episode 13. He played Derek, a suspect in the murder of a fashion designer.

Complete Chronological Listing of Performances

Film

• Devil May Call, 2013 (Jesse Gibson) (dir. Jason Cuadrado)
• Occupant, 2010 (Danny) (dir. Henry S. Miller)
• The Lady Killer, 2007 (Noah) (Student Film)
• The Time Machine, 2006 (Jesse) (Spinset Production)

Television

• The Mentalist - Red Is The New Black, 2012 (Derek)
• Nikita – Clawback, 2011 (Yuri Lavrov)
• Psych - This Episode Sucks, 2011 (Adrian Viccellio)
• As the World Turns, 2005 to 2010 (Luke Snyder)

Theater

• Dance Dance Revolution (Wiggles), 2008 - New York (dir. Alex Timbers)
• Die Mommie Die! (Lance Sussman), 2007- New York (dir. Carl Andress)
• The Red Beard of Esau (reading), 2007- New York (dir. Alex Timbers)
• Johnny Applef?%ker, 2007 - New York (dir. Stephen Brackett)
• An Evening Honoring "The Laramie Project", 2006 – New York (dir. Moises Kaufman)
• On The Razzle (Ragamuffin), 2005- Williamstown (dir. David Jones)
• The Witching Hour (Dr. Scott/ Washington Otis), 2005 (dir. Amanda Charlton)- Willamstown
• Polaroid Stories (Narcissus), 2004 – Williamstown
• Twelfth Night – Williamstown
• Blood on the Cat’s Neck – Williamstown
• The Laramie Project, 2002 (Stephen Mead Johnson, Doc O'Connor) – Pittsburgh (dir. Jesse Berger)
• Orpheus, 2002 – Pittsburgh/CMU
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute) – Huntington Theatre, Boston

Internet

• Eastsiders, 2012 (Kit Williamson)
• Henry Davis January 2007 (Zeke Farrow)

References

External links

• Van Hansis at the Internet Movie Database