Quick Facts
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Biography
Christopher Heyerdahl (born September 18, 1963) is a Canadian actor who portrayed the Wraith Todd in Stargate Atlantis, Sam in Van Helsingand "Swede" in Hell on Wheels.
Early life and family
Heyerdahl was born in British Columbia, Canada, and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent.His father emigrated from Norway to Canada in the 1950s. Thor Heyerdahl was his father's cousin.Heyerdahl also speaks Norwegian and studied at the University of Oslo.
Career
Heyerdahl is primarily known for his recurring role as the enigmatic "Swede" in AMC's Hell on Wheels. This post-American Civil War drama debuted as the second highest rated original series in AMC history. He is also known for his role as Leonid in the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode "The Thirteenth Floor" and as Nosferatu in the episode "Midnight Madness". He played the characters Halling and Wraith commander Todd in Stargate Atlantis, and Pallan in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Revisions". He played H. P. Lovecraft in the film Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft (1998) and a punk, new at drug dealing, in Cadavres (2009).
He played the part of the demon Alastair in three episodes of Supernatural. He also played the part of Zor-El in the television series Smallville, as well as playing John Druitt and Bigfoot in the series Sanctuary. He played the part of Dieter Braun on True Blood during the show's 5th season.
His most notable film role was in the feature film New Moon, an adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's second book in her Twilight Saga. In this film, he played a vampire, Marcus, who is part of a powerful Italian family called the Volturi. He reprised that role in both parts of Breaking Dawn, the two part adaption of the fourth book in the Twilight Saga.
He has also performed on stage, and was a member of the Young Company at the Stratford Festival in 1989 and 1990.
In 2015, Heyerdahl hosted the Leo Awards gala ceremony.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Highlander III: The Sorcerer | Ponytail | |
| Warrior | Milo | ||
| 1996 | Coyote Run | Judd Lush | Credited as Chris Heyerdahl |
| Silent Trigger | O'Hara | ||
| Rowing Through | Paul Enquist | TV film | |
| Twists of Terror | Darien | TV film | |
| 1997 | The Education of Little Tree | Pine Billy | |
| The Peacekeeper | Hettinger | ||
| Affliction | Frankie Lacoy | Credited as Chris Heyerdahl | |
| Bleeders | Narrator | ||
| Habitat | Eric Thornton | Credited as Chris Heyerdahl | |
| The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon | Fellow Gambler #2 | ||
| 1998 | The Ghosts of Dickens' Past | Charles Dickens | |
| Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft | Howard P. Lovecraft | TV film | |
| 1999 | Babel | Preficator | Credited as Chris Heyerdahl |
| Requiem for Murder | Det. Lou Heinz | ||
| Fish Out of Water | Bobby Fish | ||
| 2 frères | Bobby Vieira | ||
| 2000 | Nuremberg | Ernst Kaltenbrunner | TV film |
| Believe | Thad Stiles | ||
| Press Run | Mickey Collins | ||
| Nowhere in Sight | Lewis Gills | ||
| 2001 | The Pig's Law (La Loi du cochon) | Jodorowsky (Junkie) | |
| Varian's War | Marius Franken | TV film | |
| 2002 | Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher | Dr. Jacob Mortas | TV film |
| Aftermath | Evan Harper | ||
| India: Kingdom of the Tiger | Jim Corbett | ||
| 2004 | Blade: Trinity | Caulder | |
| Catwoman | Rocker | ||
| The Chronicles of Riddick | Helion Politico | ||
| The Last Tunnel (Le Dernier tunnel) | Smiley | ||
| 2005 | Kamataki | Scott | |
| The Outlander (Le Survenant) | Mike l'Irlandais | ||
| 2007 | The Invisible | Dr. Woland | |
| 2009 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Marcus Volturi | |
| Cadavres | Paolo | ||
| 2011 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 | Marcus Volturi | |
| 2012 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Marcus Volturi | |
| 2013 | Three Days in Havana | Anders | |
| 2014 | The Calling | Simon | |
| 2015 | Eadweard | Pepper | Won–Leo Award for Best Supporting Performance by a Male |
| 2016 | Honeyglue | Dennis | |
| 2018 | Sicario: Day of the Soldado | Headmaster Deats | |
| Stockholm | Chief Mattsson | ||
| 2019 | Adopt a Highway | Jim |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 21 Jump Street | Jake | Episode: "Next Generation" |
| 1993 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Leonid | 2 episodes |
| 1994 | The Maharaja's Daughter | Walt | TV miniseries |
| 1997 | The Hunger | Arthur | Episode: "A Matter of Style" |
| 1999 | Lassie | Alfred Kraus | Episode: "The Manhunt" |
| 2000 | La Femme Nikita | Colin Starnes | Episode: "Sleeping with the Enemy" |
| The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne | D'Artagnan | 2 episodes | |
| 2002–2003 | John Doe | Dr. Hillman | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Just Cause | Dr. Tolkien | Episode: "Human Trials" |
| Napoléon | Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire | ||
| 2002–2003 | John Doe | Dr. Hillman | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Jeremiah | Paul Wiel | Episode: |
| Les Aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter | Lennie | 2 episodes | |
| Stargate SG-1 | Pallan | Episode: "Revisions" | |
| Andromeda | Gaiton | Episode: "Deep Midnight's Voice” | |
| 2004 | Life As We Know It | Mr. Mitchell | Episode: "Pilot" |
| Kingdom Hospital | Reverend Jimmy Criss | 3 episodes | |
| 2004–2009 | Stargate: Atlantis | Todd, Halling, Male Wriath | 22 episodes |
| 2005 | Into the West | James 'Jim' Ebbets | Episode: "Manifest Destiny" |
| 2006 | Le 7e round | Arthur Kennedy | TV mini-series |
| Whistler | Justin Talbert | Episode: "The Looks of Love" | |
| Psych | Long Hair | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| The Dead Zone | Zed | Episode: "Panic" | |
| Saved | John the Baptist | Episode: "A Day in the Life" | |
| The Collector | Jan van der Heyden | Episode: "The Alchemist" Won–Leo Award for Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series | |
| 2007 | Smallville | Zor-El | 2 episodes |
| Les Sœurs Elliot | Alcidez Barling | ||
| Masters of Horror | Rufus Griswold | Episode: "The Black Cat" | |
| Killer Wave | Stanley Schiff | TV mini-series | |
| 2007–2009 | Sanctuary | John Druitt and Bigfoot | 10 episodes Won–Leo Award for Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series |
| 2009 | Supernatural | Alastair | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Caprica | Kevin Reikle | |
| 2011–2016 | Hell on Wheels | Thor "The Swede" Gundersen | 39 episodes Won–ACTRA Montreal Award for Outstanding Performance – Male (2013) Nominated–Leo Award for Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (2015) Nominated–Golden Maple Award for Newcomer of the year in a TV series broadcast in the U.S. (2016) Nominated–Golden Maple Award for Best Actor in a TV series broadcast in the U.S. (2016) Nominated–Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (2017) |
| 2011 | R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series | Fear (but credited as "Collector") | Episode: "Fear Never Knocks" Won–Leo Award for Best Performance in a Youth or Children's Program or Series |
| 2012 | True Blood | Dieter Braun | Recurring role |
| 2013 | Vegas | Calvin | Episode: "Unfinished Business" |
| Falling Skies | Duane Pickett | Episode: "The Pickett Line" | |
| Castle | Henri | Episode: "Hunt" | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Marc Ratelle | Episode: "In Vino Veritas" | |
| Nikita | Matthew Collins | Episode: "Broken Home" | |
| 2014 | Beauty & the Beast | Dr. Nicholas Markus | Episode: "Redemption" |
| Rush | Martin Arisson | Episode: "Learning to Fly" | |
| 2015 | Gotham | Jack Buchinsky/Electrocutioner | Recurring role |
| Dig | Olaf | Pilot episode | |
| Minority Report | Dr. Lionel Gray | Recurring role 3 episodes | |
| Arrow | Damien Darhk's Assistant | Episode: "My Name Is Oliver Queen" | |
| 2016 | 12 Monkeys | The Keeper | Episode: "Hyena" |
| 2016–2019 | Van Helsing | Sam | Recurring role Nominated–Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (2017) |
| 2017 | Midnight, Texas | Hightower | Episode: "Unearthed" |
| The Librarians | Grigori Rasputin | Episode: "And the Graves of Time" | |
| 2017–2018 | Damnation | Don Berryman | Main role 10 episodes |
| 2017–present | Tin Star | Louis Gagnon | Recurring role 9 episodes |
| 2018 | Travelers | Andrew Matthias Graham | Episode: "Archive" |
| 2019 | Pure | Augustus Nickel | Recurring role 6 episodes (season 2) |
Videogames
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus | Horton Boone |
| 2018 | Far Cry 5 | Sheriff Earl Whitehorse |
