Mike Vogel

An actor with a clean-cut, all-American look that has been used to great advantage in a broad array of genres, Mike Vogel grew up well outside the realm of show business, in Bucks County, PA. Vogel entered the film industry via a most unlikely path, when -- as an avid skater -- he shot an audition tape of himself and sent it to various skating companies, requesting their sponsorship of him. In time, this bid led to a lead role in a skateboarding movie, Casey La Scala's 2003 drama Grind. Though the film itself received a harsh critical drubbing (and reportedly grossed a little over five million dollars), Vogel's onscreen charisma proved infectious and yielded a long string of additional assignments including the 2003 telefilm Wuthering Heights (in a romantic lead opposite Erika Christensen) and the theatrical releases Supercross: The Movie (2005) and Poseidon (2006). Vogel subsequently starred in two horror outings: the occult horror film Mamba (2007) and the monster-themed thriller Cloverfield (2008). - Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide