Ryan Merriman

Good-looking, dark-haired Oklahoma native Ryan Merriman began modeling at age six and landed his first broadcast acting role just a few years after, cast as a regular on the NBC sitcom "The Mommies" (1993-1995, renamed "Mommies" in its final year). Segueing from this sitcom role to a recurring turn as the young version of genius Jarod Russell on the gripping NBC series "The Pretender" (1997-2000) showed the actor's versatility. He was featured in the somewhat sentimental TV dramas "Everything That Rises" (TNT, 1998) and "Night Ride Home" (CBS, 1999) before portraying young Meyer Lansky in 1999's "Lansky," an HBO biopic of the famed gangster. That year saw Merriman take on his first feature acting role, playing a young boy who surprises parents Michelle Pfeiffer and Treat Williams nine years after he was kidnapped in the affecting drama, "The Deep End of the Ocean."

Though Merriman had proven himself a more than capable performer with an impressive big screen debut, television was where he racked up his earliest credits. The Disney Channel hosted some of his more unlikely characters, including a computer whiz kid who designs a home that will keep his widowed father from dating ("Smart House," 1999) and a teen who finds out he is part leprechaun ("Luck of the Irish," 2001). More impressive small screen work included his turn as a teen unable to control his own violent urges in Lifetime's "Dangerous Child" (2001). Starring in Jason Alexander's 1950s coming of age comedy, "Just Looking" (1999), Merriman seemed ready to carry a film. He not only made the somewhat questionable character charming, but aced the outerborough Brooklyn accent that actors with far more experience have fumbled with. A featured role in the 2001 horror sequel "Halloween: Homecoming" would place the actor alongside some teen peers and undoubtedly reach a much wider audience than he had been exposed to before, while a co-starring role in the Disney Channel movie "A Ring of Endless Light" (aired in the 2001-02 season) would ensure that the wholesome performer didn't stray too far from the family programming that won over his initial fans.