Michael S. Vartanย (born November 27, 1968) is a French-American actor, known for his TV roles asย Michael Vaughnย on theย ABCย television action dramaย Alias, George Helen's on Bates Motel, James Walker on Big Shots, Terence Hoffman on the E! drama The Arrangement, and Dr. Tom Wakefield on theย TNTย medical drama Hawthorne. His best known film roles are as Sam Coulson in Never Been Kissed, Kevin Fields in Monster-in-Law,ย and Kevin Lassiter in The Next Best Thing.
His other film roles includeย The Pallbearer,ย One Hour Photo,ย Rogue,ย Colombiana, andย Small Town Crime. He played the role of Lancelot inย TNT's production ofย Marion Zimmer Bradley'sย The Mists of Avalonย (2001).
He also had a guest appearance onย Friendsย as Dr. Tim Burke,ย Tom Selleck's character's son.
Vartan co-hosts a weekly live sports program calledย Advanced Shoutingย with friends Dan Petriw and Noel Fogelman. The first episode was uploaded to YouTube in June 2020. The broadcast is also available via Facebook.
He was born in France and lived there until the age of 5 when he moved to the United States with his mother after his parents divorced. He moved back to France to be with his father until his high school years, and grew up a "farm kid" in a "simple environment"ย inย Fleury, Manche, a small town inย Normandy.ย At age eighteen, Vartan moved back with his mother in Los Angeles, telling her that he wanted to be an artist, because he did not wish to fulfill theย mandatory military serviceย required in France. He now considers himself to be American andย isย bilingual, being fluent in French and English.