Sean Cameron Michael who hails from Cape Town appears on M-Net this June in the true life drama, Natalee Holloway, about a teenager who vanished in 2005 while visiting Aruba on a senior class trip and her mother’s relentless effort to discover the truth behind her daughter’s disappearance. Michael plays Paul van der Sloot, the father of 22-year old Dutch playboy, Joran van der Sloot, who was twice arrested in connection with the schoolgirl’s disappearance. The film was directed by Mikael Salomon.
Michael will also be seen in the role of Doctor Max Tyler in the multi-award winning film Themba which will be released in South Africa on 16 July and in Germany on 5 August. The German funded film was directed by South African born Stefanie Sycholt.
Michael is one of a number of South African actors (The Gospel of Matthew, Confessions of a Gambler and Faith Like Potatoes by director Regardt van den Bergh) who has started to make it big in overseas productions. His extensive list of international credits include Bryan Singers’ Emmy winning sci-fi, The Triangle, Allan Quatermain & the Temple of Skulls(in the title role),Special Forces Heroes (BBC’s Channel 5), Crusoe(NBC) and the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated 24: Redemption (opposite Kiefer Sutherland, Jon Voight and Robert Carlyle) which had 12 million viewers tuned into FOX for the film premier. US critics singled out Michael’s performance, raving about his ruthless portrayal of French United Nations worker, Charles Solenz.
Adam Buckman from the NY Post was quoted as saying that 24 had found a new villain in Africa and that Michael’s character was possibly the most spineless, ruthless character ever created for the series.
Michael can next be seen in Albert Schweitzer(with Barbara Hershey for Warner Bros);Lost Boys: The Thirst(with Tanit Phoenix and Corey Feldman for Warner Premiere), the History Channel’s America – The story of Usas Thomas Edison. The TV series began broadcasting in America in April
Closer to home ground, Michael recently starred in director Roy Zetisky’s teaser trailer for his upcoming feature film, A Tin of Paint, which premiered at Cannes last month. He has just wrapped playing the lead in Mermaids for Darlow Smithson (Touching the Void) and Animal Planet.
