Jason Behr

Brown-haired, with a mixture of traditional All-American good looks and a brooding punk appeal, Jason Behr made his starring debut with a regular role as one of three aliens masquerading as high school students in the science fiction drama series "Roswell" (The WB, 1999-2001; UPN, 2001-02). More "Dawson's Creek" than "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Roswell" featured otherworldly characters who weren't out to conquer earth but merely were trying to avoid capture by the US government by living in all outward appearances like average teenagers. Since their spacecraft crash in 1947, the three managed this without too much difficulty, until Behr's Max Evans uses his extraterrestrial powers to heal his dream girl after she is struck by a stray bullet. Through this heroic miracle he puts himself and his fellow aliens in jeopardy.

Their struggle to preserve the secret and their lives drove this series, but regular high school issues and concerns were also addressed on this hour-long drama. No newcomer to The WB, Behr previously guest starred on the network's popular "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" in 1997, and had a recurring role during the 1998-99 season as the overconfident but somewhat goofy school stud Chris, pal of the ultra-obnoxious Abby, on "Dawson's Creek."

Behr first appeared on the small screen as a guest in 1994 episodes of "Step By Step" (ABC). The following year he gained notice as Tyler on Showtime's "Sherman Oaks," a series parodying cinema-verite documentaries examining the workings of the American family. In 1996 he had a supporting role in Fox's telefilm "Alien Nation: Millennium," playing a sinister human teen who pretends to have an interest in Tenctonese culture in a bid to seduce a young alien woman, going so far as to paint spots on himself to mimic alien markings. He continued to appear in guest roles, featured on series including CBS' Navy legal drama "JAG" and ABC's short-lived detective remake "Cracker." In 1998 he took on his own short-lived series, starring as Dempsey Easton, a fiercely competitive middle distance runner enrolled in an elite university athletic program, in "Push" (ABC). Easton turns to steroids to make the grade, and while Behr proved his acting capabilities in the show, suitably evoking the character's moral ambiguity, the series wasn't around long enough to fulfill the young performer's promise.

Behr made his film debut with a small part in "Pleasantville" (1998) before taking on a challenging starring role as a young gay man unexpectedly reunited with his estranged brothers and father under tense and potentially dangerous circumstances in Victor Salva's small-scale independent "Rites of Passage" (1999). Behr returned to the big screen in 2001 playing the supporting role of an aspiring fisherman in the screen adaptation of "The Shipping News." The actor's profile got a big boost when he appeared as Sarah Michelle Gellar's boyfriend in the surprise horror hit "The Grudge" (2004).