Micah Sloat

When actor Micah Sloat was cast in Oren Peli's surprise horror hit "Paranormal Activity," he was a barely-known aspiring musician. During his undergraduate years at New York's Skidmore College, Sloat dabbled in theater while studying for a philosophy degree, moving after graduation to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.

While attending a vocational for-profit music school, he was intrigued by a cryptic audition notice and ended up being cast by Peli, not only acting but holding the camera in many scenes and composing music for the production. Shooting took up a very intense week in 2006, with Sloat and his then-equally-unknown co-star Katie Featherston filming for up to 18 hours a day in the director's San Diego house. When production was over, Sloat returned to music school.

It would be another three years before the film would see release, during which Sloat remained artistically obscure while finding work as a computer programmer. The release of "Paranormal Activity" in 2009 immeasurably boosted Sloat's public profile, allowing him to quit his day job to focus solely on music and acting, though his only feature role since has been in the sequel "Paranormal Activity 2."

In addition to his musical pursuits as a rock guitarist, Sloat is also an avid barbershop quartet singer.