Biography

I got into the film and tv business at the age of 11 and professional acting at the age of 12.

My mom is an artist. She worked with a company called "Standing Room Only," then later with the Nederlander Producing Company. She transferred to the Pantages Theatre which brought me to Los Angeles. My dad is a project designer and later worked on "The Goonies" as an Art Director.

That's when I realized through acting that I could pretend to do things but also make money. I began training with the Centre Stage LA theatre company and later signed on with an agent after performing in one of their talent showcases.

Corin Nemec (birthname Joseph Charles Nemec IV) was born November 5th 1971 in Little Rock, Arkansas. His mother Janis, who originates from England, is a graphic artist, painter, writer and poet. His father, Joseph C. Nemec III is an Art and Production Designer whose credits include work in films such as The Color Purple, The Abyss, Terminator 2 - Judgement Day, Patriot Games, Twister, A Perfect Getaway and the TV mini-series 'V' (1983). Corin has an older sister named Anastacia (Stacia) who also works in the entertainment industry.

Nemec was inspired to become an actor after watching the film The Goonies, for which his father had done art direction. He also cites his parents' artistic professions as a major influence, and that acting "seemed the right thing to do". At age 11 he began training with the Centre Stage LA theatre company and signed with an agent after performing in one of their talent showcases. After appearing in commercials for Suzuki and McDonald's he made his network television debut in a guest-spot on Sidekicks. This role lead to a lifelong friendship with the show's star, martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr.

In 1987, he landed a reoccurring role as Nicky Papadropolis on the television series Webster. While working on Webster he met best friend David Faustino (of Married with Children) with whom he would later collaborate on several projects. Shortly thereafter he made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's acclaimed Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

After several more television appearances, he earned an Emmy nomination and won the Young Artist Award for his portrayal of Steven Stayner in the television film I Know My Name Is Steven. He followed up this critically acclaimed performance with a starring role in the science fiction epic Solar Crisis (with Tim Matheson, Charlton Heston and Jack Palance). He has since expressed that Jack Palance is one the favorite actors he has ever worked with.

Soon after he landed the title role in What's Alan Watching?, a comedy pilot produced by Eddie Murphy. While it wasn't picked up as a series, it did attract the attention of Clive Phillips who was developing a show for the new Fox network called Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Initially, Nemec turned down the role of Parker Lloyd Lewis several times, having no desire to work on another sitcom. He was finally won over by the producers plan to shoot the series in a quick-paced, highly visual camera style inspired by the film Three O'Clock High. He accepted the role in the groundbreaking series which successfully ran for three seasons from 1990 to 1993.

Nemec expanded his resume to include long-form television roles while on hiatus from Parker Lewis. Over the course of his career he has starred in over a dozen television movies and miniseries including the critically acclaimed adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (with Gary Sinise, Laura San Giacomo, Rob Lowe, Ed Harris and Ossie Davis).

During the 1990s, Nemec made a brief foray into hip-hop, recording an album with the group Starship of Foolz (with Shane Mooney, son of comedian Paul Mooney), which was produced by actor Balthazar Getty. The Source Magazine reported that the crowd at Ed Lover’s (of Yo! MTV Raps) 1993 birthday party were surprised by his “impressive” mic skills.

At the conclusion of his 78 episode run on Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Nemec was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Comedian in a Television Series.This marked the beginning of an extremely productive period in Nemec's career. Over the the next decade he would appear in fifteen feature films in addition to seven television movies and miniseries. He also guest starred on many popular television shows, landing roles on Beverly Hills 90210, NYPD Blue, Tales from the Crypt and Smallville.

I studied with Manu Tupou, He had his own theater company called the American Repertory Company. He was in the Actor’s Studio when Marilyn Monroe was there.

What he taught was his own Method, which was creating the character as it was scripted. Living the life of the character as the beats and moments suggested in the material, then finding whatever new and original beats and moments come out of that by working with the director and living the life of the character organically in the moment. As it’s scripted, this is what the character does - not me. That’s how I separate myself from that.

I don’t use the Method. I’m not going into my own past to create a psychological condition that would drive me as an actor to create that moment. When you can embrace the life of the character and the environment and the scene that’s taking place, the rest happens naturally if your instrument is tuned.

In LA — too many people want to go the quickest route from A to B. Method acting offers them that. Manu gets you to create from a clean space — without utilising stuff that reminds you what it's like — it's far more creative. And people who stay the course really grow.

Not only that, he doesn't just provoke us to act. He wants us to try everything — writing, producing, directing. I've written lots of stuff as a result — screenplays — that I'm not sure I would've had the confidence to pursue that as seriously as I have over the past seven years without the support of a teacher like Manu.

Nemec was involved with the American Repertory Company in Los Angeles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Founded by Manu Tupou (an Actor's Studio life member who studied under Strasberg and Meisner), Tapou developed the "New Era Acting Technique" (NEAT), a simplistic but revolutionary break from the long advocated "Method" approach.

Earlier in his career Nemec studied with Method actors Larry Moss and John Len but rejected method acting after he began working with Manu Tupou.

A chance encounter at the courtyard of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Santa Monica offices led to Nemec's second principle role in a television series. While rehearsing audition dialog for an independent film he was approached by casting agents who recognized him from previous projects. Looking to cast a new character to fill the void left by Daniel Jackson's departure from Stargate SG-1 (television's longest running sci-fi series), they informed Nemec's manager of their strong interest in him that same afternoon.

Although Nemec was familiar with the Stargate film, he had never watched the television show and was sent videotapes to familiarize himself with the series. Nemec was cast as Jonas Quinn for the penultimate season 5 episode "Meridian" and became a series regular in the show's sixth season. Over 25 episodes from 2002 to 2003 he won over a new fan base and became a popular attraction at Stargate and Sci-fi fan conventions.

In 2004 Nemec returned to cast of Stargate SG-1 for a final episode entitled "Fallout," which he wrote himself. As his first major writing credit, this marked the beginning of the expansion of his career to include writing and producing. This same year he would found his own production company 2BAD4U Productions with Toronto-based producer Larry Bain.

In the following year, Nemec would star in and serve as an associate producer of the award winning drama Parzania (with Naseeruddin Shah). In 2006 he formed his second production company F.N.B. Entertainment with David Faustino and Todd Bringewatt. His recent credits in the producing arena include films Common, Gangsta Rap: The Glockumentary, Hidden Secrets, Chicago Massacre and RoboDoc as well as web series Rules of the Game and Star-ving.

In addition to producing, Nemec has stayed busy as an actor since the end of his run on Stargate SG-1. Since 2004, he has starred in five television movies for Hallmark and the SyFy Channel and guest starred on television shows such as CSI: NY, CSI:Miami, Navy NCIS and Three Moons Over Milford. In 2008, he landed a re-occuring role as Paul Eastman on CBS' Ghost Whisperer.

On the big screen, his recent credits include the comedy High Hopes (with David Faustino, Jason Mewes, Andy Dick and Lacey Chabert) , The American Standards (with James Brolin and Joanna Cassidy), ensemble drama Shattered! and comedy National Lampoon's Robodoc (with Alan Thicke, David Faustino and Michael Winslow).

In 2007, Nemec's riveting portrayal of mass murderer Richard Speck in Chicago Massacre drew significant notice despite the picture being a low budget, direct-to-video offering shot in 10 days. Many reviewers commented that the calibre of his performance was superior to the material and unusual for the genre.

Currently he is collaborating with David Faustino in the comedy web series Star-ving, a clever satire of the actors lives post teen stardom. Nemec wore several hats in this project as a producer, writer and actor which won rave reviews from Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Nemec is a published poet who has done a number of readings in poetry lounges in both Vancouver and Los Angeles. Another of his interests is photography. In 2006, he shot the cover for Hollywood glam rapper Mickey Avalon's self titled album. He began drawing and painting as a child and especially enjoys graffiti art, lately creating graffiti pieces (Pyke 169 is his tag) on permission walls in Venice. He is also a self proclaimed bookworm, who enjoys reading non-fiction and has stated that his favorite author is Stephen Hawkins.

Corin has two children (daughter Sadie Joy and son Lukas Manu) with his former wife Jami.  His son is named after Manu Tupou, Corin's late acting teacher. In 2007, Corin co-starred with his daughter Sadie in the independent film The American Standards.