Kristian Ayre is a British actor, best known for his portrayal of the character Radu from the Nickelodeon children's science fiction show Space Cases.[1]

Kristian Ayre
Born
Alma materSimon Fraser University
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present

Early life

edit

Kristian Ayre was born in England, and moved to Canada at a young age. He began acting in the early 1990s, and appeared in the 1994 movie Andre with Keith Carradine. After a couple of appearances in TV Movies, including Bye Bye Birdie (1995),[2] he was cast (thanks in part to co-creator Peter David[1]) in the Nickelodeon TV series Space Cases as Radu 386.

He attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre.[3][4] He is trained in acrobatics and gymnastics.[4]

Career

edit

Ayre appeared in every episode of the David/Bill Mumy-created two-season Space Cases (1996–97), alongside co-stars Walter Emanuel Jones, Rahi Azizi, Paige Christina, Anik Matern, Cary Lawrence and Paul Boretski, which also featured early appearances from future-Firefly and Stargate: Atlantis actress Jewel Staite. Staite, as quoted by Peter David, described Ayre as:

one of the most memorable actors I've ever worked with, [whose] attention to detail in the process of fleshing out a character is inspiring. He is one of those actors who sincerely loves what he does, and it shows.[1]

Ayre starred in the 1997 CBS TV series The New Ghostwriter Mysteries, and in a regular role on the 1999–2000 TV series Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy alongside future-Scrubs star Sarah Chalke.[4][5] In the 1999 movie Running Home, Ayre co-starred with Babylon 5 actress Claudia Christian, who is quoted as describing him as "a very good actor and very easy to work with."[1] Ayre also has appeared in odd episodes of such notable science fiction shows as The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1 and The Dead Zone, among other TV appearances.[4] Appearing as 'Loran' in "The Light" (Stargate SG-1 Season 4, episode 18), Ayre was required to cry, but eschewed the usual tricks of the trade, since he can "cry on cue."[6]

Ayre has also lent his voice to a number of dubbed versions of Japanese anime series, including Elemental Gelade, as the main character of Coud Van Giruet and Shinichiro Isumi in Hikaru no Go, as well as Yuji Sakai in the first season of Shakugan no Shana.[4] His vocal talents have also been featured in the 1993 video release of Kishin Corps: Alien Defender Geo-Armor (orig. title: Kishin Heidan) and in the English-language version of the 2004 fourth InuYasha movie InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island (orig. title: Inuyasha - Guren no houraijima).[4]

In addition to credits on both the big and small screen, Ayre has also appeared in stage productions, including MovEnt's "Dances for a Small Stage" XII in January 2006,[7] and with the Genus Theatre in Vancouver. Also in 2006, he performed in "War Lover for the Vancouver International Folk Festival," which he also produced through his "work with the Leaky Heaven Circus."[8]

A Lieutenant Kristian Ayre appeared as a bridge officer on the Enterprise-E in Peter David's 1997 Star Trek: New Frontier debut novel, House of Cards.[9]

In 1998, Ayre appeared as Tommy McPherson in the mock-documentary Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, which depicted a rural family as they were besieged by bizarre unexplained occurrences, before being abducted by extraterrestrials.[10] The program caused a level of confusion and controversy upon its initial broadcast that echoed earlier reality-muddying incidents such as Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Debate over the hoax nature of the program occurred on Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards, where the program's status as fiction was established by virtue of the fact that Tommy McPherson was played by Ayre, an actor.[10]

Personal life

edit

Kristian Ayre is married.[11]

Partial filmography

edit
Year Movies/Television Shows Role/s Notes
1994 Andre Gerald[12]
1994 Kishin Corps: Alien Defender Geo-Armor Taishi Takamura Anime, English dub
1995 Eye Level Zack Telefilm
1995 Bye Bye Birdie Harvey Johnson[2] Telefilm
1996–1997 Space Cases Radu[13] TV series
1997 The New Ghostwriter Mysteries[14] Henry 'Strick' Strickland[15] TV series
1998 Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County Tommy McPherson Mockumentary
1999 Running Home Matt 'Spider' Strilecki
1999–2000 Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy Tommy Aitkens[5] TV series
2000 Bear With Me[16] Daniel
2001 Voyage of the Unicorn Sebastian Hallmark Entertainment Productions[17]
2001 Stargate SG-1 Loran TV series, Season 04 Ep. 18 "The Light
2002 Bang Bang You're Dead[18] Kurt Telefilm
2003 Elf Foom Foom[19]
2004–2005 Shakugan no Shana Yūji Sakai Anime, English dub, season 1
2004 Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island Ryūra Anime, English dub
2005 Elemental Gelade Coud 'Cou' Van Giruet Anime, English dub
2008 Of Golf and God Daniel

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d David, Peter (March 2010). "Wiki wha?". Comics Buyer's Guide. No. 1663. Krause Publications. p. 82.
  2. ^ a b Marill, Alvin H., More Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television, 1993–2001 (Scarecrow Press, 2003), ISBN 0810845369, p. 86
  3. ^ "Kristian Ayre webpage". Kristianayre.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Kristian Ayre's resume at KristianAyre.ca Archived December 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b Kenter, Peter and Levin, Martin, TV North: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Canadian Television (Whitecap, 2001), ISBN 1-55285-146-X, p. 123
  6. ^ Storm, Jo, Approaching the Possible - The World of Stargate SG-1 (ECW Press, 2005) ISBN 1-55022-705-X, p. 295
  7. ^ ""Dances for a Small Stage" Hall of Fame Gallery photographs by Chris Randle". Movent.ca. Archived from the original on April 28, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  8. ^ "Photos for Friday"[permanent dead link]. July 25, 2006 Blog entry at KristianAyre.ca
  9. ^ David, Peter. Star Trek: New Frontier: House of Cards. Pocket Books. 1997. ISBN 0-7434-5577-0. page 101
  10. ^ a b Roscoe, Jane and Hight, Craig, "Degree 2: critique and hoax" in Faking it - Mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality (Manchester University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-7190-5640-3, pp. 151–155
  11. ^ Ayre, Kristian (September 16, 2001). "Untitled". Instagram. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ Willis, John and Monush, Barry (ed.s), SCREEN WORLD - Volume 46 [AKA '1995 Film Annual'] (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000) ISBN 1-55783-233-1, p. 501
  13. ^ Gerhards, Winfried, Handbuch der Phantastischen Fernsehserien (BoD – Books on Demand, 2001), ISBN 3-8311-2019-6, p. 328
  14. ^ Tate, Marsha Ann, Canadian Television Programming made for the United States market: a History with Production and Broadcast Data (McFarland, 2007), ISBN 0-7864-2745-0, p. 256
  15. ^ Terrace, Vincent, Encyclopedia of Television Subjects, Themes and Settings (McFarland & Co., 2007), ISBN 0-7864-2498-2, p. 69
  16. ^ Described as "a sequel of sorts to Ms. Bear" by Pratley, Gerald, A Century of Canadian Cinema: Gerald Pratley's Feature Film Guide, 1900 to the Present (Lynx Images, 2003), ISBN 1-894073-21-5, p. 22
  17. ^ "Le Voyage de la Licorne". Allocine. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  18. ^ Roberts, Jerry, "William Mastrosimone" in The Great American Playwrights on the Screen (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003), ISBN 1-55783-512-8, p. 366
  19. ^ Willis, John and Monush, Barry (ed.s), SCREEN WORLD - Volume 55 [AKA '2004 Film Annual'] (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Hal Leonard Corporation, 2005) ISBN 1-55783-638-8, p. 148
edit