Christopher Heyerdahl (born September 18, 1963) is a Canadian actor who portrayed Alastair in ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

,'' the Wraith Todd in ''

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an Adventure film, adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad W ...

'', Sam in ''

Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the P ...

,'' "Swede" in '' Hell on Wheels,'' and Marcus in '' The Twilight Saga''.

Early life

Heyerdahl was born in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, and is of Norwegian and

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent. His father emigrated from Norway to Canada in the 1950s.

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

was his father's cousin. Heyerdahl also speaks Norwegian and studied at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

Career

Heyerdahl is primarily known for his recurring role as the enigmatic and sinister "Swede" in

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's '' Hell on Wheels''. This post-

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

drama debuted as the second highest rated original series in AMC history. He is also known for his role as Leonid in the ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a children's horror anthology television series created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. The original series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from August 15, 1992 to February 3, 1996, and also o ...

'' episode "The Thirteenth Floor" and as Nosferatu in the episode "Midnight Madness". He played the characters Halling and Wraith commander Todd in ''

'', and Pallan in the ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...

'' episode "

Revisions ''ReVisions'' is a 2004 anthology of alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred ...

". He played

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

in the film '' Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft'' (1998) and a punk, new at drug dealing, in ''Cadavres'' (2009). He played the part of the demon Alastair in three episodes of ''

''. He also played the part of

Zor-El Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A Kryptonian, he is the younger brother of Jor-El,'' Action Comics #1075 (2024)'' husband of Alura, father of Supergirl, and paternal uncle of Superman. T ...

in the television series ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'', as well as playing John Druitt and

Bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

in the series ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

''. He played the part of Dieter Braun on ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

'' during the show's 5th season. His most notable film role was in the feature film ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'', an adaptation of

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

's second book in her Twilight Saga. In this film, he played a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

, Marcus, who is part of a powerful Italian family called the

Volturi The following is a list of characters in the Twilight (novel series), ''Twilight'' novel series by Stephenie Meyer, comprising the books ''Twilight (Meyer novel), Twilight'', ''New Moon (novel), New Moon'', ''Eclipse (Meyer novel), Eclipse'' a ...

. He reprised that role in both parts of ''

Breaking Dawn ''Breaking Dawn'' (stylized as ''breaking dawn'') is the 2008 fourth novel in Twilight (novel series), ''The Twilight Saga'' by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan' ...

'', the two-part adaptation of the fourth book in the Twilight Saga. He has also performed on stage and was a member of the Young Company at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

in 1989 and 1990. In 2015, Heyerdahl hosted the Leo Awards gala ceremony. In 2022, Heyerdahl starred in the true crime drama miniseries ''Under the Banner of Heaven''. In 2024 it was announced that he would be starring the upcoming Crave crime drama ''Underbelly.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Note and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heyerdahl, Christopher 1963 births Living people Male actors from British Columbia Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of Norwegian descent Canadian people of Scottish descent