Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Born and raised in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Sawa began his career as a children's action toy spokesman. He made his film debut with a supporting role in '' Little Giants'' (1994) and received wide recognition for playing the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

as a human boy in '' Casper'' (1995). Sawa also had starring roles in the films '' Wild America'' (1997), ''

SLC Punk! ''SLCPunk!'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film centers around Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate and punk living in Salt Lake City during the mid-1980s. ''SLCPunk!'' was chosen as the op ...

'' (1998), '' Idle Hands'' (1999), and ''

Final Destination ''Final Destination'' is an American horror franchise that includes six films, ten novels, and two comic books. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for the television series ''The X-Files''. All of ...

'' (2000). Following his lead roles in the poorly-received films '' Slackers'' and '' Extreme Ops'' (both 2002), Sawa acted in various

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

independent film productions. He also played the title character of the

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

music video " Stan"; and was cast as Owen Elliot / Sam Matthews on the CW action drama series '' Nikita'' (2010–2013). Sawa experienced a career resurgence in the 2020s. He played multiple roles on the Syfy and

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

horror series '' Chucky'' (2021–2024); and had a starring role in the horror film '' Heart Eyes'' (2025).

Early life

Devon Sawa was born on September 7, 1978, in

, the son of Joyce and Edward Sawa, a mechanic. He has two older siblings. His father was of Polish descent, and his mother is "a little bit of everything".

Career

Sawa began his career in 1992 at age 14 as a children's action toy spokesman. He made his film debut in '' Little Giants'' in 1994 and received wide recognition for playing the

as a human boy in '' Casper'' the following year. In '' Now and Then'' (1995), Sawa played the town bully, Scott Wormer. He subsequently appeared in the films '' Wild America'' (1997), ''

'' (1998), '' Idle Hands'' (1999), and ''

'' (2000). In 2000, Sawa played the title character of the

music video " Stan". He later did voice acting, voicing

Flash Thompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962). Flash ...

in '' Spider-Man: The New Animated Series''. Sawa continued to work steadily in the 2000s by appearing in several independent films, including ''Extreme Dating'', ''Shooting Gallery'', '' Devil's Den'', ''Creature Of Darkness'', ''Endure'', '' 388 Arletta Avenue'', '' The Philly Kid'', and '' A Resurrection''. In 2010, Sawa portrayed Owen Elliott on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

action drama series '' Nikita''. In July 2012, he was promoted to series regular in the third season of ''Nikita''; the show ended after four seasons in 2013. In 2016, Sawa played the lead role in '' Punk's Dead'', a sequel to ''SLC Punk!'' by the same director James Merendino. In 2017, he portrayed the role of Nico Jackson in '' Somewhere Between''; the show ended after one season. In 2019, Sawa appeared as Lester Clark Jr. in '' Escape Plan: The Extractors''. He also starred in the thriller '' The Fanatic'', where he played Hunter Dunbar, an actor who is stalked by a character named Moose (

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

). The movie was directed by

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

vocalist Fred Durst. Sawa later starred in the films '' Hunter Hunter'' (2020) and '' Black Friday'' (2021), which received favorable reviews.

Personal life

Sawa married Canadian producer Dawni Sahanovitch in 2013. They have two children together, a son born in 2014 and a daughter born in 2016. Sawa has described himself as being

irreligious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationa ...

, an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and supportive of religious freedoms. In June 2022, Sawa gave a lengthy interview to ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', where he said that he sought out roles in which the character smoked marijuana to help get away from his teen heartthrob status which began with ''Casper''. Sawa also said that between 2004 and 2009, he "drank a lot" until going sober after meeting his wife in Vancouver.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawa, Devon 1978 births 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian male child actors Canadian male film actors Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian atheists Living people Male actors from Vancouver