Stephen Dorff

Born: 29 July 1973
Where: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The actor first gained attention when he mastered an Afrikaner accent to portray a boxing South African schoolboy in 1992's The Power of One.

The son of composer Steve Dorff, he began his career appearing in commercials and making guest appearances on various TV shows like Diff'rent Strokes.

A TV movie veteran, he made his feature debut in the 1987 teen horror flick The Gate but returned to TV until 1991's little-seen Rescue Me.

Despite its unevenness, The Power of One proved an apt showcase for Dorff, who held his own against Sir John Gielgud.

He again displayed a penchant for accents as the Liverpudlian Stuart Sutcliffe, the "fifth" Beatle, in the stylish biopic Backbeat and as an English youth suspected of murder in Innocent Lives.

Dorff has stated that the role closest to him was Cliff Spab in SFW, a meditation on the effects of celebrity.

He offered a gentle turn as Mia Farrow's estranged son in Reckless and won much critical praise as transsexual Candy Darling in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol in 1996.

The following year, he co-starred as Jack Nicholson's stepson in Bob Rafelson's thriller "Blood and Wine.

In 1998, Dorff was the hated villian in the action feature Blade, co-starring Wesley Snipes and then switched paths to torment and titallate in his role as Cecil in the comedy feature Cecil B. Tormenting.

In 2002, Dorff co-starred as Mike Reilly in the horror feature Feardotcom alongside Natascha McElhorne and in the forgetabble heist caper Steal.