Rick Ravanello (born 24 October 1967) is a Canadian actor and ex-bodybuilder who has appeared in several television series and movies. Known primarily from action and thriller films, he often portrayed soldiers, military men and detectives.

Biography

One of several brothers, Ravanello was raised in the Trout Brook Road area of Mira, Cape Breton, and graduated from Riverview Rural High School in 1986. While a young man, he got introduced to weight training. As an actor he debuted in 1996, appearing in several television series, including Stargate SG-1 (episode "Children of the Gods") and Millennium (episode "Weeds"). He portrayed a young Marine Guard in the 1998 made-for-television action-drama film Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House, and was subsequently cast as Private J. Vaughn in the superhero TV film Nick Fury (1998), opposite David Hasselhoff. UPN cast him as Mednaut Thurston—the role which he continued to play throughout 1998 and 1999—in the short-lived science fiction medical drama series Mercy Point. He starred as a tough military man named Thompson in the Richard Pepin-directed action film Y2K (also known as Terminal Countdown). He played a small, supporting role of a handsome welder in the Sally Field–Judy Davis vehicle A Cooler Climate (1999), and was a recurring actor on the Canadian police procedural television series Cold Squad (October 1999). In January 2001, he guest-starred in the science-fiction–action series Seven Days opposite Jonathan LaPaglia, portraying Major Gary Jones. In the 2001 television action drama Semper Fi he portrayed the Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. Ravanello's acting breakthrough came with 2002's Hart's War. In the movie, set in a World War II prisoner of war camp, he starred opposite Bruce Willis as Major Joe Clary. In the 1990s Ravanello was also a competitive bodybuilder, with an on-stage weight of approximately 190 pounds (86 kilograms). He also has a second degree black belt in Taekwondo and trains Muay Thai.

Filmography

Guest appearances