Appearances

Title	Role	Year	Approx. Age
Maps to the Stars	Benjie Weiss	2014	14
Chained	Young Rabbit	2012	12

Evan Bird started at the young age of eight when he booked a national commercial for Mercedes Benz. But he is is best known for portraying the role of Tommy Larson on AMC?s critically acclaimed drama The Killing (2011-2012), In addition to The Killing, Evan?s television credits include: Falling Skies (2012), Fringe (2011), The Haunting Hour, Psych (2010) and Caprica (2010). In 2012, Evan starred opposite Vincent D?Onofrio in Jennifer Lynch?s psychological thriller Chained (2012).

Born in Vancouver, Evan Bird remembers getting a piece of advice from John Cusack, his movie dad, on the second day of shooting of David Cronenberg?s Maps to the Stars (2014). ?He said, ?Keep your head on your shoulders and never become Benjie!?? The mock lecture was actually a thumbs-up to Bird?s performance in Cronenberg?s characteristically-deranged take on Hollywood dysfunction. Benjie Weiss, the monstrous child-actor he plays, is kind of like an out-of-control Justin Bieber if he were a movie star instead of a pop sensation. Benjie ? America?s darling ? is foul-mouthed, cruel, and prone to reckless and violent behaviour. And he?s begun to see the ghost of a dead fan, which is making him even more unhinged. And he?s just one of a plethora of utterly lonely and aberrant characters, including the daughter (Julianne Moore) of a tragic, iconic movie star, and a web of incest that one-ups even our low expectations of Hollywood behaviour.

?The movie?s not really about Hollywood,? the 14-year-old Bird says. ?It?s people who want to be wanted and seen and loved, especially Benjie?s character. His parents don?t really love him. They just use him for his money.? Hollywood just happens to be a convenient place for that to play out.

Taking Cusack?s advice wasn?t a big deal. Bird is no monster in person. As for the scabrous things that come out of his mouth onscreen, he says, ?My parents are kind of used to language at this point. They have their ground-rules at home.? For the record, Bird says he?s never witnessed monstrous behaviour from any child actors in his six years in the business. From adults, he says, ?I have seen some unprofessional behaviour, but that?s to be expected.? You look at his short but impressive resume, and you see what Cronenberg saw in terms of Bird?s ability to handle dark stories. (Caprice & The Killing)

As for that child-stars-behaving-badly trope, Bird says he got a little insight into life in a celebrity fishbowl when Maps to the Stars debuted at Cannes. ?There were a lot of photographers, people asking me to take pictures with them. But not anything like an invasion of privacy. It was the good kind of attention. But if that was your life every day, I could see how that gets into people?s heads.

Next up for Bird, an unnamed pilot for a series set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (which may also turn out to be Vancouver) Yes, Bird admits, he is attracted to dark material. ?Dark stuff is fun stuff,? he says.