Cameron Monaghan
Cameron Riley Monaghan (born 1993 or 1994)[1] is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama series Shameless and as twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who serve as origins for the Joker, on the DC Comics-based TV series Gotham.[2] He also portrayed Cal Kestis in the action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel Jedi: Survivor. Monaghan began his career as a child model at the age of three and as a child actor at the age of seven.
Cameron Monaghan
- Actor
- model
2002–present
Early life[edit]
Monaghan was born in Santa Monica, California, the only child of Diane Monaghan, an insurance claims specialist and single mother. He and his mother relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, shortly after his birth. Recognizing that Monaghan was an exceptionally outgoing child, his mother sent his picture to modeling agencies when he was three. He appeared on the cover of his first catalogue at the age of five and appeared in his first regional commercial at seven.[1][3]
He attended Addison Mizner Elementary School and began to develop his acting skills by appearing in the Little Palm Children's Theatre's productions of Stuart Little, Winnie-the-Pooh, and The Pumpkin King (a theatrical adaptation of The Nightmare Before Christmas), as well as appearing as Alex in the small independent film The Wishing Stone, which was filmed in the Lake Worth, Florida area.[1][3]
Monaghan moved to the Los Angeles area when he was approximately 10 years old.[4][5]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Monaghan first came to national attention in 2003 for his role as Winthrop Paroo in the ABC television adaptation of The Music Man. When recounting the decision to cast the 9-year-old Monaghan, director and executive producer Jeff Bleckner explained, "There are some people, when you put them up on film, they sort of pop off the screen at you. That's how it was with Cameron. From the second we saw him, he was it. We were looking for anybody who had that wonderful appeal. And Cameron had it."[1]
In 2004, Monaghan began a recurring role as Chad, one of Dewey's classmates on the Fox comedy series Malcolm in the Middle, which earned him the Young Artist Award as Best Young Television Actor in a Recurring Role.[6] The following year, he began a recurring role as Palmer Noid on the Nickelodeon situation comedy Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Subsequent guest-starring television roles followed, including appearances on Criminal Minds, Numbers, The Mentalist, Monk, Three Rivers, Fringe, The Glades, and Terriers.[7]
In 2005, Monaghan transitioned to theatrical film roles, appearing as Timmy in the independent western Brothers in Arms. The following year, he appeared as Kevin O'Doyle, the bothersome next-door neighbor in the fantasy comedy Click. A series of subsequent feature film roles followed, including appearances in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Dog Gone, Safe Harbor and Another Harvest Moon, as well as portraying the boy detective Bob Andrews in the Three Investigators film series.[7]
