Christopher Backus

Overview

Backus made his television debut in NBC's Will & Grace, followed by landing roles in prominent television shows like The O.C., along with ABC’s Life on Mars, FX's hit series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Sons of Anarchy, NBC's The Mentalist and TNT's Perception and NBC's two-part miniseries The Last Templar. Backus also appeared in films such as Redline starring Eddie Griffin, and 3 Days Gone directed by Scott McCullough. Most recently he has starred in Hard Breakers, Ezna Sands' Theo, Nancy Savoca's Union Square, Yellow Rock, Elevator written by Marc Rosenberg, and most recently played Marlene Dietrich in the indie film My Fair Lidy.

Christopher married actress Mira Sorvino on July 2, 2004, in Capri, Italy. They have four children together: Mattea, Johnny, Holden and Lucia.

Career

Backus moved with friend Rob McElhenney from New York City to Los Angeles during pilot season of 2003. Shortly after arriving, Backus landed his first role in Benjamin Splits, while McElhenney developed the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. After landing supporting roles in NBC's hit show Will & Grace and the WB's The O.C., Backus starred opposite Dominique Swain in Nick Vallelonga's All In. He returned to television in Malik Bader's HUGE in which he portrayed a struggling frontman of an indie rock band. He starred in 3 Days Gone along with Patrick J. Adams, Nothing Personal with Paz de la Huerta, and Elevator with John Getz and Anita Briem.

Backus returned to television to play the leader of the Weather Underground in ABC's period drama Life on Mars, then he reteamed with director Nick Vallelonga on a western with Michael Biehn and James Russo, Yellow Rock.

In 2011, the feature film "Union Square," which Nancy Savoca co-wrote and directed, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Savoca is known for winning the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In "Union Square," Backus stars alongside notable actors such as Mira Sorvino, Patti Lupone, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, and Michael Rispoli.

In Summer 2011 Backus took on the challenging role of portraying film icon Marlene Dietrich in My Fair Lidy.

Most recently he starred as Marcus in Among Friends, directed by "scream queen" Danielle Harris.

Backus was set to direct a thriller titled The Sessionist, but dropped out of the project due to creative differences.

Personal life

Backus was born in Mission Viejo, California, but was raised in Kansas City, Kansas. His mother, Teryl Backus, is a retired Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and his father, Terry Backus, was a lawyer who died when Christopher was a child. He has one sister, Michele.

Backus met Mira Sorvino at a friend's charades party in August 2003. On June 11, 2004, they married in a private civil ceremony at the Santa Barbara, California, courthouse, then later had a hilltop ceremony in Capri, Italy.

The couple have four children: daughters Mattea Angel (born November 3, 2004) and Lucia (born May 3, 2012) and sons Johnny Christopher King (born May 29, 2006) and Holden Paul Terry Backus (born June 22, 2009).

Backus is the son-in-law of character actor Paul Sorvino.