Birth Name: Devon Edward Sawa
Date of Birth: September 7, 1978
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Sawa's love of acting began when he starred in a school play in kindergarten. Sawa started acting in local stage plays, where he caught the attention of a casting agent who immediately saw the potential of the aspiring young actor. He landed a commercial spot as the sportskid for Nerf toys, which led him to Canadian television work.
His work on the show Kid Zone led to an appearance as Yudo on another Canadian show entitled The Odyssey.
He was soon seen in his first big screen role, that of a misfit quarterback in the formula kids film Little Giants (1994). More important than that, though, Sawa next appeared briefly on film in Casper (1995), as the real-boy incarnation of the title character. Casper made Sawa immensely popular with any number of teenage girls and his popularity received an additional boost that same year thanks to his role as the neighborhood bully who locks lips with Christina Ricci in Now and Then (1995).
Sawa got his first real chance to carry a mainstream movie with the 1999 Idle Hands, a teen horror-comedy that took advantage of the genre craze originally inspired by the Scream series. Unfortunately, the film was released just before the Columbine High School tragedy and audiences generally avoided the film which mirrored the recent events. The following year, Sawa was given another crack at film stardom with Final Destination (2000), a psychological thriller that featured him as a high school student who discovers the difficulties in cheating death. He can most recently be seen in the 2012 film 388 Arletta Avenue alongside Nick Stahl and Mia Kirshner.
Filmography:
388 Arletta Avenue (2012)
The Sibling (2011)
Endure (2010)
Creature of Darkness (2009)
Devil's Den (2006)
Extreme Dating (2005)
Extreme Ops (2002)
Slackers (2002)
Final Destination (2000)
The Guilty (2000)
Stan (1999)
Idle Hands (1999)
Around the Fire (1999)
SLC Punk! (1999)
A Cool, Dry Place (1998)
Wild America (1997)
The Boy's Club (1997)
Now and Then (1995)
Casper (1995)
Little Giants (1994)