Colin Ferguson

The Man with Three Passports

Colin Ferguson was born in Montreal in 1972, but his family tree gives him Canadian, British and American citizenship, so he can move around the world freely. He started out in the improv group On the Spot, and that quick thinking helped him survive an industry that tends to chew up actors who can't handle last-minute script changes.

His arrival in Los Angeles was no walk in the park. In 2003 he starred in the American version of Coupling, and the project ended in a total ratings disaster. NBC canceled the show after airing just four episodes. But Ferguson didn't sink, because he understood that in Hollywood failure is simply a paperwork formality.

That blow gave him the toughness he needed for what came next.

The Sheriff Who Took the Hit

In 2006 he landed the role of Jack Carter on the series Eureka, and his professional life changed scale. For five seasons he played an ordinary federal agent in a town full of gifted scientists. The show's success relied on his ability to humanize absurd plots and machines bent on destroying the world. Ferguson shot 77 episodes and became the on-screen face of the Syfy network for more than five years.

And the gamble paid off.

During his years filming in Vancouver, he took the opportunity to step behind the camera. He didn't want to be just the guy who delivered lines in front of the camera. He directed several episodes of his own series, and in 2010 he took charge of the TV movie Triassic Attack. But his biggest commercial surprise came from an unexpected place.

Home Appliances and a Return to Television

In 2014, the Maytag company chose him to personify its home appliances in a massive ad campaign. He went from being a character actor to a familiar face during commercial breaks across the United States. Many would consider it a minor gig, but it gave him unusual financial stability in his profession.

He has never won an Oscar.

He kept working on diverse projects such as Cedar Cove and The Vampire Diaries, where he also worked as a director. In 2023 he appeared in the series The Spencer Sisters, playing Dr. Billy Spencer. Ferguson prefers the security of the set to the red carpets of major festivals, and that craftsman's mindset has kept him active for three decades.

The budget for the final season of Eureka suffered drastic cuts that forced the show to wrap up in 2012 with a thirteen-episode final arc.