Alisen Down

Alisen Down

Works

Title Character Date Venue

Smallville
Memoria (# 3.19) Lillian Luthor 2004 TV series

The Dead Zone
Enigma" (# 1.4) 'Young' Rosie O'Halloran 2002 TV series

A Good Burn Chet 2000 movie

Mysterious Ways Miranda 2000 NBC/PAX TV series

Da Vinci's Inquest
Bang Like That (# 2.11) Ruby 2000 CBC TV series

Late Night Sessions Candy 1999 movie

Bad Money Sylvia Baines 1999 movie

Cold Squad
Dead Beat Walking (#3.5) Anita Dunn 1999 TV series

Da Vinci's Inquest
The Quality of Mercy (# 1.4) Adelle Corbett 1998 CBC TV series

Awards

Year
Award Category Work

2000 won Gemini Best Performance by an Actress
in a Guest Role Dramatic Series Cold Squad
episode Dead Beat Walking (1998)

2000 nominated Gemini Best Performance by an Actress
in a Guest Role Dramatic Series Da Vinci's Inquest
episode Bang Like That (1998)

Biography

Elena Kirschner, Lucas Talent (from the IMDB)

Date of birth: 3 January 1976 (Langley, British Columbia, Canada)

Alisen Down portrays Anthropology Professor Declan Dunn's unimpressed, sarcastic and deadpan assistant Miranda in NBC / PAX TV's original weekly series, "Mysterious Ways." In addition to assisting Declan with his Anthropology class and keeping him focused on his real job, Miranda, a physics grad student, also assists Declan in his search for answers to unexplained phenomena every week. Down's star has been rising rapidly over the past three years. Born in a country suburb of Vancouver, BC, she grew up surrounded by animals that she used to entertain with skits and charades. As far back as she can remember, Down always wanted to be an actress and spent her youth writing and producing her own plays. After graduating from high school, Down attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California and then moved to England to continue her studies at the British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford. Down then returned to Vancouver and began pursuing her craft professionally. Down exploded onto the scene with her special blend of dark humor and offbeat beauty. She made the leap from roles in various stage productions ("Hurley Burley" "Death & The Maiden) to guest starring roles on television ("DaVinci's Inquest" "Cold Squad") with amazing ease. She has also had leading roles in the independent feature films "The Good Burn," Bad Money" and "Late Night Sessions". Down makes her home in Vancouver with one of her family's thirteen cats, all of who were rescued. Down is a big animal lover and has also added two dogs into the mix–Akuna and Jake. In her spare time, Alisen enjoys watching films, playing with her animals, and spending time with her friends at one of the many local coffee houses in her neighborhood.

Agent

Elena Kirschner
Lucas Talent Inc.
Sun Tower - 7th Floor
100 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1R8
604-685-0345 phone

Articles

Things Looking Up For Alisen Down

Wednesday 1 November 2000

www.vancouversun.com

"She's super-spectacular, she's young and gifted and unique. I think she has a shot to be a huge, big star. She's easy to work with she's as sweet as they come and she's damn good." That's Rae Dawn Chong raving about her Mysterious Ways co-star, Vancouver actress Alisen Down. And so, apparently, is everyone else I talked to on the set of the NBC series, shooting at Lions Gate Studios in North Vancouver. On the weekend, the slim, jet-haired, azure-eyed Down picked up a Gemini for a guest role on Cold Squad. In Mysterious Ways, she plays the shy and socially inept Miranda, a brilliant physics grad student and assistant to a college professor obsessed with the paranormal. Auditioning for the role was a trauma, she says. She tried out three times, "and I got my hopes up more and more as the auditioning went on. It still seems a little bit unreal to me -- I think I'm still in a bit of shock over booking this role." In 1994, Down graduated from H.D. Stafford Secondary school in Langley. She keeps in touch with "two wonderful drama teachers, Mr. Williams and Mr. Roberts, who were so supportive -- they really cared about what we did. I think that fueled my passion so much." Down, who studied at L.A.'s American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the British American Dramatic Academy's Balliol College in Oxford, says Mysterious Ways "is the most steady work I've ever gotten." Down, who hopes to hit the Broadway stage some day, credits her mom for spurring her on. "She always said, 'Alisen, you have a job, you don't need another job. You're an actor, don't quit, don't quit.' She's an amazing woman."

Maxim Online

from a Mysterious Ways Review by John Walsh

... Oh, and we would be remiss not to mention that Alisen Down, who plays Dunn’s research assistant, is a babe of the finest campus-cutie variety.

Screen Trade Canada

provided by: Red Sky

Born and raised in Langley, BC, Alisen Down has had the passion for acting since she was a child. Her primary introduction to acting began in local community theatre. From there caught the bug and made the move to Los Angeles to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for their two-year program. During her training at the academy, she won the esteemed Charles Jehkinger Award for excellence in acting. While in LA she got her feet wet in the film genre by performing in a couple of memorable independent short films. Next, she travelled to Oxford, England to attend the British American Dramatic Academy where she trained with Academy Award winning actor Ben Kingsley. Most recently, she worked on the Canadian television series, Da Vinci's Inquest. Currently, she resides in Vancouver with her cat, Norman.

Pictures from Mysterious Ways