Van Hansis

Van Hansis
Hansis on the Red Carpet of the 5th Indie Series Awards
Born
Evan Vanfossen Hansis

(1981-09-25) September 25, 1981 (age 43)
North Adams, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationCarnegie Mellon University (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present

Van Hansis (born Evan Vanfossen Hansis on September 25, 1981) is an American actor. Hansis portrayed the rich Luke Snyder on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from December 14, 2005 until the show's final episode September 17, 2010. The son of long running characters on the series, Luke is known for a gay romantic storyline cited as one of the first in American daytime television.

Hansis has had guest roles on several television series and starred in the 2011 thriller film Occupant. In December 2012, he began playing the role of Thom in the dark comedy web series EastSiders. Hansis later played Jess Gibson in the 2013 horror film Devil May Call, and starred as Dusty in the 2015 film Kiss Me, Kill Me.

Hansis was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for his As the World Turns role, and was nominated again in 2016 for his role on EastSiders.

Early life and education

Hansis was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, but moved to Greenfield in the third grade when his mother became a principal in the Gill-Montague Regional School District.[1] He attended Four Corners School and later the Greenfield Center School. Hansis began acting in theater camp as a child. He attended high school at a boarding school called Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, because, he says, he knew by then he wanted to be an actor "and it was a good school for that".[1]

Hansis graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the School of Drama.[citation needed]

Career

Hansis appeared in the play The Laramie Project in Pittsburgh in 2002, and later worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in productions including On the Razzle and The Witching Hour in 2005.[2][3]

As the World Turns

Hansis portrayed Luke Snyder on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from December 14, 2005 until the show's final episode September 17, 2010.[4] Luke, previously played by Jake Weary, is the son of one of the series' long running supercouples, Holden and Lily Snyder (played by Jon Hensley and Martha Byrne, later Noelle Beck).[4] Shortly after Hansis took over the role, the character came out as gay on May 9, 2006.[4] Luke subsequently became involved in a romance with another male character, a pairing eventually hailed as the first gay supercouple in American soap opera history.[5][6] The August 17, 2007 kiss between Luke and Noah Mayer (played by Jake Silbermann) was the first ever gay male kiss on an American daytime drama.[7][8][9] Hansis was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for portraying Luke in 2007,[10] 2008[11] and 2009.[12]

Other projects

From September 2007 to mid-January 2008, Hansis appeared off-Broadway as Lance Sussman in a production of Charles Busch's Die, Mommie, Die!.[citation needed]

In 2011, Hansis guest starred in the Psych episode "This Episode Sucks" as Adrian Viccellio, and the Nikita episode "Clawback" as Yuri Levrov. He next appeared in the 2012 The Mentalist episode "Red Is the New Black" as Derek.[citation needed]

In 2012, Hansis began starring as Thom in the dark comedy web series EastSiders, which explores the aftermath of infidelity on a gay couple in Silverlake, Los Angeles. He has been nominated for two Indie Series Awards for the role, in 2014[13][14] and 2016,[15] as well as a 2016 Daytime Emmy nomination.[16][17]

Hansis starred as Danny Hill in the thriller film Occupant, which premiered on the opening night of the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest in New York City on October 14, 2011. He next appeared as Jess Gibson in the 2013 horror film Devil May Call. In 2015, Hansis starred as Dusty in Kiss Me, Kill Me.[citation needed]

In September 2024, it was announced Hansis had been cast as Lucas Jones on General Hospital.[18] He made his first episodic appearance on October 4 of the same year.[19]

Filmography

Television series

Film

Theater

  • The Laramie Project, 2002 (Stephen Mead Johnson, Doc O'Connor) – Pittsburgh (dir. Jesse Berger)
  • Polaroid Stories (Narcissus), 2004 – Williamstown Theatre Festival
  • On the Razzle (Ragamuffin), 2005- Williamstown Theatre Festival (dir. David Jones)[2]
  • The Witching Hour (Dr. Scott/ Washington Otis), 2005 (dir. Amanda Charlton) - Williamstown Theatre Festival[3]
  • An Evening Honoring The Laramie Project, 2006 – New York (dir. Moisés Kaufman)
  • Die, Mommie, Die! (Lance Sussman), 2007- New York (dir. Carl Andress)
  • Johnny Applef?%ker, 2007 - New York (dir. Stephen Brackett)
  • Dance Dance Revolution (Wiggles), 2008 - New York (dir. Alex Timbers)

Personal life

Hansis came out as gay in The Fight Magazine in May 2014, in an interview with his EastSiders costar and creator, Kit Williamson.[20] He has been with his partner Tyler Hanes since 2007.[21]

Awards and nominations

Hansis was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2007,[10] 2008[11] and 2009[12] for portraying Luke on As the World Turns, and was nominated again in 2016 for his role as Thom on EastSiders.[16][17] He has also been nominated for two Indie Series Awards for EastSiders, in 2014[13][14] and 2016.[15]

Year Nominated work Category Award Result Notes Ref.
2007 As the World Turns Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series 34th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [10]
2008 As the World Turns Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series 35th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [11]
2009 As the World Turns Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 36th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [12]
2014 EastSiders Best Lead Actor – Drama 5th Indie Series Awards Nominated [13][14]
2016 EastSiders Outstanding Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series 43rd Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominated [16][17]
2016 EastSiders Best Lead Actor – Drama 7th Indie Series Awards Nominated [15]

References

  1. ^ a b Gordon, Ronni (June 15, 2007). "WMass natives up for Daytime Emmys". The Republican. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "On the Razzle". Williamstown Theatre Festival. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Witching Hour". Williamstown Theatre Festival. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Fairman, Michael (September 17, 2010). "The Van Hansis Interview – As the World Turns". On-Air On-Soaps. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  5. ^ "Couples of the Past: ATWT's Luke and Noah!". Soap Opera News. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  6. ^ Nahmod, David-Elijah. "A Look Back At Some of Daytime TV's Better-Known LGBT Characters". southfloridagaynews.com. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  7. ^ "Former 'As the World Turns' actor reflects on career, historic gay kiss". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  8. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (2008-05-15). "On 'As the World Turns,' a Lovers' Kiss Turns a Soap's Fortunes Around". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  9. ^ "Disarming 'Nuke': Groundbreaking Soap 'As The World Turns' Comes to an End, but Not Without Controversy". GLAAD. 2011-09-14. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  10. ^ a b c Bonawitz, Amy (February 11, 2009). "34th Annual Daytime Emmy Winners". new York City: CBS News. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "The 35th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. April 30, 2008. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c "The 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c "5th Annual Indie Series Awards Nominees". Indie Series Awards. February 7, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Giddens, Jamey (February 7, 2014). "Colleen Zenk, Van Hansis, Alicia Minshew and More Snag Indie Series Award Nominations". Daytime Confidential. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c "Nominations Announced For 7th Annual ISAs". Indie Series Awards. February 3, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy® Award Nominations". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. March 24, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  17. ^ a b c "Young & Restless Leads Daytime Emmy Noms But Ceremony Won't Be on TV". Variety. March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  18. ^ Sloane, Stephanie (September 27, 2024). "As the World Turns Alum Van Hansis Joins General Hospital in Major Recasting". TV Insider. United States: Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  19. ^ Levinsky, Mara (September 27, 2024). "General Hospital Recasts Lucas with As the World Turns Alum Van Hansis!". Soap Opera Digest. United States: A360media. ISSN 0164-3584. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  20. ^ Williamson, Kit (May 5, 2014). "Turning Point". The Fight Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  21. ^ Spanner, Whitney (June 26, 2016). "Why Broadway's New Rum Tum Tugger and His Partner Feel Extra Pride". Playbill. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
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