Robert Scott Speedman (born September 1, 1975) is a British-Canadian film and television actor. He is known for playing Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series Felicity and Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–action Underworld films, and Barry "Baz" Blackwell in the TNT crime drama series Animal Kingdom. His other film work includes Duets, Dark Blue, xXx: State of the Union, The Strangers, Barney\'s Version, and The Vow. \n', '

Speedman was born in London, to Scottish parents Mary (Campbell), a primary school teacher and champion runner, and Roy Speedman (1944–1999), a department store buyer. His sister, Tracey, died from cancer on February 8, 2016. At the age of four, he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario. He was a competitive swimmer who attended Earl Haig Secondary School\'s now defunct gifted athlete program. As a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team, Speedman placed ninth at the 1992 Olympic trials. Suffering a neck injury soon after, he was forced to leave the sport. To find a new focus outside of athletics, Speedman became interested in acting. He went on to attend the University of Toronto and York University to study his craft.\n', '

Encouraged by a friend to appear on Speaker\'s Corner, a viewer open-forum run by Toronto\'s Citytv, Speedman expressed interest in auditioning for the role of Robin in the film Batman Forever, which was being cast in Toronto at the time. Though the appearance earned him an audition, Speedman was not cast in the role, which was ultimately given to Chris O\'Donnell. The audition did, however, give Speedman the exposure he needed and he quickly arranged an agent and began auditioning for Canadian television and film roles.\n', '

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