A Grade 3 student at Coquitlam’s Baker Drive elementary is eager to head south to pursue an international acting career.
Dean Petriw has already landed some coveted television and film roles — including in a new series coming out next Monday — and hopes to gain work in the United States later this year, said his mother Sandra.
Petriw was four years old when he started working in the business.
He has appeared in commercials for Kohler bathrooms, Milk, Fisher Price, Tamiflu, Pacific Blue Cross, Mr. Lube, Charter Communications and, most recently, Audi.
And, last year, he appeared as Jett in Kindergarten Cop 2 alongside heavyweight Dolph Lundgren — a part that earned Petriw a Joey Award — and as Young Jason in Wayward Pines.
This summer, the child actor is on screen as Tommy in Midnight Sun with Bella Thorne.
As well, Petriw has directing, writing and editing credits for his short called Unexpected Popcorn, which was released last April as part of the 96 Hour Youth Film Challenge. It earned him three accolades: Best Overall Film, Best Actor and Best Use of an Assigned Object.
Next week, Petriw can be seen as Young Luke in the pilot for Beyond, an American T.V. drama series created by Adam Nussdorf that airs on ABC Spark. The narrative centres on a man who has supernatural powers after waking up from a coma.
In an email, Sandra Petriw said her eldest son has had the chance to learn from many leading actors in the industry and “hopefully, he will be up there with them one day…. He has put in numerous hours working on scripts, going to auditions, being on set and loves every moment of it.”
• The two-hour series premiere of Beyond airs on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. PST on ABC Spark.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
@jcleughTC
