Aaron Stanford

Aaron Stanford (born December 27, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Pyro in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, and as Doug in the 2006 version of The Hills Have Eyes. From 2010 to 2013, he played Birkhoff in the television series Nikita. He portrayed James Cole in the television adaptation of the 1995 film 12 Monkeys. Stanford's first major film role was in the low-budget independent film Tadpole (2002), where he played Oscar Grubman, a precocious 15-year-old who is in love with his stepmother, opposite Sigourney Weaver. For this performance, he was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award. He appeared multiple times as Russian teenager Sergei in the television series Third Watch during 2001 and 2002. In the same year, he was listed among "Ten Actors to Watch" by Daily Variety and included on Entertainment Weekly's "It List." In 2004, he performed in Where Do We Live, a play staged at Vineyard Theatre by Christopher Shinn. Stanford also played Anthony LaPaglia's son in the 2004 film Winter Solstice.

Director Bryan Singer was inspired by Stanford's performance in Tadpole and cast him as Pyro in X2, the sequel to the 2003 box-office hit X-Men. He reprised his role in X-Men: The Last Stand, the third installment of the film series released in May 2006. Both films are based on Marvel Comics' X-Men franchise. Stanford also appeared in the 2006 version of Eyes of the Mountain, directed by Wes Craven. Additionally, he won the "One to Watch" award at the 2006 Young Hollywood Awards. In the same year, he portrayed a criminal named John Rudgate in the New Hampshire-based comedy Live Free or Die. Aaron also voiced Er Polonsky in the video game Call of Duty: World at War. In 2009, he played a troubled poker genius in season eight of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and portrayed Horace Cook Jr. in an episode of AMC's Mad Men. He joined The CW's Nikita series in 2010 as Birkhoff. His character from Eyes of the Mountain also appears in the Zombies mode of the 2012 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II.