Although 'Twilight' has helped put him on the map, 20-year-old actor Michael Welch has five projects which will see the light of day in the next two months. He is currently busy in Portland, Oregon filming the first installment of the New York Times bestseller, The Twilight Saga. He plays Mike Newton a schoolmate who has a crush on Bella (Kristen Stewart) a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire (Robert Pattinson).
Riches' launches a four-episode arc featuring Welch. As Ike, a security guard who develops a friendship with Shannon Marie Woodward, he can be seen in the episodes 'Slums of Bayou Hills' on April 8, 'Trust Never Sleeps' on April 15, 'Dead Calm' on April 22, and 'The Lying King' on April 29.
April 8 is also the day Steve Miner's 'Day of the Dead' can be brought home on DVD. Welch plays Mena Suvari's brother and is the love interest of AnnaLynne McCord ('Nip/Tuck'). Ving Rhames also stars. When the world is overrun by the flesh-hungry dead a small group of survivors head to an underground military bunker in a last ditch effort to stay alive, and the George Romero tradition lives on.
'Remember the Daze' from first time writer-director Jess Manafort, hits theaters in limited release on Friday, April 11, from First Look International. Michael plays Stephen, a rocker with dyed blue hair, who joins his fellow graduating class of 1999 as they make their way through the last day of high school in the teenage wasteland of suburbia. Amber Heard also stars.
May brings a couple of long-awaited film festival favorites to both the big and small screen. On May 9, Jonathan Levine's 'All the Boys Love Mandy Lane' which wowed audiences at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, will be released wide on over 1000 screens through Senator Entertainment. As Emmet, Michael longs to win the heart of Mandy Lane. The film again pairs Welch with Amber Heard.
May 10 marks the Showtime debut of the highly anticipated 2007 Sundance Film festival hit 'An American Crime'. Tommy O'Haver wrote and directed this fact-based drama about incidents which took place in the Indiana home of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski in 1965. Michael plays Teddy Lewis, a neighborhood boy who bears witness to the horrific crimes. Catherine Keener stars alongside Ellen Page ("Juno") as Sylvia Likens.
Welch has several more projects on the horizon. As Kevin Thacker he plays the central character in 'The Thacker Case' with Eliza Dushku and John Savage and then joins a brilliant ensemble cast in the 2008 Sundance hit 'American Son'. In 'Lost Dream' (post-production) Welch has his most significant starring role to date as Perry, the college student son of a corrupt Congressman, who has lost faith in his family and future. "Michael Welch and Shaun Sipos are riveting in this shockingly provocative film," said Larry Richman of PROnetworks. "Welch's performance had me shaking my head in wonder. It's hard to imagine anyone else bringing writer-director Asif Ahmed's ripped-from-the-headlines tale to life with more passion. This is a star-making role and Welch proves that his time has come."
From premium cable to home video to the cinema, Michael Welch's presence will be seen and heard across America in the coming months. His star is truly on the rise.