Luke MacFarlane

LUKE MacFARLANE  plays JAMES NICHOL, a privileged playboy who goes off to China to recruit workers for his father’s railroad, and finds an unexpected love.

Born in London, Ontario, MacFarlane attended an arts school from age four to eight; then in grade nine joined an alternative rock band as a singer. He performed with them throughout high school, which led them to a development deal with Mavric Records.

Encouraged by his drama teacher, Anne MacMillan, he auditioned for Canada’s National Theatre School in Montreal and The Juilliard School in New York. Both accepted him; he chose Julliard.  

After graduation, MacFarlane made his feature film debut in Kinsey as Liam Neeson and Laura Linney’s son.  His next job was on stage at Playwrights’ Horizons Theatre, performing in Wendy MacLeod’s Juvenilia, then a second Off-Broadway play Where Do We Live?  by Christopher Shin. 

MacFarlane made his television debut in the four-part mini-series for the Sundance Channel, Tanner on Tanner, a satire on the state of documentaries directed by Robert Altman, co-starring Cynthia Nixon.  He next starred in the controversial series Over There, produced by Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, NYPD), about soldiers in Iraq on their first tour of duty. He played a soldier with a family back home, struggling with the hardship and brutal reality of war.  During this period, he moved to Los Angeles.

MacFarlane returned to theatre to perform again at Playwrights Horizons in The Busy World is Hushed, playing Jill Clayburgh’s son.  Then he landed his popular role as Scotty in the ABC series, Brothers and Sisters  with Calista Flockhart, Sally Field and Tom Skerritt.

While filming in China, Luke used his days off to explore the cities and countryside around the Hengdian World Studios and learned to speak a little Mandarin.