Michael Vartan mini-bio: Vartan grew up in France and the U.S., the son of Eddie Vartan, who was born in Bulgaria of Armenian and Hungarian descent, and Doris, a Jewish American who was born in Poland; his paternal aunt is French pop singer Sylvie Vartan.
Vartan's parents divorced when he was five and he moved to America with his mother. He moved back to France to be with his father until his high school years. At the age of seventeen, Vartan moved back in with his mother in Los Angeles, telling her that he wanted to be an artist, because he did not wish to fulfill the mandatory military service required in France. In Los Angeles, he attended an acting school after he was told he possessed acting talent.
After many minor film roles, Vartan had noticeable supporting roles in major movies, including Never Been Kissed (1999), One Hour Photo (2002) and Monster-in-Law (2005). He has recently finished filming for the Australian horror film, Rogue.
He most notably starred as Michael Vaughn in the American television series Alias (2001–2006), leaving the series to start focusing on his movie career.
Vartan has also had guest appearances on Friends (as Dr. Tim Burke, Tom Selleck's character's son), Ally McBeal (as Jonathan Basset), and most recently Kitchen Confidential (as a rival French chef) starring his former Alias co-star Bradley Cooper.