Date of Birth

16 December 1993, Santa Monica, California, USA

Birth Name

Cameron Riley Monaghan

Height

5' 11¾" (1.82 m)

Mini Biography

Cameron Monaghan was born in Santa Monica, California. Cameron's debut TV role as "Winthrop Paroo" in The Music Man (2003) was originally played by Ron Howard in The Music Man (1962). Cameron began his acting career at 5 years old in commercials. At age 7, he began appearing on stage as Stuart Little in "Stuart Little" and as Piglet in "Winnie the Pooh" at Little Palm Family Theatre in Boca. His most famous rolls include Ian Gallagher in "Shameless US" and Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska in "Gotham".

Trivia

• Five months prior to auditioning for The Music Man (2003), he went to see The Music Man in Ft. Lauderdale when the stage show was on its National tour. He enjoyed the show immensely and was singing "Gary Indiana" on the way home from the show. Two months later for Christmas, he received The Music Man DVD and the movie soundtrack on CD as gifts. He loved Ron Howard as Winthrop & immediately was drawn to this character. He learned all the songs on the soundtrack because he enjoyed listening to the CD so much. And then at the beginning of March, he got a call to audition for The Music Man.
• On his mother's side, he has Polish and Irish ancestry.
• His character of Jerome Valeska in Gotham (2014) was described as a "proto-Joker" by series creator Bruno Heller.
• Inspired by Mark Hamill's Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and other DC animated productions for his Joker-like role as Jerome Valeska in Gotham (2014). Hamill himself praised Monaghan's performance on Twitter.
• He stated in a 2017 interview that he never auditioned for the role of Jerome Valeska on 'Gotham'. Instead, he was contacted and offered the role by the producers. Prior to this he had been in a 2009 episode of 'The Mentalist', which was also created by 'Gotham' show runner Bruno Heller.
• At age nine, Cameron Monaghan co-starred in the 2003 TV remake of the popular musical "The Music Man" opposite Matthew Broderick and Kristen Chenoweth.
• For his performance as Ian Gallagher in season five, Cameron Monaghan received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
• In 2016, Cameron Monaghan co-starred in season one of PBS's Civil War medical drama series "Mercy Street" for executive producer Ridley Scott.
• Cameron Monaghan's performance as Jerome Valeska on "Gotham" earned him a 2016 Teen Choice Award nomination in Choice TV Villain category.
• Cameron Monaghan began acting in elementary school stage productions of such shows as "Stuart Little," "Winnie-the-Pooh" and an adaptation of "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
• Cameron Monaghan began his show business career at an early age, appearing on his first catalogue cover at age five and his first commercial at age seven.
• Cameron Monaghan, who plays Ian Gallagher, has received four Young Artist Award nominations in the course of his career, including a win in 2005 for his role as a special needs student in "Malcolm in the Middle."
• As a teenager, Cameron Monaghan appeared as one of the title characters in two films based on the popular book series "The Three Investigators."
• In addition to his role as Ian Gallagher in "Shameless," Cameron Monaghan also plays the Joker-like twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska on Fox's Batman-themed series "Gotham."
• A movie that Cameron Monaghan thinks every actor should see is "The Last Detail" (1973) starring Jack Nicholson. "The story is so human that you can just relate and not care about where the story's going. There's something magical about that that every actor should try to achieve."
• Among the special skills listed on Cameron Monaghan's resume are horseback riding, martial arts, acrobatics and guitar playing.
• To get into character for his villainous role as Jerome Valeska on "Gotham," Cameron Monaghan created a "schizophrenic" 50-song playlist that included everything from "Don't Worry, Be Happy" to Norwegian death metal.

Quotes

• I think the gay community, just like anybody, should be represented in all forms and all types.
• I never really do the New Year's Resolution thing. I kind of just try to stay focused, not get too distracted, and do the best I can. And that's something I like to tell myself every year around New Year's.
• I was home-schooled for my entire high school experience, so I never went to prom.
• I do play the guitar, and I can sing, but just enough to carry a tune.
• I really enjoy dancing. When there's music around, I can't help it; I start dancing, especially when I'm with friends.
• With Scarlett Johansson, I always thought she was pretty, but then when I heard her sing, there was just something about her voice that made her really, really attractive to me. And I think she would be fun to hang out with.
• I play drums and guitar, I snowboard, I do martial arts and acrobatics. I go to the movies every Friday.
• One of my favorite movies of all time is 'Fargo.'
• 'Prom' is a movie that follows a bunch of high-schoolers' lives leading up to the prom, the climax of the movie. It focuses all their struggles and the social pressures that prom creates on their lives.
• The thing about being an actor is that you're acting. It's not that big of a deal of to play someone different from yourself.
• I grew up watching movies and television, and one day when I was really young I told my mom I wanted to become an actor, and she was really supportive and got me involved in local theater and commercials. From there I moved up to auditioning for movies and television.
• I love puppies, and I love animals in general. Besides that, I do martial arts: extreme martial arts. I also play real guitar and drums, and sing. And I'm taking some college classes, hoping to major in English and creative writing.
• You can't just look at someone and guess their sexuality. There's no point in assuming that every gay man has just one personality type.
• [on the original Shameless (2004)] I didn't know very much about it. I'd never actually heard of the British version when I auditioned or when I got it. I read the script and I was really intrigued by the character because he's so complex.
• I think for any teenager, gay or not, sexuality is a really confusing topic. It's something that most teenagers are trying to figure out.
• [on inspirations to his character of Jerome Valeska in _Gotham (2014)_] If anyone was to inspire my performance, it would be Mark Hamill's animated Joker, which I think I might have mentioned to you before but his portrayal was the only one that I felt comfortable at all taking anything from, and that's because there was going to be such a difference in translating from animated to live action. (...) the majority of my inspiration, when possible, came from the comic books themselves."