Alexis Denisof

CULT TV actor Alexis Denisof has been cast for the first play in the Liverpool Playhouse’s new season, the Arthur Miller classic, All My Sons.

He will play Chris Keller, the son of a man suspected of having shady dealings in the American aircraft industry during World War II.

Denisof, 40, is best known for playing Wesley Wyndham-Price in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel.

Born in Maryland and now based in Los Angeles, Denisof spent an early part of his career in Britain.

He moved to London as a teenager to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and later appeared in British TV series like Soldier, Soldier, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased and Sharpe.

He also appeared in several stage productions in Chichester, Greenwich, Sheffield and the West End.

Denisof lived in London for 13 years before relocating to the USA and, according to legend, was broke and unable to find work.

Actress Mary Steenburgen, who he had met while making the TV film, Noah’s Ark, in 1999, took pity on him and invited him to stay with her and her husband, Ted Danson. He stayed for a year.

"I would not have made it without their psychological and emotional support," he says.

He met Buffy co-star Alyson Hannigan while filming the series and they became close friends.

Denisof was dubious about dating a co-worker, however, and, when he left the show, she was dating someone else. But the friendship remained and it did finally blossom into love.

They married in 2003. Denisof comes from Russian stock and his mother’s family is from Ireland some generations back. "That’s where the silly name is from," he says: "But it’s not made up."

Denisof got the Playhouse role after a visit to Britain following a spell watching World Cup games in Germany. He auditioned and was delighted to be cast in one of the great American dramas of the 20th century.

The production, running from September 15 to October 7, will be directed by the Playhouse’s artistic director, Gemma Bodinetz.