Aaron Stanford

About

Aaron Stanford (born December 27, 1976) is an American actor known for his roles as Pyro in the X-Men films X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Doug in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2006). On television, he also starred as Birkhoff in Nikita (2010–2013) and as James Cole in 12 Monkeys (2015–2018), based on the 1995 film of the same name.

Stanford was born in Westford, Massachusetts, the son of Judith (née Dupras), an English professor, and Don Stanford, who works in publishing. His brother David is a musician. Stanford attended Westford Academy in Westford Massachusetts for high school and met his first acting teacher there. He initially attended SUNY Purchase, but transferred to Rutgers University Mason Gross School of Arts. He graduated in 2000, magna cum laude.

Stanford’s first major film role was in the low-budget indie film Tadpole (2002), in which he portrays Oscar Grubman, a precocious 15-year-old with a crush on his stepmother, played by Sigourney Weaver. For this performance he earned a nomination for the Golden Satellite Award. In 2001 and 2002 he appeared multiple times on the television…