# Christian Kane
**Christian Kane** (born 1972) is an American actor and singer-songwriter, born in Dallas, Texas, and known on screen as the lawyer Lindsey McDonald in *[Angel](https://www.edgepedia.org/angel-1999-tv-series)*, the enforcement specialist Eliot Spencer in *Leverage* and its revival *Leverage: Redemption*, and Jake Stone in *The Librarians*. Alongside acting he has fronted the country-southern rock band Kane since the late 1990s.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth | Born 1972 in Dallas, Texas; birth name Christopher Michael Short[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) |
| Signature TV roles | Lindsey McDonald in *Angel* (The WB, 1999–2004); Eliot Spencer in *Leverage* (TNT, 2008–12) and *Leverage: Redemption* (2021– ); Jake Stone in *The Librarians* (2014)[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) |
| Music career | Lead singer of the Southern rock band Kane, formed with songwriter Steve Carlson in 1998; albums *Kane* (2000) and *The House Rules* (2010)[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) |
| Chart performance | *The House Rules* debuted at number one on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart and number three on the iTunes Country chart[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) |
| Stunt work | Performs his own stunts and fight choreography, citing Steve McQueen as the model[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [4](https://christiankane.com/about/) |
| Training | No formal acting training; studied art history at the University of Oklahoma but left before graduating to pursue acting[5](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/country-singersongwriter-and-leverage-actor-christian-kane-sets-the-record-straight/) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/christian-kane-mn0002241550) |
## Early life
Kane was born in Dallas, Texas, and his family moved around the South before settling in Norman, Oklahoma.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) AllMusic adds that his father worked in the oil business, which required the moves, and that Kane played football and wrestled in high school.[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/christian-kane-mn0002241550) He attended the [University of Oklahoma](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-oklahoma) as an art history major, then left school and drove to Hollywood with a few hundred dollars in savings, taking work that included a mail-room job at a talent agency.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) describes how he struck a bargain with Banner Entertainment to deliver scripts in exchange for auditions, which led to his first lead role.[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/)
## Acting career
**Early television.** Kane's break came as Ryan "Flyboy" Legget, the male lead of *Fame L.A.* (1997), followed by Wick Lobo on [Aaron Spelling](https://www.edgepedia.org/aaron-spelling)'s short-lived *Rescue 77* (1999).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) His role on *Fame L.A.* was originally written as a comedian from Texas, but after producers heard Kane's singing it was changed to a singer.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/)
**Angel and film work.** As Lindsey McDonald on *Angel* (The WB, 1999–2004), Kane played a lawyer at an evil firm whose passion for a human-turned-vampire led him to abandon his career.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/) His film credits include *Life or Something Like It* (2003) opposite [Angelina Jolie](https://www.edgepedia.org/angelina-jolie), *Just Married* (2003) with [Ashton Kutcher](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashton-kutcher) and Brittany Murphy, *Secondhand Lions* (2003) in which he played a young [Robert Duvall](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-duvall), *Friday Night Lights*, *Taxi*, and *Summer Catch*, plus the CBS television movie *The Crooked E: The Shredded Truth About Enron*, in which he portrayed energy trader Brian Cruven.[7](https://christiankane.com/film-tv/) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/) He also appeared in the Stephen Spielberg TNT miniseries *Into the West* and co-starred in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced CBS drama *Close to Home*.[4](https://christiankane.com/about/)
**Leverage and Dean Devlin collaborations.** Kane played Eliot Spencer, the enforcement specialist of a team of reformed con artists, for five seasons of *Leverage* on TNT; the show won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV Drama in 2013.[4](https://christiankane.com/about/) Producer Dean Devlin then cast him as Jake Stone in *The Librarians* (2014), a spin-off of *[The Librarian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-librarian-franchise)* film series developed for television by *Leverage* creator John Rogers; Kane has said the role was written for him and he did not have to audition.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [8](https://leverage.fandom.com/wiki/Christian_Kane) • [9](https://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2019/broken-toys-and-found-families-an-interview-with-christian-kane/) His own site describes *The Librarians* as the most-watched cable debut of 2014.[4](https://christiankane.com/about/)
The Devlin partnership continued with *Almost Paradise* (2020), in which Kane starred as former DEA agent Alex Walker retired to a Philippine island, and with the revival *Leverage: Redemption* (2021), on which Devlin made him an executive producer.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2026/christian-kane-the-multi-hyphenate-actor-discusses-angel-leverage-redemption-and-more-exclusive-interview/) He has also reprised Jake Stone as a guest in *The Librarians: The Next Chapter* (2025–2026).[11](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/)
**Recognition.** Kane won Best Supporting Actor at the Sutter Creek International Film Festival for *Tinker'* (2017), a feature he produced and starred in with his friend [Clayne Crawford](https://www.edgepedia.org/clayne-crawford), and was nominated for a 2018 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) for playing Jake Stone.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) Earlier nominations include a 2003 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain, and he won a Special Jury Prize for acting achievement at the Phoenix Film Festival for *Her Minor Thing*.[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) • [10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2026/christian-kane-the-multi-hyphenate-actor-discusses-angel-leverage-redemption-and-more-exclusive-interview/)
## Music
Kane formed the [Southern rock](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-rock) band Kane with songwriter Steve Carlson in 1998, with Kane as lead singer and Carlson as rhythm guitarist; IMDb's biography also names Mike Eaton among the founding friends.[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) The band released the albums *Kane* (2000) and *The House Rules* (2010), the latter his major-label debut, which reached number one on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart and number three on the iTunes Country chart.[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) A five-song self-titled EP was released in March 2010, with a full-length album slated for October 26 that year through WEA, according to a Billboard report.[12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2010/BB-2010-08-14.pdf) His official biography states he has sold well over 50,000 records and headlines a regular UK fundraiser for cancer charities.[4](https://christiankane.com/about/)
His two careers intersect on screen. Kane co-wrote "Thinking of You" with Blair Daly and performed it in the *Leverage* episode "The Studio Job," in which Eliot Spencer goes undercover as a country music star; the song appears on *The House Rules* and was released as a single.[5](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/country-singersongwriter-and-leverage-actor-christian-kane-sets-the-record-straight/) • [8](https://leverage.fandom.com/wiki/Christian_Kane) He also wrote and performed "More Than I Deserve," used as the love theme in the episode "The Two-Horse Job," and the music video for "The House Rules" was directed by his *Leverage* co-star [Timothy Hutton](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothy-hutton).[8](https://leverage.fandom.com/wiki/Christian_Kane) In a 2012 interview he said, "I've been playing music longer than I've been acting," and acknowledged that country radio programmers can be reluctant to embrace actors entering the format.[12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2010/BB-2010-08-14.pdf)
## Stunts and acting approach
Kane performs his own stunts on most of his shows, a habit he attributes to his favorite actor, [Steve McQueen](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-mcqueen), who was known for doing his own stunts; the *Leverage* stunts occasionally sent him to the hospital.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/) By his own account he had done stunts for 13 years by the time of *Almost Paradise*, on which he choreographed his own fights as well as performing them.[4](https://christiankane.com/about/) He has said he has never had formal acting training, calling the actors he watched on television his acting class.[5](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/country-singersongwriter-and-leverage-actor-christian-kane-sets-the-record-straight/) Discussing fight scenes, he told [Dragon Con](https://www.edgepedia.org/dragon-con)'s Daily Dragon that effectiveness comes from reading an opponent's next move rather than size, noting that despite his wrestling background, fighter [Urijah Faber](https://www.edgepedia.org/urijah-faber) "will destroy me."[9](https://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2019/broken-toys-and-found-families-an-interview-with-christian-kane/)
## References
1. [Christian Kane – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/bio/)
2. [Christian Kane Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christian-kane/bio/3000272612/)
3. [Christian Kane – Actor, Musician, Singer, Songwriter, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/christian-kane/)
4. [About, ChristianKane.com](https://christiankane.com/about/)
5. [Country Singer/Songwriter And 'Leverage' Actor Christian Kane Sets The Record Straight, CBS New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/country-singersongwriter-and-leverage-actor-christian-kane-sets-the-record-straight/)
6. [Christian Kane – Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/christian-kane-mn0002241550)
7. [Film & TV, ChristianKane.com](https://christiankane.com/film-tv/)
8. [Christian Kane, Leverage Wiki, Fandom](https://leverage.fandom.com/wiki/Christian_Kane)
9. [Broken Toys and Found Families: An Interview with Christian Kane, Daily Dragon (Dragon Con)](https://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2019/broken-toys-and-found-families-an-interview-with-christian-kane/)
10. [CHRISTIAN KANE: The multi-hyphenate actor discusses ANGEL, LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION and more, Assignment X](https://www.assignmentx.com/2026/christian-kane-the-multi-hyphenate-actor-discusses-angel-leverage-redemption-and-more-exclusive-interview/)
11. [Christian Kane – IMDb (credits)](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437283/)
12. ['Leverage' Actor Christian Kane Draws Attention To Bigger Picture Debut, Billboard (August 14, 2010)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2010/BB-2010-08-14.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Jo to Kl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license