# Michael Cassidy (actor)
**Michael Cassidy** is an American film and television actor best known for playing Zach Stevens on the Fox teen drama *The O.C.* and Tyler Mitchell on the TBS comedy *Men at Work*. Born in 1983 in [Portland, Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-oregon), he trained in New York theater before a failed audition for *Superman Returns* led, through director McG, to his first television role.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983, Portland, Oregon[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/) |
| Training | Two-year conservatory program at the New Actors' Workshop, New York City, completed in 2003[2](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/01/1157061/men-works-michael-cassidy-full-steam-ahead/amp/) |
| Breakthrough role | Zach Stevens on *The O.C.* (Fox, 2004–2005), cast by McG after auditioning for *Superman Returns*[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/) |
| Series roles | Cliff Wiatt in *Hidden Palms* (2007); Grant Gabriel in *Smallville* season 7; Charlie Hogan in *Privileged* (15 episodes); Tyler Mitchell in *Men at Work* (2012)[3](https://www.buddytv.com/actors/michael-cassidy/) |
| Film roles | Dylan West (Houdini) in *Zoom* (2006); *Argo*; Jimmy Olsen in *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice*; Kal in *Breaking Fast* (2020)[4](https://vidiot.com/HiddenPalms/Bio/Cassidy.html) • [5](https://reeltalker.com/2021/01/24/michael-cassidy-on-playing-jimmy-olsen-in-batman-v-superman-and-why-jimmy-was-killed-off/) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/) |
| Personal life | Married to Laura Eichhorn since 2006; nickname Mike[3](https://www.buddytv.com/actors/michael-cassidy/) |
## Early life and training
Cassidy grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he began performing in school plays and community theater; a local critic praised his turn as Macduff's son in a production of Shakespeare's *Macbeth*[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/). He has said he decided on acting at about age eight, after a school musical production, and began taking classes at a theater company in downtown Portland, working with regional theater companies and being paid for acting from around age fourteen[6](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/). At thirteen he was performing in *King Lear* with Tygres Heart, a Portland Shakespeare company, and asked working actors for advice; one told him to move to Los Angeles and cash in on his looks, the other to move to New York and get real training, and he took the second[7](https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3844-michael-me-i-the-o-c-i.html).
After high school he moved to New York at eighteen, completed the two-year program at the New Actors' Workshop, and studied at HB Studios and with private coaches while auditioning and waiting tables[6](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/) • [2](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/01/1157061/men-works-michael-cassidy-full-steam-ahead/amp/).
## The O.C. and the Superman audition
In 2004 Cassidy traveled to Los Angeles to audition for the title role in *Superman Returns* (2006)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/). He has described learning only at the audition that the Warner Brothers project was *Superman* and that the part was Superman himself; he taped an audition among roughly forty actors in New York, and two weeks later director McG called him[6](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/). He lost the part to [Brandon Routh](https://www.edgepedia.org/brandon-routh), but McG, then attached as the film's director and an executive producer of *The O.C.*, recommended him for the series, where he auditioned and was cast as Zach Stevens, Summer Roberts's boyfriend, in the show's second season[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/) • [6](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/).
Cassidy has said he was booked for three or four episodes and the role grew to fill the season, about nineteen or twenty episodes[6](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/). His early film work from this period includes the gay-themed short *Dare* (2005), Hal Hartley's *The Girl from Monday* (2005), and *Zoom* (2006), in which he played Dylan West, also known as Houdini, opposite [Tim Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-allen) and [Courteney Cox](https://www.edgepedia.org/courteney-cox)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/) • [4](https://vidiot.com/HiddenPalms/Bio/Cassidy.html).
## Television work after The O.C.
In 2007 Cassidy took two roles: Cliff Wiatt, a smooth-talking charmer with a dark side, in the CW's Kevin Williamson teen drama *Hidden Palms*, and Grant Gabriel in the seventh season of *Smallville*, the [Daily Planet](https://www.edgepedia.org/daily-planet) editor and love interest of [Lois Lane](https://www.edgepedia.org/lois-lane) who was revealed to be the cloned and aged brother of [Lex Luthor](https://www.edgepedia.org/lex-luthor)[4](https://vidiot.com/HiddenPalms/Bio/Cassidy.html) • [8](https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/09/15/men-mirror). He described Cliff as comfortable in every social situation but not to be trusted[9](https://www.tvguide.com/news/steamy-hot-hidden-palms-40435/).
He then played Charlie Hogan on the CW series *Privileged* in 2008, a role lasting 15 episodes, followed by the web series *Rockville CA* and guest appearances on *[Castle](https://www.edgepedia.org/castle-tv-series)*, *Happy Endings*, *Scandal*, and *Are You There, Chelsea?*[3](https://www.buddytv.com/actors/michael-cassidy/) • [2](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/01/1157061/men-works-michael-cassidy-full-steam-ahead/amp/).
## Men at Work and later work
In 2012 Cassidy joined the cast of the TBS half-hour comedy *Men at Work* as Tyler Mitchell, one of four friends working at a magazine, alongside [Danny Masterson](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-masterson), Adam Busch, and [James Lesure](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-lesure); the series was created by [Breckin Meyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/breckin-meyer) and shot multi-camera in front of a live audience[10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-and-james-lesure-on-men-at-work/). Cassidy described Tyler as the pretty one of the group, the most professional of the four at work, and, in his words, kind of a weirdo[10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-and-james-lesure-on-men-at-work/). He said the live-audience format suited him because it recalled his theater background[10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-and-james-lesure-on-men-at-work/).
His film work includes [Ben Affleck](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-affleck)'s Oscar-winning *[Argo](https://www.edgepedia.org/argo-2012-film)* and the role of [Jimmy Olsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-olsen) in *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), a character killed off early in the film[2](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/01/1157061/men-works-michael-cassidy-full-steam-ahead/amp/) • [5](https://reeltalker.com/2021/01/24/michael-cassidy-on-playing-jimmy-olsen-in-batman-v-superman-and-why-jimmy-was-killed-off/). In 2020 he played Kal, an upbeat gay man navigating a romance, in the film *Breaking Fast*, a story of two men from different backgrounds who connect during Ramadan[5](https://reeltalker.com/2021/01/24/michael-cassidy-on-playing-jimmy-olsen-in-batman-v-superman-and-why-jimmy-was-killed-off/). Later credits include *Night of the Living Deb* (2015), *The Stray* (2017), *Dog Days* (2018), *Into the Dark* (2019), and *Delivered* (2020)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/).
## References
1. [Michael Cassidy – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/michael-cassidy/)
2. [Men At Work's Michael Cassidy: Full steam ahead, Philstar.com](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/01/1157061/men-works-michael-cassidy-full-steam-ahead/amp/)
3. [Michael Cassidy – BuddyTV](https://www.buddytv.com/actors/michael-cassidy/)
4. [Hidden Palms – Michael Cassidy Bio, Mr Video Productions](https://vidiot.com/HiddenPalms/Bio/Cassidy.html)
5. [Michael Cassidy on Playing Jimmy Olsen in 'Batman V Superman', Reel Talker](https://reeltalker.com/2021/01/24/michael-cassidy-on-playing-jimmy-olsen-in-batman-v-superman-and-why-jimmy-was-killed-off/)
6. [Exclusive Interview: Michael Cassidy, from Hidden Palms – BuddyTV](https://www.buddytv.com/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-from-hidden-palms/)
7. [Michael, Me & The O.C., Willamette Week](https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3844-michael-me-i-the-o-c-i.html)
8. [Men in the Mirror, The Jakarta Post](https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/09/15/men-mirror)
9. [Who's Who in the Steamy-hot Hidden Palms, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/steamy-hot-hidden-palms-40435/)
10. [Exclusive Interview: Michael Cassidy and James Lesure on MEN AT WORK, Assignment X](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/exclusive-interview-michael-cassidy-and-james-lesure-on-men-at-work/)
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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 Bu to Ce*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 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