Best TV/movie actor from AHL North Division cities

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a four-part series in which a Pucks and Rec writer will select the top contemporary entertainment citizen of every city in a select minor-league hockey division. The seven markets comprising the AHL North Division are this week’s focus. All filmography and award information is courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.

Belleville: Ellie Harvie
The newest home of the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate can claim at least one award-winning actor among its products. Harvie hauled home a Leo for her part in The New Addams Family in 2000.

That is her only triumph to date, but far from her last accolade. Harvie’s performances on six other programs have yielded six more Leo nominations, bringing her career total to eight.

Building on a recent children’s entertainment niche, she earned her most recent morsel of consideration this year for playing the antagonist on YTV’s Some Assembly Required.

Binghamton: Angel Desai
Per the first sentence of her IMDB bio, “Angel Desai was born in Philadelphia, PA where her father and mother met while completing their medical training.” Following her upbringing in Binghamton, she has implicitly put her parents’ professional knowhow to use in numerous medical roles or appearances on medical dramas.

From 2001, her first year in the business, until 2008, Desai appeared more than once on all three long-running versions of Law & Order. She portrayed a medical examiner a combined seven times on two of those series.

While she has yet to garner any starring parts, she has since logged an appreciable share of guest spots on other primetime programs. The highlights of that laundry list include The Good Wife, Damages, Elementary, Madam Secretary and Chicago Med.

Laval: Raphael Roberge
To date, the 21-year-old is Laval’s best chance for mainstream pride in the entertainment industry. He landed his first IMDB-eligible role at age 14, but has added only three since, most recently a one-off cameo on CBC’s This Life.

Rochester: John Lithgow and Kristen Wiig
One half of this stalemate was born in Rochester, but did not live there long enough to remember much, if any, of it. The other was born elsewhere, then lived the reverse chronicle as a child and teenager.

Wiig resided in Rochester for the latter stages of her upbringing, attending nearby Brighton High School. The former Saturday Night Live staple has represented Brighton’s alumni proudly through the big-screen hits Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters.

Those projects alone have earned her eight Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe candidacy. Through other film roles, Wiig has been considered for a smattering of live-action and voiceover prizes.

But Lithgow is a native Rochesterian with his own ornate track record, which has not stopped glowing. He just nabbed the best dramatic supporting actor title for The Crown, equaling six Primetime Emmys in his trophy case.

Lithgow’s versatility also has him starring on the NBC sitcom Trial & Error. Beyond his TV commitments, he has logged five film parts within the last two years. And coincidentally, he was back in town last month to shoot an as-yet-unnamed upcoming project.

Syracuse: Tom Cruise
In 2015, a change.org user tried petitioning the city of Syracuse to rechristen itself “Tom Cruise Town.” The movement gained negligible traction, but it is a testament to the mutual pride between town and townsperson.

For this list, Cruise tops an exceptionally competitive pool featuring the likes of Dylan Baker, Rory Cochrane and Richard Gere. This year’s People’s Choice selection for favorite movie icon remains a steady silver-screen presence via multiple anthologies.

The fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series earned Cruise a Critics Choice nomination in 2016. Its follow-up is due to hit theaters next summer. In between, Cruise has stoked a fresher wave of critical momentum via last month’s release of American Made.

Naturally, all of these recent accolades are to say nothing of his three Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe victories out of seven candidacies. And all but one of those recognitions and more have come in a steady stream since he garnered a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1986.

Toronto: Rachel McAdams
The Marlies play within the same city limits as the parent Maple Leafs. Accordingly, see our previous list of the best actors hailing from NHL Atlantic Division cities.

Utica: Steven Brill
Though better known as a screenwriter and director, Brill is the most outstanding living Utican with any acting credits. Naturally, hockey fans know him best as the writer of all three Mighty Ducks movies, which he also played various bit parts in.

Granted, he has not done much in the mainstream of late. But for what it’s worth, he did get to portray the boss of Seth Rogen’s character in Knocked Up. Long before that, he had small roles in Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

That is not saying much, given that Brill has only made three onscreen appearances in the last 10 years. But it is what it is.