Roy Dupuis’ career, launched modestly in the United States with the films Screamers (1995) and Bleeders <aka Hemoglobin> (1997), has taken off in the last three years thanks to the series Nikita, in which he plays the enigmatic and mysterious Michael.

The actor is as fascinating as the character, and surfing the Web confirms the ever-growing interest in, and popularity of, this series. You will find dozens of sites dedicated to the character and the person who plays him, in addition to the sites relating to the series itself and its leading lady, Peta Wilson. Of course there is stuff you can take and stuff you can leave, like everything on the Web.

For example the very pretentious site Les Ombres de Michel offers us ‘a psychoanalytical journey with Michael through his ghosts and demons’. This is an affected and unnecessary exercise in introspection which teaches us absolutely nothing. You will get more pleasure watching repeats of the show than in this useless babble.

Apart from the galleries of photos, two sites stand out. The first belongs to Terri Malinski (Roy Dupuis Home Page : http://www.roydupuis.com *). This is a bilingual site which concentrates more on the actor than the character, and which includes a complete biography, an up-to-date-filmography and a gossip section called What’s New?. The author describes Roy’s upbringing in Abitibi, his adolescence in Kapuskasing in Ontario, his interest in science, his discovery of drama through Ariane Mnouchkine’s beautiful film Molière, his acceptance into the National Theatre School (graduation class of 1986), and the apprenticeship which preceded the series Les Filles de Caleb. In the What’s New? section we learn that Roy has recently cut his hair short, that he’s a great coffee drinker, that he loves French fries, that his German shepherd is called Hasard, that he lives in an old farmhouse dating back to 1840, that he supports Foundation Mira, and that he has just taken up the cello again - his mother was a piano teacher. We have a complete tour of the life and career of Roy Dupuis; perhaps a little superficial for dedicated followers, but essential for those who have just discovered him.

Just as important is the website belonging to Chloe (http://www.iduna.demon.co.uk/roydupuis.htm**), who, as her address indicates, is British. This effort is commendable in that, even though the series is shown in England on a private channel, she has created a website as good as Malinski's.

"Who is Roy Dupuis?" she asks in the introduction, as the actor is little known in England. She tries therefore to introduce the artist who has changed her life with the enthusiasm and passion that her subject inspires in her. She presents his biography, his filmography (cinema and television) and articles about him from newspapers and magazines. The work is polished and very well done.