[1] Primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Festival,[1] he won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries for his performance as Petruchio in the CBC Presents the Stratford Festival adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew.
[2] Carlson began to pursue a music degree at McGill University in Montreal when he decided to change his career path to studying theatre instead.
He changed schools and entered into the theatre program at George Brown College where he graduated.
[5] His other noted performances have included David Cameron in the Canadian production of The Audience,[6] Walter Shirley in the 2008 miniseries Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning and Wiley in the film My Dog Vincent.
[7] He is the son of actors Leslie Carlson and Patricia Hamilton[8] and is married to stage actress Deborah Hay since 2010.