Sean Kanan (/keɪnən/; né Perelman; born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, producer, and author, best known for his portrayals of Mike Barnes (in The Karate Kid Part III and Cobra Kai), A. J. Quartermaine (on General Hospital), and Deacon Sharpe (on The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless).
[4] Kanan's first notable role was that of villain Mike Barnes in the 1989 film The Karate Kid Part III[5] directed by Academy Award winning Director, John Avildsen.
[7] By the time he landed the role, Kanan had a good foundation of Japanese Karate which would be essential for portraying the central villain opposite of hero Daniel LaRusso played by Ralph Macchio.
[11] During filming, he suffered internal bleeding after injuring his omentum, a membrane that connects the stomach with other organs, supplying them with blood along with physically protecting them.
Kanan was nominated for an award in the Outstanding Newcomer category by Soap Opera Digest[16] for his believable portrayal of the fictional character whose storylines often centered on an ongoing battle with alcoholism.
[20] In 1999, Kanan joined the cast of Aaron Spelling's NBC soap opera Sunset Beach[21] as Jude Cavanaugh and remained with the show until its cancellation later that year.
In 2002 he hosted the Miss World Pageant in London,[26] and in 2006 competed in the third season of Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars.
In 2019 Kanan created the Emmy Award-winning digital drama series Studio City, directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., as a somewhat autobiographical love letter to the Daytime Soaps.
[33] Kanan stars as Sam Stevens, who portrays Dr. Pierce Hartley on the show-with-in-a show “Hearts on Fire”, along with Soap veterans Tristan Rogers, Carolyn Hennesy, Sarah Joy Brown, Patrika Darbo, and Scott Turner Schofield, the first openly transgender actor on Daytime TV.
The series explores issues like #meToo sexual harassment, ageism, gender identity and surprise paternity with enough levity to keep the story moving.