Bio
Ennis Esmer is a Turkish-born Canadian actor best known for his starring television roles as Zoltan in Billable Hours and as Osman 'Oz' Bey in The Listener.
Esmer moved to Toronto from Ankara, Turkey at the age of three. He trained in theatre at York University and sketch/improv at Second City, while doing standup comedy at clubs in Toronto.
His standup work led to a gig as host and creative consultant of The Toronto Show, an hour-long showcase of Canadian music and comedy. During the show's 120-episode run, Esmer performed with some of the best in Canadian comedy, including Dave Foley and Sean Cullen.
Esmer had a recurring role in Covert Affairs for USA Network, and a guest star turn in Ken Finkleman's series Good Dog, produced by Shaftesbury for TMN and Movie Central.
In early 2011, Esmer joined Jonathan Torrens to co-host the Canadian edition of the game show Wipeout, for Global. Already a hit in over 25 countries, Wipeout features contestants competing in some of the most ridiculous obstacle courses ever created for cash prizes.
Before The Listener, Esmer starred in Thinkfilm's romantic comedy Young People Fucking, which became the word of mouth hit when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and continued on to the Vancouver International Film Festival and Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal.
It was named one of the top ten Canadian films of 2007 by the TIFF Group, and after getting caught up in the media storm of the Bill C-10 controversy, enjoyed a wide release across Canada in Summer 2008. His role earned him a Canadian Comedy Award nomination.
Other credits include a guest starring role on CBC's The Border, Family Channel's Baxter, and Shaftesbury's Murdoch Mysteries. He also hosted events for The Gemini Awards, Telefilm, and The TIFF Group, and his Summer 2009 turn in Melancholy Play at the Factory Theatre marked his first theatre work in 10 years.
Prior credits include cantankerous janitor Zoltan in the corporate law sitcom Billable Hours on Showcase, for which he received a Gemini Nomination; roles in the Rainn Wilson comedy The Rocker; TMN original series Regenesis; Snow Globe, a Christmas movie for ABC Family with Lorraine Bracco, Christina Milian, and Young People Fucking co-star Josh Cooke; For The Love Of Grace, with Mark Consuelos and Corbin Bernsen; terrorist Mohammed Salameh in the ABC miniseries The Path To 9/11 starring Harvey Keitel; and sci-fi comedy Decoys.
As a member of The Mideast Optimists comedy collective, he performed in Make Jokes, Not War for the Coalition For Peace Action (CFPA) at Princeton University. The troupe was profiled in the New York Times.
He has also appeared on Much Music's Video On Trial, TSN's Off The Record, and CBC Radio's The Current.