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The Iceman Melt-eth
-Ryan Porter and Elio Iannacci, Editor

B.C.-born actor Shawn Ashmore is more than just your average cool dude

Shawn Ashmore has all the humble beginnings of an A-lister. Ever since he cracked the Hollywood hierarchy as Iceman in the X-Men films and won the heart of his girlfriend, actor Michelle Trachtenberg (who starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer), he's been on a roll. In fact, the Richmond, B.C.-born actor stars as another hero in this month's CTV Terry Fox biopic, Terry.

Even though he warmed up to the rusty-brown extensions he had to wear for the Fox job, he never really got comfortable in the '80s-era running shorts. "My new fashion pet peeve is short-shorts," he says like he's advocating against land mines. "They just don't look good on men."

He won't have to worry about sporting bad '80s looks for his next batch of gigs, though. He plays a private-school bad boy in August's teen flick Underclassman, stars in a disturbing teen drama called The Quiet (which will be at the Toronto International Film Festival) and does a turn as a B-list porn star in 3 Needles, opposite Stockard Channing.

Ashmore thinks playing a barrage of different roles rocks, but he is definitely in no hurry to become the next Tom Cruise. "It kills me that actors can't go get groceries [in privacy]," he says with a boyish half-smile. "That doesn't sound too good to me."

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