Background and career
Stephen Adam Amell (born May 8, 1981) is a Canadian-American actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on the CW superhero series Arrow (2012–2020), based on DC Comics. Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along with reprising his role in various video games. Following the conclusion of Arrow, Amell landed the lead roles in both the Starz drama series Heels (2021–2023), and Suits LA (2025). Outside of television, Amell portrayed Casey Jones in the superhero film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016). Amell co-produced and starred in Code 8 and its sequel Code 8: Part II with his cousin Robbie Amell. He has also made a number of appearances in the professional wrestling circuit.
Stephen Adam Amell was born on May 8, 1981, in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Sandra Anne (née Bolté) and Thomas J. Amell. He is a first cousin of actor Robbie Amell. He attended St. Andrew's College, a private independent school for boys, and graduated in 2000.
Amell appeared in two episodes of the fourth season of Queer as Folk as the Liberty Ride spinning instructor in 2004. Amell played Adam in the first season of the television series Dante's Cove; he was replaced in the second season by Jon Fleming. In 2007, Amell won a Gemini Award for his guest-starring role on ReGenesis. The same year he was also nominated for a Gemini Award in the Best Ensemble Cast Category for Rent-a-Goalie. He had recurring roles in the TV series Da Kink in My Hair and Heartland. On December 3, 2010, Amell joined the cast of The Vampire Diaries as werewolf 'Brady' for season 2. Amell starred as the real life convicted killer Joran van der Sloot in the Lifetime film Justice for Natalee Holloway which originally aired in May 2011. On October 2, 2011, season 3 of HBO's series Hung premiered with Amell starring as busboy-turned-prostitute Jason, a younger rival "ho" to Thomas Jane's Ray Drecker. He also appeared as Jim in the fourth season of 90210. Amell announced on October 28, 2011, that he had just finished filming the Christmas episode of New Girl with Zooey Deschanel and Max Greenfield. He touches on the experience of filming his first "network half-hour comedy" in an interview with Daemon's TV. On November 9, 2011, Amell was announced for the recurring role of Scottie, a paramedic on ABC's Private Practice. He also played the role of Travis McKenna in Blue Mountain State.
In January 2012, Amell was cast as Oliver Queen in The CW series Arrow, based on the DC Comics superhero of the same name. This series and role led to Amell appearing as the character on other superhero series on the network as part of the growing Arrowverse, including The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Batwoman, as well as the CW Seed webseries Vixen. Amell co-starred in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (released on June 3, 2016) as vigilante "Casey Jones". Amell announced in May 2017 that he would be participating on a special celebrity edition of American Ninja Warrior. Amell demonstrated great physical abilities which was reflective of his athleticism in his portrayal of Oliver Queen. In 2017, he took part in the directorial debut of former Heartland co-star Michelle Morgan, a short film entitled Mi Madre, My Father, playing the estranged father of a six-year-old girl. Morgan raised funds for the production through a crowdfunding campaign. The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. In March 2019, Amell announced the end of Arrow with its eighth and final season, which premiered in October 2019 and concluded in January 2020.
His first post-Arrow project was announced in August 2019 as Heels, a Starz drama series set in the world of independent professional wrestling. In December of the same year, it was announced that short-form streaming platform Quibi were developing a spin-off series starring Amell and his cousin Robbie Amell, developed from their crowd-funded film Code 8. In September 2023, Heels was canceled after two seasons. In February 2024, Stephen Amell was cast as Ted Black in the upcoming NBC pilot Suits LA, based on the USA Network original series Suits. On July 19, 2024, Suits LA has ordered to series by NBC. Amell plays Henry Roland, a police officer, in the Crave crime drama series The Borderline. it debuted in February 2026. He garnered positive reviews for his leading role in the Canadian crime film Little Lorraine, released in 2026.
As an avid professional wrestling fan, Amell campaigned for a guest appearance on WWE's weekly Raw program. In May 2015, it was reported that he was set to wrestle Stardust (Cody Rhodes) at WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view in August. Amell made his first WWE appearance on the May 25 episode of Raw, where he had a confrontation with Stardust. Amell returned to Raw in early August; after being assaulted in the audience by Stardust, Amell got into the ring to attack him until being contained by security. Following a backstage segment with Triple H, it was announced that Neville would team with Amell to face Stardust and King Barrett at SummerSlam. At the event on August 23, 2015, Amell and Neville defeated Barrett and Stardust in a tag team match. Amell participated in the wrestling, and, behind the scenes, wrestlers were said to have been impressed with Amell's performance. Amell became friends with Rhodes, with whom he later also worked on Arrow. On December 21, 2015, Amell was awarded a Slammy for the "Celebrity Moment of the Year" for his dive onto Stardust during the match.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
