Biography
Hansis is originally from North Adams, but moved to Greenfield in the third grade when his mother became a principal in the Gill-Montague Regional School District. He attended Four Corners School and later the Greenfield Center School. Hansis began acting in theater camp as a child. He attended high school at a boarding school called Walnut Hill, in Natick, because, he says, he knew by then he wanted to be an actor "and it was a good school for that." He was able to flex his early acting muscles performing at the Shea Theater.
Hansis graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the School of Drama. Prior to joining As The World Turns, he starred in the Broadway play The Laramie Project in Pittsburgh, among other stage shows. In 2006 he also starred in the short film The Time Machine. He has worked professionally at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, in productions of On the Razzle, Twelfth Night, and The Indian Wants the Bronx. From Sept. 2007 to mid-January 2008 he appeared off-Broadway in a production of Charles Busch's Die, Mommie, Die! In 2007, he was nominated for his first Daytime Emmy Award. He received a second nomination in 2008 and a third in 2009.
In March 2010, Hansis was cast in his first movie, an independent horror movie titled "Occupant" that was filmed in late April and early May 2010. The film premiered on the opening night of the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest on October 14, 2011 in New York City. On October 18, 2011, the film was released on-demand in many cable systems and on most digital platforms (i.e., iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster, PlayStation) in the U.S. and Canada.
On October 26, 2011, Van Hansis was guest star on the series Psych (season 6) episode 3. He played the character Adrian Viccellio, a man with a rare blood disease who attempted to drain Lassiter's blood for his own use.
On November 4, 2011, Hansis was a guest star on the series Nikita (season 2) episode 7. He played Yuri Lavrov, a man from Alexandra's past who was sent to kill her.
On February 2, 2012, Hansis was a guest star on the series The Mentalist (season 4) episode 13. He played Derek, an aspiring fashion designer suspected of committing a murder.
In November 2012, Van began filming a new web series called, "Eastsiders." The series has been described as, "a dark comedy web series about a gay couple in Silverlake. Tonally, think GIRLS with a bunch of gay guys." It will be available online in December 2012.
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