by Larry Richman
April 4, 2008 12:37 PM

Michael Welch is currently filming Twilight, based on Stephanie Meyers’ best-selling novel. The versatile young actor will be seen in five projects being unveiled in April and May. They include two theatrical releases, Remember the Daze and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, the DVD release of Day of the Dead, the Showtime premiere of An American Crime, and a four-episode arc on the FX series The Riches.

On Tuesday night, April 8, the critically acclaimed FX series The Riches launches a four-episode arc featuring Welch. As Ike, a security guard who develops a friendship with Shannon Marie Woodward, he can be seen in the episodes Slums of Bayou Hills on April 8, Trust Never Sleeps on April 15, Dead Calm on April 22, and The Lying King on April 29.

April 8 is also the day Steve Miner’s Day of the Dead can be brought home on DVD. Welch plays the love interest of AnnaLynne McCord (Nip/Tuck). Mena Suvari also stars. When the world is overrun by the flesh-hungry dead a small group of survivors head to an underground military bunker in a last ditch effort to stay alive, and the George Romero tradition lives on.

Remember the Daze, from first time writer-director Jess Manafort, hits theaters in limited release on Friday, April 11, from First Look International. Michael plays Stephen, a rocker with dyed blue hair, who joins his fellow graduating class of 1999 as they make their way through the last day of high school in the teenage wasteland of suburbia. Amber Heard also stars.

May brings a couple of long-awaited film festival favorites to both the big and small screen. On May 9, Jonathan Levine’s All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which wowed audiences at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, will be released wide on over 1000 screens through Senator Entertainment. I attended the World Premiere and chose the film as one of my Top Picks of the 2006-2007 festival season. As Emmet, Michael longs to win the heart of Mandy Lane. The film again pairs Welch with Amber Heard.

May 10 marks the Showtime debut of the highly anticipated 2007 Sundance Film festival hit An American Crime. It also made my list of Top Picks after I attended the World Premiere at Sundance. Tommy O’Haver wrote and directed this fact-based drama about incidents which took place in the Indiana home of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski in 1965. Catherine Keener stars alongside Ellen Page (Juno) as Sylvia Likens. Michael plays Teddy Lewis, a neighborhood boy who bears witness to the horrific crimes.

Welch has several more projects on the horizon. He co-stars with Eliza Dushku and John Savage in The Thacker Case and joins a brilliant ensemble cast in the 2008 Sundance hit American Son. In Lost Dream, Welch has his most significant starring role to date as Perry, the college student son of a corrupt Congressman, who has lost faith in his family and future. I was fortunate to catch an early screening of the film last summer. Michael Welch and Shaun Sipos are riveting in this shockingly provocative film. Welch’s performance had me shaking my head in wonder. It’s hard to imagine anyone else bringing writer-director Asif Ahmed’s ripped-from-the-headlines tale to life with more passion. This is a star-making role and Welch proves that his time has come.

From premium cable to home video to the cinema, Michael Welch’s presence will be seen and heard across America in the coming months. His star is truly on the rise.