Michael was born in Calgary, Alberta Canada and spent most of his youth in Edmonton before moving to Toronto, Ontario to attend George Brown Theatre School. He has worked in numerous commercials and theatre productions over the years but it wasn't he was cast as the lonely, world-weary Bruce in Alex Boothby's "Mr. Viral" (2012) did the world see him in a major role on the big screen. The film was nominated for a Discovery Award at the Calgary International Film Festival (2012) and was the only picture to perform to a sold out house at the Canadian Film Festival (2013).Also a playwright, Mr. Ripley's piece "To Distraction" played to large audiences and good reviews at the 2010 Toronto Fringe Festival and his short work "9 Types of Ice" was mounted in Auckland (2012), Sydney (2013), Melbourne (2013), Dubai (2013), ) and Delhi (2013) - before being adapted for film and produced by Simon Winterson at Digital Canaries (2013).