---
name: "Michael Stephenson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michael-stephenson"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "28 February 1978"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T14:34:32.764379+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michael Stephenson

Actor. Born 28 February 1978 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 28 February 1978, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- **Also known as:** Michael Paul Stephenson

## Fi1m on Michael Stephenson

> Michael Stephenson’s urgency gives *Troll 2* something to follow, though its dialogue defeats him. We find his move behind the camera more promising, particularly his interest in amateur horror-makers and the people behind a derided film.

Michael Stephenson plays Joshua Waits in *Troll 2* (1990) as though the danger deserves to be taken seriously, even when the words make that difficult. His urgency gives us something to follow in Claudio Fragasso’s weak horror film. Alongside George Hardy as Michael Waits and Margo Prey as Diana Waits, he has to make family concern sound natural in dialogue that keeps defeating the cast. We felt frustrated on his behalf: the effort is there, but even an ordinary family conversation sounds strained.

There are laughs in the film’s mistakes, but not enough to justify spending an evening with it. Its later cult following does not make those conversations any better, and Stephenson’s commitment should not be mistaken for a fully convincing performance. Minor film and television parts followed through the 1990s, before he shifted towards filmmaking in the mid-2000s. The more interesting turn was his return to *Troll 2* as a documentary director in 2009.

That documentary examines how *Troll 2* was made and how it acquired an unexpected following. Hardy becomes a documentary subject, giving Stephenson a fellow performer’s experience to consider alongside his own. The subject suits someone who has had to speak those lines and live with the film’s reputation; there is a reason for him to look beyond its mistakes. We can care about the people involved without pretending they made a good film.

*The American Scream* (2012), his second feature documentary, turns to homemade haunted houses and amateur horror creators. That keeps his attention on the people doing the making, and gives him a subject beyond his own experience of acting. He moved into narrative directing with *Girlfriend’s Day* (2017), a dark comedy starring Bob Odenkirk. Try his *Troll 2* documentary for the people involved; nobody needs to sit through the original film as homework.

## Biography

Michael Stephenson, also credited as Michael Paul Stephenson, is an American actor and filmmaker. He began acting as a child after being discovered by a talent agent at the age of eight while performing in a school production of *Peter Pan*. At ten, he was cast in the lead role of Joshua Waits in the 1990 horror film *Troll 2*.

Stephenson later transitioned to directing and producing. He is best known for the 2009 documentary *Best Worst Movie*, which he directed, produced and appeared in, exploring the cult following of *Troll 2*. His other credits include directing the documentaries *The American Scream* (2012) and *Attack of the Murder Hornets* (2021), and the narrative feature *Girlfriend's Day* (2017). He co-founded the production company Magic Stone Productions with his wife Lindsay Stephenson.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Troll 2* (1990), Fi1m 40, as Joshua Waits — [page](https://film.one/film/troll-2.md)

## Also known for

- *Touched by an Angel* (1994), Jordan (uncredited)
- *Best Worst Movie* (2009), Himself, Writer, Director
- *Girlfriend's Day* (2017), Director
- *Beyond Darkness* (1990), Martin

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michael-stephenson