One of New York’s most intriguing young talents, 27-year-old actor-producer Michael Shulman already has a resume that would be the envy of most actors twice his age. A born performer, Shulman has been acting since age eight, winning his first major stage role on his very first audition. Since then he has conquered an array of complex, nuanced characters with a fresh, instinctive approach inspired by his idol Dustin Hoffman, appearing in everything from the hit TV show Party of Five to the searing new off-Broadway play White People. Through his newly minted production house, Starry Night, Shulman and producing partner Craig Saavedra will soon debut their first feature project, Sherman’s Way, in early March. Shulman both produces and stars.

Shulman has always approached his craft with passion and gut instinct. As a child, when auditioning for his first role, in John Guare’s Gardenia, Shulman impressed the director with his confidence and knack for the material.

“My dad was trying to tell me how to do the lines,” Shulman remembers sheepishly. “And I said I wanted to do it my own way. And the director liked that I told off my dad, and so I got the part.”

What followed was an immediate demand for Shulman across every genre, from the soap opera All My Children to film. The young performer also quickly proved he could hold his own against other veteran heavyweights like Stockard Channing and James Naughton, who appeared with Shulman in the Guare play Four Baboons Adoring the Sun.

At age 10, he impressed director Jodie Foster when he appeared in her critically acclaimed film Little Man Tate. Shulman, too, was left with a lasting admiration for the legendary actress, so much so that he would later choose Yale University -- Foster’s alma mater -- for his continuing education. Other top film directors also have tapped Shulman, most notably Paul Mazursky, who cast the actor in his 1993 film, The Pickle.

Broadway also called Shulman at an early age. He appeared in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins and as Gavroche in Les Miserables. That last project first brought Shulman into contact with actress Lacey Chabert, who has since become a frequent co-star as well as a valued colleague. In fact, Shulman would soon join Chabert on her hit TV show, Party of Five, playing the Artie Baum, boyfriend of Chabert’s character, Claudia Salinger.

Award nominations were also quick to come Shulman’s way. After playing the titular role in the HBO film Someone Had to be Benny (where he met another longtime colleague, Donna Murphy) Shulman was nominated for an Emmy as well as a CableACE award. He was the youngest nominee in history.

Though Shulman never shies away from research -- he has spent hours in a children’s mental hospital researching one role, and mastered pole jumping for another -- Shulman prefers to approach roles with a sense of mystery and discovery.

“My approach is to work off of my instincts, to try to rediscover each line as I go,” Shulman says. “It has to be off of instinct and passion, not just thought.”

When it came time to attend Yale, Shulman again let his instinct be his guide. Instead of tapping the university’s prestigious acting program, Shulman opted for a major in visual arts.

“I purposely didn’t want to major in drama,” Shulman says with conviction. “I wanted something that would give me experience in other arts -- but also make me appreciate how all the arts are connected.”

Noting that one of his idols, actor Kevin Kline, plays classical piano, Shulman adds, “I thought, ‘Well, I can’t do that, but if I can study the arts, and see how painting affects music, and how music affects drama, then I can improve and appreciate any sort of material I look at’.”

Shulman’s interest in a variety of media led him to create a new entertainment company, Starry Night Entertainment, with producing partner Craig Saavedra. Through Starry Night, Shulman aims to bridge the worlds of theater and film, adapting promising plays for the big screen without compromising artistic merit for the sake of money.

“The name of the company is once again about all aspects of art,” Shulman explains. “It’s the name of Van Gogh’s most famous painting. We want to merge my love for stage with Craig’s love of film, and nurture stories with great characters and dialogue -- not necessarily huge action movies, but stories about people, stories that have left marks on me.”

The first feature from Starry Night, Sherman’s Way, debuts in March.

In film, Shulman also has appeared in Saavedra’s Rhapsody in Bloom and M. Night Shymalan’s Wide Awake.  Other television credits include Disney’s Can of Worms,  opposite Erika Christensen, The Perfect Daughter, opposite Tracey Gold, the CBS drama Whose Daughter Is She, opposite Joanna Kerns, and memorable guest star turns on NBC’s Law and Order and the acclaimed CBS drama Chicago Hope. He is also the voice of Francis “Hustler Kid” in the Disney franchise Recess.