the A&E Network's original film The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, the pilot for the A&E series A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Variety's Steve Oxman spoke highly of the production, calling the cast "a stellar ensemble" and noting that "the performances are more than the sum of their parts". His first lead role came in the science fiction television show The Zack Files (2000), which its creators described as "an X-Files for kids". The show lasted just two seasons, but for his efforts Clark won a Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actor in a Drama Series, and producer John Delmage said that Clark and his co-stars were chosen for their acting ability and had the potential to maintain careers in the profession as adults. The filming schedule for The Zack Files was tight, but Clark found time to participate in other projects. He played the son of a sex addict (Harry Hamlin) in Sex, Lies & Obsession (2001), and also acted opposite John Corbett in the Christmas film Prancer Returns (2001), which went direct-to-video but was praised by critic Scott Weinberg, and earned Clark another Young Artist Award. Shortly after the cancellation of The Zack Files, Clark was cast in a similar television series, Strange Days at Blake Holsey High, which was first broadcast in the autumn of 2002. Clark's acting performance was well-received; in addition to another Young Artist nomination, Family Screen Scene called the show as a whole "well written and acted. The looks and mannerisms of the teens fit their characters, adding realism to their roles". While Strange Days was on the air, Clark could be seen in the Sci-Fi Channel's Deathlands (2003), as the young son of a deceased future king who narrowly escapes death at the hands of his power-hungry brother. In an April 2005 episode of Veronica Mars, Clark played an openly gay teenager recruited by the title character (Kristen Bell) to publicly humiliate the prejudiced ex-boyfriend (Jeff D'Agostino) of one of her friends (Natalia Baron). Reviewing the episode, John Ramos of the website Television Without Pity commented positively on Clark's appearance, making an earnest request to "give the gay kid more screen time". Clark also had a supporting role as one of the ten children of a 1950s housewife (Julianne Moore) in the film drama The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, released to theatres in late 2005. Filmography Awards Further reading "Robert