Actor Noel Fisher began his screen career on a conventional note with unremarkable adolescent roles in genre material, including the family comedy Max Keeble's Big Move (2001), the romantic comedy A Guy Thing (2002), and the formulaic teen thriller Final Destination 2 (2003). In the years to follow, however, he unveiled a propensity for edgier and more emotionally challenging role assignments. Some of his more memorable parts included the son in a family of con artists on the short-lived FX series The Riches (2007), and a by-the-throat turn as a malevolent, dog-slaying teen in the meditative revenge drama Red (2008).