A lanky, dark-haired, thick-browed actor capable of projecting both toughness and vulnerability, Eric Michael Cole landed his first break with Ridley Scott's "White Squall" (1996), cast as the smart but bullying Dean Preston among the crew of a sailing ship captained by Jeff Bridges. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, he began his career on stage, appearing in numerous productions ranging from Shakespeare to musicals. Cole made his feature debut in a bit part as an unnamed high school student in "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995) and segued to the small screen in the 1996 CBS miniseries "Steve