Justin Bruening
Born (1979-09-24) September 24, 1979 (age 44)
St. Helena, Nebraska, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, model
Years active2003–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3

Justin Bruening (born September 24, 1979) is an American actor and former fashion model. He was discovered at a McDonald's in Escondido, California, and within a week, he was shooting photos with Bruce Weber. In 2003, his acting career began when he was cast in the role of Jamie Martin on the daytime drama All My Children, earning him a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2005 for the portrayal. In 2007, Bruening was cast as Mike Traceur, the son of character Michael Knight, a new take on the original Knight Rider series. In 2011, he was cast as Tyler Berrett, a recurring role on The CW series Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and in 2013, he joined Ravenswood.

Early life

Bruening was born on September 24, 1979, in St. Helena, Nebraska.[1] Raised in the small town of St. Helena, Nebraska (a then-population of 85), he graduated from high school with only nine classmates.[2]

Career

Following graduation, Bruening moved to San Diego, California. It was there that he was discovered by Sue Nessel, a talent scout for Scott Copeland International, at McDonald's in Escondido just north of San Diego.[2] Soon afterwards, Copeland got him his first modeling job for Abercrombie & Fitch.[2]

Following his first commercial job, Bruening was encouraged to study acting by Copeland and was noticed by All My Children casting director Judy Wilson.[2] Bruening originally auditioned for the role of JR Chandler on All My Children, but was eventually cast in the role of James "Jamie" Martin in July 2003.[1] For a brief time, in 2004 and 2005, Bruening also portrayed Jamie Martin on One Life to Live during a crossover storyline. During his role of Jamie, Bruening was featured as Daytime's Hottest Star in Teen People, Us Weekly, Star and J-14 magazines.[3]

In addition to his work on soap operas, he has had a guest appearance on Hope & Faith[1] and a small part in the film Fat Girls. He was up for the role of Superman in Superman Returns, but the part was won by Brandon Routh instead.[4] He also appeared in the Britney Spears music video "Boys".[1] On October 21, 2007, he appeared on CBS's Cold Case, in the episode "Thick As Thieves".

2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR

In February 2008, Bruening starred in a new rendition of the original Knight Rider series, portraying the original Knight Rider's son, Mike Traceur, for a two-hour film on NBC.[5] David Hasselhoff had a guest role, reprising his role as Michael Knight.[5] The film and subsequent TV series also featured KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand), a 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR, with Val Kilmer as the voice of the highly advanced robotic automobile.[5][6] NBC decided after successful ratings for the film to continue the story as a series, and commissioned an official series for its debut for the 2008–2009 television season.[7][8]

In 2011, Bruening began a recurring role on the CW mystery series, Ringer.[9] In 2012, he began a recurring role on the ABC family drama, Switched at Birth. In 2013, he had a recurring role on the ABC drama, Grey's Anatomy as Paramedic Matt.[10] He then featured in the limited season run of the Pretty Little Liars' spin-off Ravenswood in 2013. In 2018, he was cast as 'Nash' the co-star of the Hallmark Channel tv movie Last Vermont Christmas.[11]

Personal life

Bruening proposed to former All My Children co-star Alexa Havins on the set of the soap opera. They were married on June 5, 2005. The two were friends first before becoming romantically involved.[12] After Bruening left All My Children, Havins exited shortly after and the couple moved to Los Angeles. They have three children.[13]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Fat Girls Bobby Debut film[14]
2008 Knight Rider Mike Traceur Television film
2010 Class Whitt Sheffield Television film[15]
2012 Blue Eyed Butcher Jeff Wright Television film
2013 The Thanksgiving House Everett Mather Television film
2017 The Monster Project Devon Film
2018 He's Out There Shawn Film
2018 Indivisible Darren Turner Based on a true story[16]
2018 Last Vermont Christmas Nash Television film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003–2007, 2011 All My Children James Edward "Jamie" Martin Portrayed the role from September 8, 2003 – August 22, 2007 and September 21-23, 2011; 163 total episodes
2004–2005 One Life to Live Jamie Martin 8 episodes from October 20, 2004 – February 21, 2005
2004 Hope & Faith Jake Episodes: "Hold the Phone" & "Do I Look Frat In This?"
2006 3 lbs Personal trainer Episode: "The Cutting Edge"
2007 Cold Case Spencer Mason Episode: "Thick as Thieves"
2007 CSI: Miami Craig Abbott Episode: "My Nanny"
2008–2009 Knight Rider Mike Traceur Lead role
2011 Wonder Woman Steve Trevor "Pilot" (Never aired)
2011 Castle Rod Tredwyck Episode: "The Dead Pool"
2011 State of Georgia Brad Episode: "Flavor of the Week"
2011 CSI: NY Hank Frazier Episode: "Air Apparent"
2011–2012 Ringer Tyler Barrett 9 episodes
2012–2013 Switched at Birth Chef Jeff Reycraft 9 episodes
2013, 2018 Grey's Anatomy Paramedic Matthew Taylor 16 episodes
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Lt. Commander William "Billy" Harrington 5 episodes
2013–2014 Ravenswood Benjamin Price 4 episodes
2014 Royal Pains Chase Episode: "A Bigger Boat"
2015 CSI: Cyber Evan Wescott Episode: "The Evil Twin"
2015 The Messengers Leo Travers 3 episodes
2015 Blood & Oil Richard Ford Episode: "Pilot"
2016–2017 Good Behavior Kyle Dash 5 episodes[10]
2020–present Sweet Magnolias Cal Maddox Main role
2020 Lucifer DJ Karnal (Jed) Episode: "BlueBallz"
2020 Swept Up By Christmas Reed Television Film (Hallmark)
2022 Reindeer Games Homecoming Chase Weston Television Film (Lifetime)
2022 Vanished: Searching for My Sister Warren Television Film (Lifetime)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2005 Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Male Newcomer All My Children Won [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Justin Bruening (Jamie, AMC)". Soap Opera Digest. Primedia Magazines, Inc. 2004. Archived from the original on January 10, 2005.
  2. ^ a b c d "About the Actors: Justin Bruening". Soap Central. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
  3. ^ "Original 2003 to mid 2008 Cast Bios: Justin Bruening". abc.go.com.
  4. ^ Bhattacharjee, Mala. "AZ You Like It". Soap Opera Digest. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c "Knight time". Chicago Tribune. December 27, 2007. p. 52.
  6. ^ Collins, Michael (December 21, 2007). "2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR lands starring role on TV show". Asbury Park Press. p. D1.
  7. ^ Adalian, Josef (March 30, 2008). "NBC offers escape with new slate". Variety. Archived from the original on April 2, 2008.
  8. ^ McDonough, Kevin (September 24, 2008). "Knight Rider remake flat, tired". Intelligencer Journal. p. B10.
  9. ^ Orlando, Christine (February 16, 2012). "Ringer Interview: Justin Bruening on One Dizzying Ride". TV Fanatic.
  10. ^ a b Abrams, Natalie (January 25, 2018). "Grey's Anatomy: Justin Bruening returning as April's ex". EW.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "Last Vermont Christmas". Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "Chatterbox: AMC's Justin Bruening Answers Your Questions". Soap Opera Weekly. February 13, 2007. p. 28.
  13. ^ Clifford, Kambra (June 5, 2018). "AMC's Alexa Havins relives her Pine Valley days in rare interview". Soap Central.
  14. ^ "Fat Girls". Los Angeles Times. September 9, 2007. p. E36.
  15. ^ Elavsky, Cindy (August 15, 2010). "Bruening has Class". Tulsa World. p. 39.
  16. ^ Walsh, Katie (November 2, 2018). "Indivisible, a war story that balances home, abroad stories". The Fresno Bee.

External links

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