Marcus Paul Blucas (born January 11, 1972) is an American actor. Prior to his acting career, he played college basketball with the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...
. He had his first starring role as soldier and love interest
Riley Finn
Riley Finn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Portrayed by Marc Blucas, Riley was introduced in the 1999 season four premiere episode, " The Freshman", and Blucas was part of t ...
on the
WB supernatural drama series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' from 1999 to 2000, and later starred as football team manager Matthew Donnelly on the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
drama series ''
Necessary Roughness'' from 2011 to 2013.
Blucas starred alongside
Katie Holmes in the romantic comedy film ''
First Daughter'' (2004) and also had lead roles in the thriller films ''
Three
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...
'' (2006) and ''
The Killing Floor'' (2007). He had supporting roles in the romance films ''
I Capture the Castle
''I Capture the Castle'' is the first novel of List of English writers (R–Z), English author Dodie Smith, written during the Second World War when she and her husband Alec Beesley, an English conscientious objector, moved to California. She ...
'' (2003), ''
After Sex'' (2007), and ''
The Jane Austen Book Club
''The Jane Austen Book Club'' is a 2004 novel by American author Karen Joy Fowler. The story, which takes place near Sacramento, California, centers around a book club consisting of five women and one man who meet once a month to discuss Jane A ...
'' (2007); the horror films ''
They
In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject.
Morphology
In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms:
* ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form
* ''them'': the accusat ...
'' (2002), ''
Deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
'' (2009), and ''
Unearth
Unearth is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released seven studio albums.
History Early career (1998–2002)
Unearth was formed by Trevor Phipps, Buz McGrath, Ken Susi, Mike Rudberg, a ...
'' (2020); the thriller films ''
Brawl in Cell Block 99
''Brawl in Cell Block 99'' is a 2017 American neo-noir prison action thriller film directed and written by S. Craig Zahler and starring Vince Vaughn with Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas, and Tom Guiry. The story follows ...
'' (2017) and ''
Looking Glass'' (2018); and the drama films ''
Prey for Rock & Roll
''Prey For Rock & Roll'' is a 2003 American drama film written by Cheri Lovedog and Robin Whitehouse. The film, which stars Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole, and Marc Blucas, follows the story of Jacki and her all-girl pun ...
'' (2004) and ''
Touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...
'' (2011).
Early life
Marcus Paul Blucas was born on January 11, 1972, in
Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Pittsburgh and is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 13,502.
History
Butler was na ...
, two years after his sister, Kristen.
His parents, Walter Joseph Blucas and Mary Catherine (née Gordon), married on January 10, 1970, shortly before both graduated in education from
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...
(IUP). They are divorced. "A self-confessed square who earned good grades,"
Blucas was, like his father, a skilled sportsman.
[ ] Wally was the quarterback on the undefeated 1968
Big Indians team,
competed in the
Boardwalk Bowl
The Boardwalk Bowl was a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 1961 to 1973.
History
Inaugurated in 1961, the game featured an annual matchup ...
, and in 1999 was inducted into the IUP Athletics Hall of Fame.
The family moved to
Girard in
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
in 1974, where Blucas' father rose from teacher to school principal and ultimately to Superintendent of Schools for the District.
Blucas became the star player on the Girard High School basketball team, leading them to the Pennsylvania Boys AA State Championship,
in the process earning
all-state honors and a sports scholarship to
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
.
[ ][ ] He played on the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team represents Wake Forest University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Wake Forest made the Final Four in 1962 and through the years, the p ...
team and graduated in 1994 after one season playing on the same court as
Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...
. He was also a member of the
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...
fraternity.
After Blucas failed to make it into the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
, he moved to England, where he played professional basketball for a year with
British Basketball League
The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...
's
Manchester Giants (1975–2001)
Manchester Giants was a professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. During its existence, the team won the Trophy in 1999 and the BBL Championship in 2000. The tenure of American coach Nick Nurse, which included those two seaso ...
. He later decided to become a lawyer, but changed his mind and went into acting instead.
Career
Blucas's first television role was in the
television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''Inflammable'', made in 1995. From there, he found roles in both television and film. He starred as the Basketball Hero in
Gary Ross
Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American film director, writer, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the fantasy comedy-drama film '' Pleasantville'' (1998), the sports drama film ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), the sci-fi acti ...
's ''
Pleasantville'' (1998). However, Blucas landed his first major role in 1999 as
Agent Riley Finn in ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
''. Initially, Blucas was certain that he had blown his audition and had left apologizing for having wasted creator
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
's time. Whedon asked him to audition again, and he received the part two weeks later. He played
Buffy's love interest until 2000.
After Blucas' departure from the series, he went on to act in such films as ''
Summer Catch
''Summer Catch'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Tollin and starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel and Matthew Lillard. The film marked Tollin's feature film directorial debut. The setting is the Cape Cod Baseball ...
'' (2001), ''
We Were Soldiers
''We Were Soldiers'' is a 2002 war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book '' We Were Soldiers Once… and Young'' (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, i ...
'' (2002), alongside
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
and
Chris Klein, and ''
First Daughter'' (2004), with
Katie Holmes. His character in ''Summer Catch'' was based on real life Cape League baseball player Michael Macone.
In 2007, Blucas began to land leading roles in films such as ''
Thr3e
Ted Dekker (born October 24, 1962) is an American author of Christian fiction, Christian Mystery fiction, mystery, Thriller (genre), thriller, and fantasy novels including ''Thr3e'', ''Obsessed (novel), Obsessed'', and the ''Circle Series''.
B ...
'' and ''
The Killing Floor''.
In February 2010, Blucas joined the cast of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television drama pilot ''True Blue''.
Blucas was part of the regular cast of the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
show ''
Necessary Roughness'' for the first two seasons, playing Matthew Donnelly. The series premiered on June 29, 2011.
Personal life
On July 25, 2009, Blucas married journalist
Ryan Haddon, daughter of
Dayle Haddon
Dayle Haddon (born May 26, 1948) is a Canadian model and actress, presently known for promoting anti-aging products manufactured by L'Oréal. Additionally, she is credited as author of ''Ageless Beauty: A Woman's Guide to Lifelong Beauty and Well ...
; they have two daughters,
[ and Blucas is also stepfather to her two children from her first marriage to actor ]Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blucas, Marc
1972 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actors from Erie, Pennsylvania
American male film actors
American male television actors
Basketball players from Pennsylvania
Living people
Male actors from Pittsburgh
Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players
Wake Forest University alumni
American men's basketball players