Justin Bruening (born September 24, 1979) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

. He was originally discovered at McDonald's in Escondido, California, by Sue Nessel, a scout for Scott Copeland. 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 ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

'', earning him a

Soap Opera Digest Award ''The Soap Opera Digest Awards'', originally known as ''The Soapy Awards'' when introduced in 1977, is an awards show held by the daytime television magazine ''Soap Opera Digest''. History 1977 until 1983 The Soapy Awards were an award presen ...

in 2005 for the portrayal. In late 2007, not long after leaving the role, Bruening was cast as Mike Traceur, the son of character Michael Knight, a new take on the original ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'' series. In 2011, he was cast as Tyler Berrett, a recurring role on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

series '' Ringer'' starring

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

and in 2013, he joined '' Ravenswood.''

Early life

Justin Bruening was born on September 24, 1979 in

St. Helena, Nebraska St. Helena is a village in Cedar County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 91 at the 2020 census. History St. Helena was settled in 1858. It once served as county seat. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the vi ...

. Raised in the small town of

(a then-population of 85), he graduated from high school with only nine classmates.

Career

Following graduation, Bruening moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. It was there that he was discovered by Sue Nessel, a talent scout for Scott Copeland International, at

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

in Escondido just north of San Diego. Soon afterwards, Copeland got him his first modeling job for

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februa ...

. Following his first commercial job, Bruening was encouraged to study acting by Copeland and was noticed by ''

'' casting director Judy Wilson. Bruening originally auditioned for the role of

JR Chandler Adam "JR" Chandler Jr. is a fictional character from the ABC and The Online Network daytime drama ''All My Children''. He was portrayed by Jacob Young from 2003 to 2011, prior to Ryan Bittle taking over the role in 2013. Bittle was cast as the n ...

on ''All My Children'', but was eventually cast in the role of James "Jamie" Martin in July 2003. For a brief time, in 2004 and 2005, Bruening also portrayed Jamie Martin on ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'' during a crossover storyline. During his role of Jamie, Bruening was featured as ''Daytime's Hottest Star'' in ''

Teen People ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

'', ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'', ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

'' and '' J-14'' magazines. In addition to his work on soap operas, he has had a guest appearance on ''

Hope & Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...

'' and a small part in the film ''Fat Girls''. He was up for the role of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

in ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...

'', but the part was won by

Brandon Routh Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film '' Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of N ...

instead. He also appeared in the

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

music video "

Boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

". On October 21, 2007 he appeared on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

'', in the episode "Thick As Thieves". On November 2, 2007, it was announced that Bruening would be starring in a new rendition of the original ''

'' series, portraying the original Knight Rider's son, Mike Traceur, for a two-hour film on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. 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. In 2011, Bruening began a recurring role on the CW mystery series, '' Ringer''. In 2012, he began a recurring role on the

ABC family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

drama, '' Switched at Birth''. In 2013, he had a recurring role on the ABC drama, ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

'' as Paramedic Matt. He then featured in the limited season run of the ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...

spin-off '' Ravenswood'' in 2013. In 2018, he was cast as 'Nash' the co-star of the Hallmark Channel tv movie ''Last Vermont Christmas''.

Personal life

Bruening proposed to former ''All My Children'' co-star

Alexa Havins Alexa Carole Havins (born November 16, 1980) is an American actress. She first came to prominence in 2003, when she became the originating actress in the role of Babe Carey Chandler on the soap opera ''All My Children''. Her role as the flawed b ...

on the set of the soap opera. They were married on June 5, 2005. The two were friends first before becoming romantically involved. After Bruening left ''All My Children'', Havins exited shortly after and the couple moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. On August 10, 2010, he and Havins welcomed their first child, daughter Lexington Grace Bruening. Justin and Alexa Havins have two more children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruening, Justin 1979 births 21st-century American male actors Living people Male models from Nebraska American male soap opera actors American male television actors Male actors from Nebraska People from Chadron, Nebraska