Justin Bruening
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| Justin Bruening | |
| Born | Justin S. Bruening September 24, 1979 |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Alexa Havins (2005-present) |
Justin Bruening is an American actor and former fashion model. 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 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 series.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Justin Bruening was born on September 24, 1979 in Chadron, Nebraska.[2] Raised in the small town of St. Helena, Nebraska (a then-population of 85), he graduated from high school with only nine classmates.[3]
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.[3] Soon there after, Copeland got him his first modeling job for Abercrombie & Fitch.[3]
[edit] Career
Following his first commercial job, Bruening was encouraged to study acting by Copeland and was noticed by All My Children casting director Judy Wilson.[3] 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.[2] 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.[4]
In addition to his work on soap operas, Bruening has had a guest appearance on Hope & Faith[2] 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.[5] He also appeared in the Britney Spears music video "Boys".[2]
On November 2, 2007, it was announced that he would be starring 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, the original having been portrayed by actor David Hasselhoff. Entertainment newspaper The Hollywood Reporter took notice to the similarities between the two castings:
| “ | ...the choice of Bruening closely resembles Hasselhoff's casting a quarter-century ago.
Like Bruening, Hasselhoff was a soap star (The Young and the Restless) with few other credits when he landed Knight Rider. He was almost the same age as Bruening...[1] |
” |
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.[6]
Gary Scott Thompson was brought on to showrun and was committed to two years.[7][8] Filming on the season began June 23, 2008 for a September 24, 2008 premiere.[9][10]
[edit] 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.[11] After Bruening left All My Children, Havins exited shortly after and the couple moved to Los Angeles.
In his spare time, Bruening collects Converse All-Star sneakers. In 2007, he had 15 or 16 pairs of the shoe brand.[11] In recent years, he has enjoyed watching television shows Heroes, Dexter, Supernatural, and Las Vegas.[12]
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Awards won | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Award | ||
| 2005 | Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Male Newcomer for All My Children[2] | ||
| Pre-Nomination | |||
| Year | Award | ||
| 2005 | Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actor for All My Children[3] | ||
[edit] References
- ^ a b "A familiar road to 'Knight'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia9c51f5ef29150aaddf737e574e01730. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
- ^ a b c d e "Soap Star Stats: Justin Bruening (Jamie, AMC)". soapoperadigest.com. http://soapoperadigest.com/soapstarstats/justinbrueningbio/. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ a b c d e "About the Actors: Justin Bruening". soapcentral.com. http://www.soapcentral.com/amc/theactors/bruening.php. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ "Original 2003 to mid 2008 Cast Bios: Justin Bruening". abc.go.com.
- ^ Bhattacharjee, Mala. "AZ You Like It". soapoperadigest.com. http://www.soapoperadigest.com/features/atwt/interviews/chandoroerig//. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ "NBC offers escape with new slate". Variety. http://www.variety.com/VR1117983169.html.
- ^ "Knight Rider' gets showrunner". Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i6e3ee63e14562801115567c8b5d3a696.
- ^ "Exclusive Interview with Gary Scott Thompson - Part 2". Shadowy Flight. http://shadowyflight.com/news/2008/04/exclusive-interview-with-gary-scott-thompson.php.
- ^ "principal photography on knight rider 2008 begins in two weeks". Shadowy Flight. http://shadowyflight.com/news/2008/06/principal-photography-on-knigh.php.
- ^ "Knight Rider - Wednesdays at 8pm". Knight Rider Online. http://www.knightrideronline.com/news/2008/04/knight_rider_wednesdays_at_8pm.php.
- ^ a b "Chatterbox: AMC's Justin Bruening Answers Your Questions". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-13. p. 28.
- ^ "Culture Club". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-27. p. 22.
