Zachery Ty Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

''. He also appeared in the films '' True Heart'' and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift''.

Early life

Bryan was born in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in ...

, to Jenny and Dwight Bryan.

Career

Before he starred in ''Home Improvement'', he appeared in local print and television advertising in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He then appeared at a showcase in New York City, directed by Peter Sklar, where he was seen by a professional talent representative. This, and his interest in acting soon brought him to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he was cast in the role of Brad, the oldest Taylor child, in the show ''Home Improvement''. His character was known for experimenting with different hair styles as well as being the child most often in trouble. He is one month younger than Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who played his younger brother

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

on the show. In the middle of ''Home Improvement'' Bryan made an appearance as Steve on ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'' in 1995. After ''Home Improvement'' ended, Bryan made brief appearances in many other television shows including (2002) ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

'' as Peter Nicols, (2005) ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series pr ...

'' as Caz Truman, and (2006) ''

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

'' as Scott Natterson, as well as a guest appearance on an episode of ''

Reading Rainbow ''Reading Rainbow'' is an American educational children's television series that originally aired on PBS and afterwards PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! from July 11, 1983 to November 10, 2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 ...

''. Additionally, he made a cameo appearance on MTV's ''

I Bet You Will ''I Bet You Will'' is an Internet webcast, and later a show on MTV that paid people to do outrageous things for money. In 2008, reruns of the program began to air on Spike. It was created by Morgan Spurlock. The show was hosted by Spurlock, musi ...

'' in which he portrayed himself and competed in a challenge where he wrestled female convicted felons. In 2001, he portrayed an ice hockey player in an episode of '' Touched by an Angel''. He also appeared on ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/G ...

'' in 2003 where he played Eric Marsh, a high school baseball player using steroids made from meteor rock. He was the second ''Home Improvement'' alum to make a guest appearance on the show after Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In 2005, Bryan appeared as Bryan Nolan in

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

TV 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 ...

'' Code Breakers''. Bryan also guest starred in '' Cold Case'' (as the young murderer in the flashback scenes) and in 2008 as a young man hiring a hitman to kill his stepmother on the show ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar ...

''. Bryan's film roles include the school bully in the 1996 Sinbad comedy ''

First Kid ''First Kid'' is a 1996 American slapstick comedy film directed by David Mickey Evans and starring Sinbad and Brock Pierce. It was mostly filmed in Richmond, Virginia. Plot Sam Simms is a Secret Service agent assigned by his superior Wilkes t ...

.'' He starred in the 1995 movie ''Magic Island'' as Jack Carlisle, and the 1998 TV movie ''The Principal Takes A Holiday.'' He also starred as Eric in 1999's '' The Rage: Carrie 2''. Later, he played defender Harry Keough alongside Gerard Butler in the 2005 movie '' The Game of Their Lives'' otherwise known as '' The Miracle Match'' about the 1950 US upset at the World Cup. In 2006, he played as a villain named

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'', then in the 2009 TV mini-series ''Meteor'', which aired on NBC. He also played

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

in the made-for-TV

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

channel film ''Thor: Hammer of the Gods''. The film originally aired on November 29, 2009. In 2022, he was cast in '' The Guardians of Justice''.

Personal life

Bryan's cousin is former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn. In 2007, he married Carly Matros, whom he met while attending La Cañada High School. He is the father of twin girls (Taylor Simone Bryan and Gemma Rae Bryan) born in 2014, and Jordana Nicole Bryan, born in 2016. On March 18, 2019, Bryan announced the birth of their son, Pierce Alexander Bryan. Bryan and Matros called it quits in September 2020 after 14 years of marriage. In October 2020, Bryan was held on several charges including

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...

strangulation Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hangin ...

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

charges of fourth-degree

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

and interfering with making a police report, after an apparent argument with his girlfriend in their apartment in Lane County,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. In February 2021, Bryan pleaded guilty to two of the charges, while six others were dismissed. He was sentenced to three years of bench probation and ordered to partake in a batterer intervention program and to have no contact with the victim. On November 17, 2021, Bryan announced his engagement to model Johnnie Faye. Bryan and Faye welcomed daughter Kennedy Faye Bryan in April 2021. In early November 2022, Bryan and Faye announced they are expecting twins. They will be Bryan’s fifth and sixth children, and his second set of twins.

Filmography

Awards

Wins

* 1994 –

Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series (''

'') **Shared with Taran Noah Smith and Jonathan Taylor Thomas** * 1999 –

for Best Performance in a TV Drama or Comedy Series – Leading Young Actor (''

'') * 1999 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series (''

'')

Nominations

* 1993 –

for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series (''

'') * 1998 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Miniseries/Made-for-TV Movie (''Principal Takes a Holiday'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Zachery Ty 1981 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Colorado People from Aurora, Colorado