Bret Michael Harrison (born April 6, 1982) is an American actor and musician known predominantly for his work on comedy television series such as ''
Grounded for Life'', ''
The Loop'', ''
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Rom ...
'', and ''
Breaking In''.
Early life
Harrison was born in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
. In his senior year, he attended
Tualatin High School in
Tualatin, Oregon
Tualatin () is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is locate ...
. His first acting role came at the
Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre in his home state where he had the role of George in ''
Our Town
''Our Town'' is a 1938 Metatheatre, metatheatrical Three act structure, three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Cor ...
''.
Career
Acting
One of his first TV appearances was in the third season of
MTV's ''
Undressed
''Undressed'' is an American anthology series that aired on MTV from July 26, 1999, to September 5, 2002. The series was created and executive produced by British director Roland Joffé.
Synopsis
The series follows the relationships (both ro ...
'' and the MTV film ''Everybody's Doing It''. In 2002, Harrison appeared as Lonny in the movie ''
Orange County''. His first major role was dorky next-door neighbor Brad O'Keefe on ''
Grounded for Life''. In 2004, Harrison starred as Green Graves in the coming of age drama film ''
Lightning Bug''.
Harrison appeared in four episodes of ''
That '70s Show
''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...
'' as Charlie Richardson, a character intended to be a replacement for departing cast member
Topher Grace
Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom '' That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in '' Win a Date with Tad ...
but Harrison decided to work on another series. He appeared in ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initialis ...
'' as Danny, Seth's rival. He had a dramatic guest role on ''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as Sam Cavanaugh, a young victim of sexual abuse. In film, he appeared alongside
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ' ...
and
Colin Hanks
Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including '' Orange County'', ''King Kong'', '' The House Bunny'', '' The Great Buck Howard'', and the '' Jumanji'' film series. His television credits inclu ...
in ''
Orange County''. In addition, Harrison also starred in the movie ''
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, a ...
'', which was released in the US on April 26, 2008.
During 2006–2007 he starred in ''
The Loop'', as a young professional trying to balance the needs of his social life with the pressures of working at the corporate headquarters of a major U.S. airline. It was canceled following the second season in 2007. Later in 2007, he became the star of
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
series, ''
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Rom ...
'' as Sam Oliver. ''
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Rom ...
'' was canceled on May 19, 2009, after two seasons.
Bret Harrison played Dr. Sidney Miller on ABC's re-imagined ''
V'' series. Harrison's character appears throughout Season 2 (2011) as an evolutionary biologist and eventual member of the counter-visitor resistance. Harrison starred as Jerry in a short film titled ''Cost of Living'' co-starring
Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman (1978 film series character), Superman in the 2006 film ''Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the Dylan Dog, titul ...
.
He starred as Scottie Smith in the road trip comedy film ''
Mardi Gras: Spring Break''. Also in 2011, he was signed by
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
to fill a main cast role in a mid-season replacement comedy called ''
Breaking In''.
In 2015, Harrison signed on to play Gordon Cooper on ABC's ''
The Astronaut Wives Club
''The Astronaut Wives Club'' is a 2015 American period drama television series developed by Stephanie Savage for ABC. It is based on Lily Koppel's 2013 book of the same name. The series tells the story of the wives of the Mercury Seven—Ameri ...
'' and played the role of Barry Burwood in movie ''See You in Valhalla''. In 2016, Harrison had a recurring role as Kenny in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
sitcom series ''
The Ranch''. In 2017, Harrison guest starred as Brad in an episode of ''
Mom'' and in 2018, he guest starred as Sam Oliver in an episode of ''
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World
''Kevin (Probably) Saves the World'' (stylized as ''Kevin ^Probably Saves the World'') is an American high-concept angelic-themed fantasy comedy-drama television series that was created and executive produced by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters fo ...
''.
Music
Big Japan is a four-piece
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band from
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 wor ...
, with Nathanial Castro on vocals and guitar,
Adam Brody
Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor, writer, musician, and producer. He is known for his breakthrough role as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series ''The O.C.'', which premiered in 2003. Subsequently, Brody appeare ...
on drums, Harrison on guitar and Brad Babinski on bass. The band only performs, writes and records sporadically given Brody and Harrison's unpredictable acting schedules. Their first band name was Steven's Team, named after the film ''
The Cable Guy
''The Cable Guy'' is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr. and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann, Jack ...
''.
Big Japan's first release, ''Music for Dummies'', was digitally released through Nightshift Records on August 23, 2005. This CD originally titled ''Music for Dummies'' was changed to ''Untitled'' thus the limited number of CDs printed have become collectors items.
Personal life
Harrison began dating Lauren Zelman in 2005. They married on March 25, 2012 and have a son.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Bret
1982 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Portland, Oregon
People from Tualatin, Oregon