Jacob Adam McLaughlin (born October 7, 1982) is an American soldier and actor. He is most famous for playing Gordon Bonner in

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) an ...

's ''

In the Valley of Elah ''In the Valley of Elah'' is a 2007 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Haggis. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon. Its title refers to the Biblical valley where the battle between David and Go ...

''. McLaughlin starred as Tate in the short lived spring 2014

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 ...

series '' Believe''. He also co-starred as Ryan Booth in 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 ...

thriller series '' Quantico''.

Early life

McLaughlin is the son of John P. McLaughlin, of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent, and wife Rebecca Kay De Victoria, of

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian languages, Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized tribe, federally recognize ...

and

descent. He attended Paradise Elementary School, Notre Dame Catholic School, and

Chico High School Chico High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Chico, Caliornia, United States. , Chico High School has 2,083 students. Founded in 1902, it predominantly serves as the public school for graduates of Chico Junior H ...

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,1 ...

. He moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

and obtained a

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

from

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, inc ...

, in

Los Angeles, California 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 wo ...

. McLaughlin joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

as a Dismount

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

Squad Automatic Weapon A squad automatic weapon (SAW), also known as a section automatic weapon or light support weapon (LSW), is a man-portable automatic firearm attached to infantry squads or sections as a source of rapid direct firepower. Weapons fulfilling th ...

Gunner in 2002. He was part of the 3rd Infantry Division. His

unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...

was one of the first to enter

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

Acting career

After leaving the military, McLaughlin worked on a crab boat in

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

and as a security guard at

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. He was living in Chico, California, doing concrete work and had only $200 in his checking account when he heard about the casting session for

's ''

''. Being a former Dismount Infantry S.A.W. Gunner in Iraq in real life, he thought he would read for the role after hearing that Haggis was auditioning actual vets for several parts. After the success of his first movie, McLaughlin made

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s in movies such as ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...

'' and ''

Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odett ...

''. He appeared in episodes of ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

'' and '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. He got his first major role on TV in 2009, when he was cast in the television

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...

of the Oscar-winning film, ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch s ...

''. In the following years he made many appearances on television. In 2011, he was cast in ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have ...

'' which was followed by a supporting role in ''

Safe House A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

''. In February 2013, McLaughlin was cast as the male lead in '' Believe'', a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dis ...

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama '' A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama '' Great Expectations'' (1998), the ...

which was picked to series in May 2013. The show premiered on NBC in March, 2014. In March 2015, McLaughlin was cast in the role of Ryan Booth on the

, '' Quantico'', which was picked to series in May. The show premiered on the

network in September 2015.

Personal life

In 2004, McLaughlin married Stephanie .. They have four children, three girls, Rowan, Reagan, and Freya, and one son, Logan.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Jake 1982 births Living people People from Paradise, California United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the Iraq War 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Irish descent Male actors from California North Hollywood High School alumni