Robert James Hoffman III (born September 21, 1985) is an American actor, producer, dancer, and choreographer.
Early life
Robert James Hoffman III was born in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...
, the son of Charlotte and Robert Hoffman II, and moved with his family to
Madison, Alabama
Madison is a city located primarily in Madison County, Alabama, Madison County, near the northern border of the U.S. state of Alabama. Madison extends west into neighboring Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County. The city is included in th ...
when he was seven. He has one younger brother, Chris, and two younger sisters, Ashley and Lauren. He attended
Bob Jones High School. He discovered his passion for dancing after seeing ''
Michael Jackson's Thriller''.
Career
Robert Hoffman is a YouTube pioneer and viral video sensation. He has amassed over 100 million views for his pranks, sketches, dance videos, and stunts on his PUNCHROBERT channel. Some of his most popular videos include "The Yes Dance", "Urban Ninja", and "Contemporary Eric". Hoffman began creating and sharing videos online in the early 2000s, even before the launch of YouTube in 2005. His videos were often featured on popular websites like ''
eBaum's World''.
In 2004, Hoffman starred in the film ''
You Got Served'' as Max, a lead dancer in the antagonist's crew. He also starred in
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American comedian, television presenter, actor, and rapper. In television, he began his career as a teenager on Nickelodeon's '' All That'' before going on to host '' The Nick Cannon Show'', '' ...
's sketch comedy television series ''
Wild 'n Out''. In 2006, he co-starred alongside
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress. Bynes began her career as a child actor, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' (1996–2000) and its spin-off series '' The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002). ...
in the film ''
She's the Man
''She’s the Man'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy teen sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Loosely inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Twe ...
''.
In 2007, Hoffman played the role of Bluto in the horror film
''Shrooms''. He also played the role of Clyde "Windmill" Wynorski in the comedy film ''
National Lampoon's Bag Boy''. Hoffman has guest starred in many shows such as ''
American Dreams
''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons and 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with m ...
'', ''
Quintuplets
''Quintuplets'' is an American television sitcom that aired 22 episodes on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from June 16, 2004, to January 12, 2005. The program starred Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff and shared some of their experiences parent ...
'', ''
Vanished'', ''
CSI: Miami'', ''
Campus Ladies'', ''
Drop Dead Diva'', and ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
''.
In 2008, he starred in the film ''
Step Up 2: The Streets'' as Chase Collins, a talented dancer at the Maryland School of the Arts (M.S.A). In 2009, he guest starred in the ABC Family show
''Greek'' as Evan Chamber's older brother. On 1 June 2008, ''Step Up 2: The Streets'' earned Hoffman and co-star
Briana Evigan an
MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. In 2008, he and Evigan starred in
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...
's music video for his single
"Push", where they reprised their ''Step Up'' roles.
Hoffman appeared in the 2009 film ''
Aliens in the Attic'' as Ricky Dillman. In 2010, Hoffman played the role of Chad Bower in the comedy thriller film
''Burning Palms''. Hoffman featured as Garth in the musical comedy film
''BoyBand''. He played the role of Tyler "Dance Machine" Jones in the movie
''Take Me Home Tonight''.
He was also featured in
Garfunkel and Oates's music video for their song "Present Face". In late January 2012, Hoffman landed a recurring role in the
fourth season of
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
's teen drama series
''90210'' as Caleb Walsh, a student at
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
school studying to become a priest.
In 2014, Hoffman starred as Kevin Shepherd in the indie drama ''
Lap Dance
A lap dance (or contact dance) is a type of erotic dance performance offered in many strip clubs in which the dancer typically has body contact with a seated patron. Lap dancing is different from table dancing, in which the dancer is close to ...
'' alongside
Briana Evigan,
Ali Cobrin, and
Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra (born Tara Leigh Patrick, April 20, 1972) is an American actress, model, singer, and media personality. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis where she met Prince (musician), Prince who produced her Carm ...
. Hoffman guest starred as Thad Callahan in the TV show
''The Night Shift''. In 2016, he had a role in the comedy film
''Amateur Night'' directed by Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse.
In 2009, Hoffman produced “The PunchRobert Show” for ''
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
''. The show was meant as a star vehicle for Hoffman and was based on his YouTube channel, but has not made it to air.
Filmography
Awards
References
External links
*
*
''The Huntsville Times'' interview (March 15, 2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Robert
21st-century American male actors
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
American male dancers
American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Alabama
People from Madison, Alabama
1985 births
Actors from Madison County, Alabama