Brandon Ruckdashel

Brandon Paul Ruckdashel (born March 13, 1983) is an American actor and photographer. He is most well known from his appearance in Cinemax's Co-Ed Confidential as Zach and Rel Dowdell's Changing the Game (film) as Marty Levine.

Brandon first gained attention for his Off-Broadway performance as Lorenzo in Ascension where he was compared to both Brad Pitt and James Dean.^[1]

Biography

Personal life

Brandon was born in Chanhassen, Minnesota where he attended Chanhassen Elementary and Chaska Middle School before moving to Draper, Utah. Here he attended Crescent View Middle School and Alta High School before his family moved to Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated from E. C. Glass High School and was a member of the award winning Glass Theater organization^[2] under the direction of Jim Ackley.

Moving to Greenville, North Carolina in 2001 for college, Brandon attended East Carolina University.^[3] He was recruited into the Musical Theater program by Jeff award winning director Travis Stockley.^[4]

Brandon's cousin Cole Aldrich is a center for the Sacramento Kings and was chosen 11th overall by the New Orleans Hornets in the first round of the 2010 NBA draft.

Career

Brandon's professional career started off-broadway, in 2006, with his NY Times critically acclaimed debut role in Ascension as Lorenzo at the Lion Theater directed by Marc Geller. In this project he co-starred with Stephen Hope, who was in the original cast of The Scarlet Pimpernel and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.^[5] During this period he also filmed his first movie starring as Virgil in Boy In a Bathtub (film) which premiered that same year at 12° Festival de Films Gays & Lesbiens de Paris 2006.^[6]

In 2007 he moved to Los Angeles to perform in Twist at the Avery Schreiber Theater in North Hollywood.^[7] In 2008 he made his television debut in The Lair and went on to film a pilot with Jerry Zucker's production company National Banana.^[8] He was also cast, by Robert Lombard (casting director)^[9] to star opposite Michelle Maylene, as Zach in Co-Ed Confidential season 3. He replaced Adam Trahan's character, Cooper, and the Zach storyline continued through season 4. After Co-ed Confidential, Brandon went on to film a guest star role in Life on Top season 1 opposite Krista Ayne.

2012 brought the theatrical release of Changing the Game, in AMC theaters;^[10] in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and DC. This was followed by a DVD release by Lions Gate.^[11] Also upcoming is the premier of Meat Puppet, in which Brandon stars as a detective hunting a serial killer, which is currently filming in New Jersey.^[12][13] October brought the first festival screening of The Meat Puppet at the Downbeach Film Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Brandon also directed and shot Side FX's music video for "Man I Used to Know," which garnered almost a quarter of a million views within the first week of release.^[14]

At the beginning of 2013 Brandon worked as the cinematographer for the horror film Gravedigger under the direction of Doug Bollinger.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

External links

• Brandon Ruckdashel at the Internet Movie Database
• http://broadwayworld.com/people/Brandon_Ruckdashel/
• http://www.theatermania.com/gallery/index/brandon%20ruckdashel/
• http://www.locatetv.com/person/brandon-ruckdashel/388349
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-rivera/a-rising-star-to-watch-br_b_321153.html
• http://www.edgefireisland.com/index.php?id=72915

References