Garrett Hedlund

Garrett Hedlund

Hedlund at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego, California
Born Garrett John Hedlund
September 3, 1984
Roseau, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation Actor, model, singer
Years active 2004–present

Garrett John Hedlund (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor known for his roles in the films Friday Night Lights (2004), Four Brothers (2005), Eragon (2006), Country Strong (2011), for his role as Patroclus in the movie Troy (2004), as Sam Flynn in Tron: Legacy (2010), and as Dean Moriarty in the film On the Road (2012).

Early life

Hedlund was born in Roseau, Minnesota, to Kristine Anne (née Yanish) and Robert Martin Hedlund.[1] He is the youngest of three children with a brother Nathaniel and a sister Amanda. His father is of Swedish descent, and his mother is of Norwegian and German ancestry.[2][3] Hedlund was raised on a remote beef cattle farm near the small town of Wannaska, Minnesota.[4][5] In 10th grade, he moved to live with his mother in Arizona, where he saved his waiter’s tips to pay for acting lessons with Jean Fowler, with whom he worked on speeches and script material.[6] Modeling gigs for L.L. Bean and Teen magazine followed. In 2003 at the age of eighteen, Hedlund moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.[7]

Career

His first film role was as Patroclus in Troy. The film, which starred Brad Pitt, was released on May 14, 2004.[8][9] He also starred as Don Billingsley in the 2004 drama film Friday Night Lights in which Tim McGraw played his abusive father.[10]

He starred as Jack Mercer alongside Mark Wahlberg in the action/crime film Four Brothers.[11] He next appeared in the film Eragon in a supporting role as Murtagh.[12] In 2007, he starred in the Garry Marshall-directed comedy-drama Georgia Rule, alongside Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda.[13] The film, which was released May 11, 2007, was negatively received by critics and failed to surpass box office expectations, only making a lifetime gross of $41 million.[14] He also starred in Death Sentence opposite Kevin Bacon.[15] In 2010, he played a leading role alongside Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy, a sequel to the 1982 film Tron.[16] The film was released on December 17, 2010.

Hedlund also co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and reunited with country singer/musician Tim McGraw in the country music drama Country Strong; which was released on January 7, 2011.[17] For this film, he recorded several songs among which "Chances Are", which appeared on Country Strong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. His performance was well received by critics; noting voice similarities between him and Charlie Robison, Roughstock said "the best song on this album belongs to him" and Country Weekly wrote that of all the songs performed by actors in this film, his was "the most convincing".[18][19] Six other songs including a duet with Leighton Meester were featured on a second soundtrack titled Country Strong: More Music from the Motion Picture.

Hedlund was cast as Kaneda Shotaro in the live action version of Akira,[20] but production of the film is cancelled.[21] He also appears as Dean Moriarty in the 2012 film On the Road, along with Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen. The film was directed by Walter Salles and based on the novel of same name by Jack Kerouac. Hedlund perfectly succeeds in expressing the spirit of Dean as evinced in Kerouac's novel: a magnet for all the other characters, affectionate and capable of expressing his affection, through a powerful mastery of facial expression and gesture. A young man[22] Disney stated in December 2012 that Hedlund would reprise his role of Sam Flynn in a sequel to Tron: Legacy.[23][24]

He reportedly turned down the role of Finnick in the sequel to the Hunger Games called Catching Fire[25] and the character Christian Grey in the film adaptation of E. L. James best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey.[26] In 2014, Hedlund co-starred in Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie.[27]

Personal life

In 2012, Hedlund began dating his On the Road co-star Kirsten Dunst.[28]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Troy Patroclus Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Male Breakout Movie Star
2004 Friday Night Lights Don Billingsley
2005 Four Brothers Jack Mercer Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2006 Eragon Murtagh
2007 Georgia Rule Harlan
2007 Death Sentence Billy Darley
2010 Tron: Legacy Sam Flynn Maui Film Festival Rising Star Award
Young Hollywood Award for Actor of the Year
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011 Country Strong Beau Hutton
2012 On the Road Dean Moriarty
2013 Inside Llewyn Davis Johnny Five
2014 Lullaby Jonathan
2014 Unbroken John Fitzgerald
2015 Mojave Thomas Post-production
2015 Pan Hook Post-production
2016 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Sgt. Dime Filming
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2011 When I Was 17 Himself Season 2 Episode 45
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Eragon Murtagh Voice

Discography

Country Strong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Track Song Writers Time
 4 "Chances Are" Nathan Chapman, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose 3:25
Country Strong: More Music from the Motion Picture
Track Song Writers Time
 1 "Silver Wings" Merle Haggard 3:21
 4 "Hard Out Here" Hayes Carll[29] 3:09
 9 "Turn Loose the Horses" Hayes Carll 3:05
12 "Give In To Me"
(duet with Leighton Meester)
Billy Falcon, Rose Falcon, Elisha Hoffman 3:29
13 "Hide Me Babe" Hayes Carll 3:08
14 "Timing Is Everything" Natalie Hemby, Troy Jones 3:24

Chart history

Hedlund's duet with Meester—"Give In to Me"— was the only song to chart as a single, reaching #79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #96 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Notes
2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Breakout Movie Star Troy Nominated
2006 Black Reel Awards Best Ensemble Four Brothers Nominated (Shared with: André Benjamin, Tyrese Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Sofía Vergara, Terrence Howard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Taraji P. Henson)
2011 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor[31] Tron: Legacy Nominated
2011 Young Hollywood Award Actor of the Year[32] Won
2011 Maui Film Festival Rising Star[33][34] Won

References

  1. dead link] "Garrett Hedlund- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. "Her er Angelinas Jolies norske gullgutter". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  3. Eyre, Hermione (March 22, 2013). "Garrett Hedlund: rebel without a hairbrush". London Evening Standard. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  4. Minnesota farm is far behind for actor | Garrett Hedlund Articles
  5. Wonderland Magazine interview and report
  6. Outhier, Craig (August 30, 2007). "Garrett Hedlund takes a walk in a villain’s shoes". Get Out. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  7. Eyre, Hermione (March 22, 2013). "Garrett Hedlund: rebel without a hairbrush". Evening Standard. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  8. "Garrett Hedlund on Tron: Legacy, Country Strong, and Never Using Coinstar Again". vulture. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  9. "Garrett Hedlund: From ‘Troy’ to ‘Tron’". Variety. October 15, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  10. "Friday Night Lights". EW. October 22, 2004. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  11. "Garrett Hedlund Interview for Four Brothers". thecinemasource.com. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  12. "Garrett Hedlund as Murtagh - Short interview". Youtube. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  13. "Garrett Hedlund: Georgia Rule Interview". Youtube. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  14. "Georgia Rule". Metacritic. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  15. "Death Sentence Garrett Hedlund interview". Youtube. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  16. Kit, Borys (7 Jan 2009). "Little known actor lands lead in 'Tron' sequel". Reuters/Hollywood Reporter. Reuters. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  17. jocelyn vena (January 7, 2011). "‘Country Strong’ Star Garrett Hedlund Ponders A Music Career". Mtv. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  18. Bjoke, Matt (January 2, 2011). "Country Strong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Roughstock. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  19. "Reviews - Country Strong (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Country Weekly. November 16, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  20. "Garrett Hedlund to Star in Live-Action Akira". Vulture. November 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  21. "Live-Action ‘Akira’ Movie Is Dead". screenrant. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  22. "Garrett Hedlund talks on the road". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  23. "'Tron: Legacy' Sequel Confirms the Return of Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn". movieweb. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  24. Adam Chitwood. "Obviously: Garrett Hedlund Confirms He’s Returning for TRON 3". collider.com. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  25. "First photo: Is Sam Claflin hot enough to play Finnick?". Yahoo!. January 10, 2013.
  26. "Here's which actors passed on the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' lead roles". businessinsider.com. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  27. "Garrett Hedlund in Unbroken: Neal Cassady's Letter to Jack Kerouac". Huffingtonpost. December 15, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  28. Garrett Hedlund Reveals How He Began Dating Kirsten Dunst
  29. "Garrett Hedlund Q&A". FemaleFirst.co.uk. 19 July 2011.
  30. "Garrett Hedlund - Man of the Year 2011". Glamour. June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  31. "37th Saturn Award Nominations". TV Line. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  32. Louis, Virtel (May 21, 2011). "Young Hollywood Awards: Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Friday Night Lights Win Big". TV Line. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  33. Murray, Rebecca (May 22, 2011). "Olivia Wilde, Garrett Hedlund Earn Maui Film Festival Awards". About.com. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  34. "Tribute to Garrett Hedlund". Maui Film Festival. June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

External links

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