# Justin Bruening

Justin Bruening (born September 24, 1979) is an American actor and former fashion model. He was discovered at a McDonald's in Escondido, California, and within a week, he was shooting photos with Bruce Weber. In 2003, his acting career began when he was cast in the role of Jamie Martin on the daytime drama All My Children, earning him a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2005 for the portrayal. In 2007, Bruening was cast as Mike Traceur, the son of character Michael Knight, a new take on the original Knight Rider series. In 2011, he was cast as Tyler Berrett, a recurring role on the series Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and in 2013, he joined Ravenswood. He also played paramedic Matthew Taylor on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy in 2013 and 2018. Since 2020, he has been a part of the main cast of the series Sweet Magnolias.

## Early life

Bruening was born on September 24, 1979, in St. Helena, Nebraska. Raised in the small town (a then-population of 85), he graduated from high school with only nine classmates.

## Career

Following graduation, Bruening moved to San Diego, California. It was there that he was discovered by Sue Nessel, a talent scout for Scott Copeland International, at McDonald's in Escondido just north of San Diego. Soon afterwards, Copeland got him his first modeling job for Abercrombie & Fitch.
Following his first commercial job, Bruening was encouraged to study acting by Copeland and was noticed by All My Children casting director Judy Wilson. Bruening originally auditioned for the role of JR Chandler on All My Children, but was eventually cast in the role of James "Jamie" Martin in July 2003. For a brief time, in 2004 and 2005, Bruening also portrayed Jamie Martin on One Life to Live during a crossover storyline. During his role of Jamie, Bruening was featured as Daytime's Hottest Star in Teen People, Us Weekly, Star and J-14 magazines.
In addition to his work on soap operas, he has had a guest appearance on Hope & Faith and a small part in the film Fat Girls. He was up for the role of Superman in Superman Returns, but the part was won by Brandon Routh instead. He also appeared in the Britney Spears music video "Boys". On October 21, 2007, he appeared on CBS's Cold Case, in the episode "Thick As Thieves".
In February 2008, Bruening starred in a new rendition of the original Knight Rider series, portraying the original Knight Rider's son, Mike Traceur, for a two-hour film on NBC. David Hasselhoff had a guest role, reprising his role as Michael Knight. The film and subsequent TV series also featured KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand), a 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR, with Val Kilmer as the voice of the highly advanced robotic automobile. NBC decided after successful ratings for the film to continue the story as a series, and commissioned an official series for its debut for the 2008–2009 television season.
In 2011, Bruening began a recurring role on the CW mystery series, Ringer. In 2012, he began a recurring role on the ABC Family drama, Switched at Birth. In 2013, he had a recurring role on the ABC drama, Grey's Anatomy as Paramedic Matt. He then featured in the limited season run of the Pretty Little Liars' spin-off Ravenswood in 2013. In 2018, he was cast as 'Nash' the co-star of the Hallmark Channel film Last Vermont Christmas. In 2020, he was cast as a series regular in the Netflix show Sweet Magnolias.

## Personal life

Bruening proposed to former All My Children co-star Alexa Havins on the set of the soap opera. They were married on June 5, 2005. The two were friends first before becoming romantically involved. After Bruening left All My Children, Havins exited shortly after and the couple moved to Los Angeles. They have three children: Lexington Grace, born in 2010, Zane in 2013, and Zoe in December 2015.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Fat Girls | Bobby | Debut film |
| 2008 | Knight Rider | Mike Traceur | Television film |
| 2010 | Class | Whitt Sheffield | Television film |
| 2012 | Blue Eyed Butcher | Jeff Wright | Television film |
| 2013 | The Thanksgiving House | Everett Mather | Television film |
| 2017 | The Monster Project | Devon | Film |
| 2018 | He's Out There | Shawn | Film |
| 2018 | Indivisible | Darren Turner | Based on a true story |
| 2018 | Last Vermont Christmas | Nash | Television film (Hallmark) |
| 2020 | Swept Up By Christmas | Reed | Television film (Hallmark) |
| 2022 | Reindeer Games Homecoming | Chase Weston | Television film (Lifetime) |
| 2022 | Vanished: Searching for My Sister | Warren | Television film (Lifetime) |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003–2007, 2011 | All My Children | James Edward "Jamie" Martin | Series regular (September 8, 2003–August 22, 2007), guest star (September 21–23, 2011); 163 episodes |
| 2004–2005 | One Life to Live | Jamie Martin | Recurring role (October 20, 2004–February 21, 2005); 8 episodes |
| 2004 | Hope & Faith | Jake | Episodes: "Hold the Phone" & "Do I Look Frat In This?" |
| 2006 | 3 lbs | Personal trainer | Episode: "The Cutting Edge" |
| 2007 | Cold Case | Spencer Mason | Episode: "Thick as Thieves" |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Craig Abbott | Episode: "My Nanny" |
| 2008–2009 | Knight Rider | Mike Traceur | Lead role |
| 2011 | Wonder Woman | Steve Trevor | "Pilot" (Never aired) |
| 2011 | Castle | Rod Tredwyck | Episode: "The Dead Pool" |
| 2011 | State of Georgia | Brad | Episode: "Flavor of the Week" |
| 2011 | CSI: NY | Hank Frazier | Episode: "Air Apparent" |
| 2011–2012 | Ringer | Tyler Barrett | 9 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | Switched at Birth | Chef Jeff Reycraft | 9 episodes |
| 2013, 2018 | Grey's Anatomy | Paramedic Matthew Taylor | 16 episodes |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | Lt. Commander William "Billy" Harrington | 5 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Ravenswood | Benjamin Price | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | Royal Pains | Chase | Episode: "A Bigger Boat" |
| 2015 | CSI: Cyber | Evan Wescott | Episode: "The Evil Twin" |
| 2015 | The Messengers | Leo Travers | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Blood & Oil | Richard Ford | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2016–2017 | Good Behavior | Kyle Dash | 5 episodes |
| 2020–present | Sweet Magnolias | Cal Maddox | Main role |
| 2020 | Lucifer | DJ Karnal (Jed) | Episode: "BlueBallz" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
| 2005 | Soap Opera Digest Award | Outstanding Male Newcomer | All My Children | Won | |