Garrett Hedlund

**Garrett Hedlund** (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor, model, and singer. His films include *Friday Night Lights* (2004), *Troy* (2004), *Four Brothers* (2005), *Eragon* (2006), *Country Strong* (2010), *Tron: Legacy* (2010), *On the Road* (2012), *Inside Llewyn Davis* (2013), *Unbroken* (2014), and *Pan* (2015).

## Early life

Hedlund was born in Roseau, Minnesota, to Kristine Anne (Yanish) and Robert Martin Hedlund. 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. Hedlund was raised on a remote beef cattle farm near the small town of Wannaska, Minnesota. In the tenth grade, he moved to live with his mother in Arizona, where he saved his tips from working as a waiter to pay for lessons with acting coach Jean Fowler, with whom he worked on speeches and script material.

## Career

As a teenager, Hedlund modeled for L.L. Bean and *Teen* magazine. In 2003, at the age of eighteen, Hedlund moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.

Pre-Tron: Legacy, Hedlund made his feature film debut as Patroclus in the mythological epic adventure war drama *Troy* with Brad Pitt. The film was released on May 14, 2004. He also co-starred as Don Billingsley in the 2004 sports drama *Friday Night Lights* with Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Britton and Tim McGraw, where McGraw played his abusive father.

He co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in the crime drama *Four Brothers* as Jack Mercer. He co-starred in the fantasy-adventure film *Eragon* as Murtagh. In 2007, he co-starred in the comedy-drama *Georgia Rule* with Lindsay Lohan, Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman, directed by Garry Marshall. The film was released May 11, 2007, was panned by critics and failed to surpass box office expectations, only making a lifetime gross of $41 million. That same year, he co-starred in the crime thriller *Death Sentence* with Kevin Bacon. In 2010, he co-starred with Jeff Bridges in the science fiction/action film *Tron: Legacy*, a sequel to the 1982 film *Tron*. The film was released on December 17, 2010.

Hedlund also co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and his *Friday Night Lights* co-star, country musician Tim McGraw in the musical drama *Country Strong*, which was released on December 22, 2010. He recorded several songs for the film including "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". Six other songs including a duet with Meester were featured on a second soundtrack titled *Country Strong: More Music from the Motion Picture*.

Post-Tron: Legacy, Hedlund was cast as Kaneda Shotaro in the live-action version of *Akira*, but production of the film was cancelled. He also co-starred as Dean Moriarty in the 2012 adventure drama *On the Road* with Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen. The film was directed by Walter Salles and based on Jack Kerouac's novel of same name. Disney stated in December 2012 that Hedlund would reprise his role of Sam Flynn in the sequel to *Tron: Legacy*.

Hedlund reportedly turned down the roles of Finnick in the sequel to the dystopian science fiction/adventure film *The Hunger Games* titled *Catching Fire* and Christian Grey in the film adaptation of E. L. James' best-selling novel *Fifty Shades of Grey*. In 2014, Hedlund co-starred in the historical drama *Unbroken* directed by Angelina Jolie.

## Filmography

Television
 2018

Video games
 2017

## Discography

 File:Garrett Hedlund Cannes 2013.jpg

*Country Strong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack*

### 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

* On June 7, 2011 Hedlund was named Man of the Year at the Glamour Awards.