Garrett John Hedlund is an American actor and singer known for his roles in the films
Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers, Eragon, Country Strong, for his role as Patroclus
in the movie Troy, as Sam Flynn in Tron: Legacy and as Dean Moriarty in the film On the Road.
Early life Hedlund was born in Roseau, Minnesota, the
son of Kristine Anne and Robert Martin Hedlund. He has an older brother, Nathaniel, and an
older sister, Amanda. Hedlund was raised on a remote beef cattle farm near the small town
of Wannaska, Minnesota. At fourteen he moved to live with his mother in Arizona, where
he saved his waiter’s tips to pay an acting coach $60 an hour to work on speeches and
script material. Modeling gigs for LL Bean and Teen magazine followed. "Someone said
to me, 'If you want to catch a fox, you’ve got to be in the forest." In 2003 at the age
of eighteen, Hedlund moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.
Career His first film role was as Patroclus in Troy.
The film, which starred Brad Pitt, was released on May 14, 2004. He also starred as Don Billingsley
in the 2004 drama film Friday Night Lights in which Tim McGraw played his abusive father.
He starred as Jack Mercer alongside Mark Wahlberg in the action/crime film Four Brothers. He
next appeared in the film Eragon in a supporting role as Murtagh. In 2007, he starred in the
Garry Marshall-directed comedy-drama Georgia Rule, alongside Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda.
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. He also starred
in Death Sentence opposite Kevin Bacon. In 2010, he played a leading role alongside Jeff
Bridges in 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 reunited with country singer/musician Tim McGraw in the country
music drama Country Strong; which was released on January 7, 2011. 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". 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, but production
of the film is cancelled. 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. Disney stated in December 2012 that Hedlund would reprise his role of
Sam Flynn in a sequel to Tron: Legacy. He reportedly turned down the role of Finnick
in the sequel to the Hunger Games called Catching Fire.
As of November 2013, Hedlund is filming Unbroken in Australia which is being directed by Angelina
Jolie. Personal life
In 2012, Hedlund began dating his On the Road co-star, Kirsten Dunst.
Filmography
Discography
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 8, 2011 Hedlund was named Man of the Year at the Glamour Awards.
References
External links Garrett Hedlund at the Internet Movie Database
Garrett Hedlund at the TCM Movie Database Garrett Hedlund at AllMovie