Rise to Fame
A modeling convention in Orlando was supposed to lead to catalog work. Instead it got him an agent and a one-way ticket to Hollywood at 18, after growing up in Buffalo with a single dad raising six kids on an air traffic controller's salary. He turned down Ryan Atwood on The O.C. to play Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill, which premiered on The WB in 2003. A Cinderella Story the following year grossed $70 million and made him the teen heartthrob of the mid-2000s.
In the Spotlight
He walked off One Tree Hill after Season 6 when contract talks fell apart over a pay raise. What looked like career suicide turned into a low-key second act. Sullivan's Crossing, a Canadian romantic drama, has been his steady anchor since 2023. Netflix holiday films fill the schedule, and he's reprising his role in Freakier Friday. A Netflix One Tree Hill sequel series was announced in 2024 with his involvement unconfirmed, which tells you something about where negotiations stand.
Side Notes
His mother left when he was 10. He worked as a janitor at Donut World before winning a modeling scholarship that changed his trajectory. At the peak of One Tree Hill, he battled agoraphobia and has said he nearly quit acting entirely. He married co-star Sophia Bush in 2005; it lasted about five months. He's since had three kids with actress Sarah Roemer and has said fatherhood made him more selective. He's also co-authored a graphic novel and a novel, which nobody saw coming.