Hollywood wrote him off as the frat-party guy, and he quietly built an $18.8 million real estate portfolio.
At a glance
- Known for
- Steve Stifler in the *American Pie* franchise
- Before fame
- Sold churros at the Los Angeles Zoo between auditions
- Off-screen
- Lost his father and five family members in a two-year span
Rise to Fame
Selling churros at the Los Angeles Zoo isn't the typical launchpad for a movie career, but that's where he was working when American Pie came along in 1999. He got $8,000 for Stifler, a supporting role in what was supposed to be an ensemble comedy. The film grossed $235 million. Stifler became the character everyone quoted.
The problem with playing the funniest guy in the room is that nobody lets you play anything else. He rode the wave through Dude, Where's My Car?, Road Trip, and three American Pie sequels, but the typecasting was already locked in. By American Reunion in 2012, he'd negotiated $5 million plus first-dollar gross for the same role he'd originally done for the price of a used car.
In the Spotlight
Two cancelled TV shows (Lethal Weapon, Welcome to Flatch) should've been the final act. Instead, ABC's Shifting Gears premiered in early 2025 and pulled nearly 17 million multi-platform viewers, the network's strongest series debut since The Conners. His per-episode salary jumped from $95,000 to $225,000 for season two, the kind of raise you get when you're the reason a show works.
Divorce filings told the rest of the story. Court documents revealed $110,000 in monthly income, $12.3 million in stocks, and $18.8 million in real estate, including a Malibu property he bought for under $4 million in 2004 and listed for $17.85 million. The frat-party guy turned out to be the one who was actually reading the investment brochures.
Side Notes
The youngest of seven kids from a factory worker's family in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, he played varsity football and basketball before anyone in Hollywood knew his name. His father died of bone cancer in January 2007, and five more family members followed within two years. None of it made the tabloids. He checked into a treatment facility in 2011 for 30 days.
He's said Tim Allen reminds him of his late father, and his brother agreed. For a guy who built a career on being the loudest person in any room, his actual life has been remarkably quiet. He kept his relationship with his ex-wife secret until weeks before the wedding.