Garrett Hedlund

Garrett John Hedlund is an American actor, singer, and model. Born on September 3, 1984, in Roseau, Minnesota, he is known for his work in feature films such as Troy, Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers, Tron: Legacy, Country Strong, On the Road, and Mudbound. In addition to acting, he has recorded music for film soundtracks and modeled for major international brands.

Hedlund was raised on a beef cattle farm near Wannaska, Minnesota, as the youngest of three children born to Kristine Anne and Robert Martin Hedlund. In the ninth grade, he moved to Arizona to live with his mother. During his school years, he participated in ice hockey, track and field, wrestling, and American football. He earned money as a waiter to pay for acting lessons with coach Jean Fowler. Six months after graduating from Horizon High School, he moved to Los Angeles in 2003, having previously modeled as a teenager for L.L. Bean and Teen magazine.

At age nineteen, Hedlund made his feature film debut playing Patroclus in the 2004 mythological epic drama Troy. That same year, he appeared as Don Billingsley in the sports drama Friday Night Lights. He subsequently co-starred in the crime drama Four Brothers (2005), played Murtagh in the fantasy film Eragon (2006)—also providing his voice and likeness for its video game adaptation—and appeared in Georgia Rule (2007) and the crime thriller Death Sentence (2007).

In 2010, Hedlund gained wider recognition starring as Sam Flynn in the science fiction action film Tron: Legacy. That year, he also co-starred in the musical drama Country Strong, recording multiple songs for its soundtrack. He was named Man of the Year at the Glamour Awards in 2011 and worked as an advertising and runway model for Prada in 2012. He received critical praise for his performance as Dean Moriarty in the 2012 feature film adaptation of On the Road.

Hedlund's subsequent film roles included Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Lullaby (2014), the historical drama Unbroken (2014), and Pan (2015), in which he portrayed James Hook and co-authored the book The Art of Pan. In 2013, he became the face of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté's fragrance La Nuit de l'Homme. His work later in the decade included Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Mudbound (2017), the HBO drama series Mosaic (2017), the short film Tocsin (2018), Burden (2018), and the Netflix action film Triple Frontier (2019).

In 2019, Hedlund recorded songs for and co-starred in the romantic drama Dirt Music. He went on to portray Harry J. Anslinger in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021), starred in the podcast Strawberry Spring (2021), and joined the main cast of the Paramount+ series Tulsa King in 2022. He released his first independent single, The Road, in 2022. His 2023 film releases include the psychological thriller The Tutor, Desperation Road, and The Marsh King's Daughter.

Hedlund plays both the guitar and the violin, having developed violin techniques with co-star Jeremy Irons while filming Eragon. He was in a relationship with actress Kirsten Dunst from 2012 to 2016. He later dated actress Emma Roberts from 2019 to 2022, with whom he has a son born in December 2020.