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Neal Bledsoe

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Neal Bledsoe
Born (1981-03-26) March 26, 1981 (age 44)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationUniversity of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, filmmaker
Years active2005–present

Neal Bledsoe (born March 26, 1981) is a Canadian-American actor, writer, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his acting work on Broadway, and on screens both large and small, Bledsoe has built a career spanning theater, film, television, filmmaking, art, poetry, short stories and journalism. He was once even an Old Spice Man.

Early life

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Bledsoe was born in Toronto, but moved as a baby back to his family's hometown of Seattle, Washington where he grew up. He attended Roosevelt High School (Seattle) and Garfield High School (Seattle) in Seattle, Ascent within the CEDU system of schools, before finally graduating from the Shawnigan Lake School and then spending a post-graduate year at the Idyllwild Arts Academy,[1] to grow as an actor and a writer. It was at the last of these two schools where he began to first publish his short stories and poems.

In college, he was accepted to the North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with their world-class faculty was mentored under the renowned theater director, Gerald Freedman, earning a BFA in 2005.[2]

Career

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Actor

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Bledsoe got a quick start out of school, booking a pilot opposite Kelly Lynch. He worked steadily for the next few years, until he had his breakthrough in 2009 first on Gossip Girl and then on Ugly Betty as, Tyler, the long lost son of Judith Light.

He then went on to star on the shows Law and Order: SVU, Smash, Ironside, The Man in the High Castle, with Rufus Sewell, The Mysteries of Laura as the long-time love interest of Debra Messing, Timeless, Code Black , Shameless opposite Emmy Rossum, among many others.

He has won several awards for his work in independent films such as Junction, West End and After the Sun Fell. He also has appeared in both Revolutionary Road and Sex and the City 2. He starred opposite Val Kilmer in the western A Soldier's Revenge. He will next be seen in Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming Netflix film A House of Dynamite (2025), as the husband of Rebecca Ferguson.

On the stage, he worked on the Broadway production of Impressionism, the world premiere of Stephen Wadsworth's Figaro Plays at the McCarter Theatre and Michael Arden's award-winning production of The Pride at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.[3] Most recently, he appeared on Broadway opposite Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in Othello (2025), where he played the Duke of Venice and was the understudy for Gyllenhaal's Iago.

He appeared in several campaigns for Tiffany and Co, opposite Dutch model, Doutzen Kroes[4] and for Old Spice.[5]

In December 2022, Bledsoe announced that he was leaving the Great American Family network because of their anti-LGBTQ stance.[6] Bledsoe stated, "the thought that my work could be used to deliberately discriminate against anyone horrifies and infuriates me."[7]

Writer

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As a writer, he has written films, poems, short stories, cartoons, essays and articles. In 2014, he became a contributor to Sports Illustrated's MMQB. His 2016 long-form series, The Delicate Moron, chronicled his attempt to play for the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League.[8] He's also written for Men's Health magazine on former NFL running back and Ballers writer, Rashard Mendenhall [9] and Variety.[10]

Filmmaker

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In 2015, he received a commission to write and direct and star in the short film Primary. The film examines the subject of open relationships and was heavily influenced by the work of John Cassavetes, Esther Perel and Helen Fisher, as well as months of extensive interviews with a diverse range of people from across the relationship spectrum.[11]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Ridge Noah Direct-to-video
2008 Revolutionary Road Party guest
2009 Winked Out Satan Short film
2009 Under New Management FBI agent #1
2010 Sex and the City 2 Kevin
2011 The Walken Dead The Walkens Short film
2011 Highrise Rory Short film
2011 A Kiss for Jed Jed Wood
2012 Junction Donald
2013 You There? Lance Short film
2013 West End Vic Trevi
2013 Amateurs Brad
2014 Grand Street Hewitt Devoe
2016 The Morning the Sun Fell Down Brandon
2017 Police State John
2017 Primary Mike Short film
2018 The Labyrinth & The Long Road The client
2020 A Soldier's Revenge Frank
2022 Susie Searches Brady Wren
2025 A House of Dynamite Ben Walker

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Guiding Light Quinn 2 episodes
2007 CSI: NY Sam Friar Episode: "...Comes Around"
2007 Six Degrees Roger Episode: "Objects in the Mirror"
2007 As the World Turns Gary Bradshaw 3 episodes
2008 Lipstick Jungle Leading man Episode: "Pilot"
2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Kevyn Episode: "Please Note We Are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation from Henry Kissinger"
2009 The Beautiful Life: TBL Dmitiri Kane Episode: "The Beautiful Aftermath"
2009 Gossip Girl Josh Elis Episode: "Enough About Eve"
2009–2010 Ugly Betty Tyler Meade-Hartley 7 episodes
2010–2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit CSU Clifton Montgomery 3 episodes
2011 Body of Proof Stephen Burnett Episode: "Society Hill"
2011 Blue Bloods Cassidy Episode: "Silver Star"
2012 Smash John Goodwin 7 episodes
2013 Ironside Teddy Main role
2015–2016 The Mysteries of Laura Tony Abbott 11 episodes
2015 The Man in the High Castle Captain Connolly 4 episodes
2016 Timeless Robert Todd Lincoln Episode: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
2016 Code Black Paul Wentworth Episode: "1.0 Bodies"
2017 The Last Tycoon Axel Episode: "A Brady-American Christmas"
2017 Coming Home for Christmas Robert Marley Television film (Hallmark)
2018–2019 Shameless Max Whitford 4 episodes
2019–2020 NCIS: New Orleans Man in the red suit 3 episodes
2020 Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Greg Vaughn Episode: "Requiem"
2020 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Wilfred "Freddy" Malick 2 episodes
2020 The Christmas Carousel Prince Whitaker Television film (Hallmark)
2021 Younger Vince Episode: "The Last Unicorn"
2022 The Winter Palace[12] Prince Henry of Concordia Television film (GAC Family)
2022 The Blacklist Maverick Sawyer Episode: "Genuine Models Inc. (No. 176)"
2022 Christmas at the Drive-In Television film (GAC Family)

References

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  1. ^ "Neal Bledsoe – Alumni of Idyllwild Arts". Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  2. ^ Journal, Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem (2 December 2011). "Gerald Freedman to step down as drama dean at UNCSA". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Vankin, Deborah (14 June 2017). "Neal Bledsoe on the love triangle of 'The Pride' and finding home onstage — and in downtown L.A." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  4. ^ Melody (2010-11-25). "Magically yours, Tiffany & Co". ♡ Pretty Fashion Forward. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  5. ^ "Old Spice keeping Danger Zone pitchman Neal Bledsoe abroad (for now?)". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  6. ^ Stephanie Wenger (5 Dec 2022). "Neal Bledsoe Exits Great American Family in Support of LGBTQ Community After Candace Cameron Bure Drama".
  7. ^ Nolfi, Joey (6 December 2022). "Neal Bledsoe leaves Candace Cameron Bure's Great American Family over 'hurtful, wrong' LGBT exclusion". Entertainment. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Articles by Neal Bledsoe". 25 December 2018.
  9. ^ Bledsoe, Neal (2018-09-06). "What Happens to NFL Stars When They Retire at 26?". Men's Health. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  10. ^ "Inside the Self-Tape Audition Controversy: The Pros, Cons and Costs for Actors". 18 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Primary". MONROWE Magazine. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  12. ^ The Winter Palace
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