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Who is Justin Bruening?
He gained fame playing Mike Traceur in the adventure mystery thriller “Knight Rider”, a sequel to the eponymous 1982 television series starring David Hasselhoff – Justin Bruening resurrected this lone crime fighter, but this time he had the assistance of a young woman who helped him track down the criminals who wanted the Knight Industries Three Thousand (KITT), an artificially intelligent car that can hack any system.
Justin Bruening is an actor with nearly 40 acting credits to his name – some of his most notable roles were in the series “All My Children”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Sweet Magnolias”, while movie lovers will perhaps recognize him as Devon in “The Monster Project”.
Early life, family, and education
Born Justin Shane Bruening under the zodiac sign of Libra on 24 September 1979, in Saint Helena, Nebraska USA, he holds American nationality and comes from a family of German and English descent. He was raised by his parents about whom nothing is known, in his hometown with a then-population of 85 people. Justin hasn’t spoken about his siblings, although reportedly he has a brother.
He attended a local high school, one of just 10 students, then upon matriculating in 1987, he moved to San Diego, California where he was discovered by a talent agent, Sue Nessel, who worked for Scott Copeland International. Soon after, Justin began modeling for American lifestyle retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, but Justin was encouraged by Copeland’s agency to study acting, and subsequently pursued his acting career.
Roles in series
Justin made his acting debut playing Jamie Martin in the family comedy “All My Children”, also starring David Canary, Michael E. Knight and Susan Lucci. From 2003 to 2011 Justin was seen in 172 episodes of this series, which followed the story of Erica Kane and her numerous husbands. His performance in the show earned Justin the 2005 Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer.
Concurrently, he was seen as Jamie Martin in less than 10 episodes of the series “One Life to Live” during 2004 and 2005, and guest-starred in “3 lbs.” (2006), “Cold Case” (2007), and “Turbo Dates” (2008).
From 2008 through 2009 Justin played one of his most notable roles, as Mike Traceur in “Knight Rider”, also starring Paul Campbell and Deanna Russo. The show had two nominations and was well-rated by the audience, with many commenting that Justin’s performance was an icon reborn of the legendary crime fighter.
Justin was next cast to play Tyler Barrett in the series “Ringer” (2011-2012), followed by his role as Chef Jeff Reycraft in the series “Switched at Birth” (2012-2013).
His next most notable role came in 2013, when he was cast to play Matthew Taylor in the world-popular romantic drama “Grey’s Anatomy”; between 2013 and 2018, Justin made an appearance in 16 episodes of the show which had 244 award nominations, and 85 wins including four Primetime Emmys
Concurrently Justin was seen guest-starring in “Hawaii Five-0” (2013), “Royal Pains” (2014), and “The Messengers” (2015). During 2016 and 2017 he had the recurring role as Kyle Dash in the crime drama “Good Behavior”, which followed the story of Letty Raines, a con artist and thief, and was nominated for the Writers Guild of America award.
Most recently, Justin made an appearance as Jed Carnal in an episode of the series “Lucifer” in 2020.
Roles in movies
Justin made his first movie appearance as Bobby in the 2006 comedy “Fat Girls”, followed with his role as Whitt Sheffield in the TV movie “Class” in 2010. In the next year, he was seen in another movie made for television, “Wonder Woman”, also starring Elizabeth Hurley, Pedro Pascal and Adrianne Palicki, which was poorly rated by the audience.
Next, Justin was seen in the TV movies “The March Sisters at Christmas” (2012), and “The Thanksgiving House” (2013). He returned to the big screen playing Devon in the 2017 horror “The Monster Project”, The plot revolves around a recovering drug addict who accepts a job with a documentary team, and aims to interview three people who claim to be real-life monsters.
In the following year, Justin starred in “He’s Out There” and “Indivisible”, which both received poor critiques.
He then focused on his roles in TV movies such as “Swept Up by Christmas”, while most recently he was seen in the 2022 romantic drama “Reindeer Gamer Homecoming”, also starring Sarah Drew. The movie followed the story of MacKenzie who after her father’s death wants to keep the town’s traditional Reindeer Games. She soon realizes that her opponent is her high school crush, and the spark between them grows.
Love life and relationships
Justin, like many other actors, has been the subject of various speculations about his romantic life. However, it’s widely known that since 5 June 2005, he’s been married to Alexa Havins. The two co-starred in the series “All My Children”, and Justin proposed to Alexa on the set.
Their first daughter, named Lexington Grace Bruening was born on 10 August 2010, their second child son Zane in 2013, while their third child was born in December 2015, however, Justin and Alexa haven’t disclosed the baby’s name and gender.
As of June 2023, the family of five lives in their residence in Los Angeles.
Age, height, and net worth
This 43 year old actor is well-known for his – according to fans – beautiful smile, short dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. Justin stands at the height of 6ft 3ins (1.9m) and weighs approximately 220lbs (100kgs); he takes care of his body by working out at the gym four times per week, to keep his athletic and muscular build, which most of his (mostly female) fans adore.
If you have wondered how rich Justin Bruening is, according to sources as of June 2023, his net worth has been estimated at over $5 million, and most of his income comes from his modeling and acting career.
