Garrett Hedlund was born in Roseau, Minnesota, to Kristine Anne and Robert Martin Hedlund on September 3, 1984. His father is of Swedish descent and his mother is of Norwegian and German descent. He is the youngest of three children with a brother, Nathaniel and a sister, Amanda. In the tenth grade, he moved to live with his mother in Arizona and, in 2003 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.
He participated in ice skating, wrestling and football during high school and, is a huge fan of punk rock. His parents divorced when he was a young boy. He enjoys hunting and the outdoors and, ran track and field during high school. His eyes are light blue in color with muscular physique and deep resonant voice. When he was 15, he went to various punk rock shows to photograph the bands and their fashions. In 2012, Hedlund began dating his On the Road co-star Kirsten Dunst.
Hedlund made his feature film debut as Patroclus in Troy with Brad Pitt on May 14, 2004 and, in the 2004 drama film ‘Friday Night Lights’ with Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw, in which McGraw played his abusive father. In 2007, he played the role in the comedy-drama Georgia Rule. Three years later in 2010, he co-starred with Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy, a sequel to the 1982 film Tron. Next year, Hedlund also co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and Tim McGraw in the country music drama Country Strong.
He broke his arm snowboarding and could not attend the London premiere of Eragon(2006) with his fellow cast members. He gained at least 30 lbs. of muscle for the role of Patroclus in Troy (2004), then gained another 20 for the role of Don Billinsley in Friday Night Lights (2004) – only to slim back down for the role of Jack Mercer in Four Brothers (2005).
Hedlund was cast as Kaneda Shotaro in the live action version of Akira and, in the 2012 film On the Road directed by Walter Salles and was originally based on Jack Kerouac’s the novel of same name.He reportedly turned down the role of Finnick in the sequel to the Hunger Games titled Catching Fire and Christian Grey in the film adaptation of E. L. James best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey. In 2014, Hedlund co-starred in Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie. He won the Actor of the Year and, the Rising Star awards in the year 2011.
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