Bret Harrison

About

Biography

Filmography

Biography

Born in Portland, OR on April 6, 1982, actor Bret Harrison had a thirst for performing from a very young age. An active child, Harrison trained as a dancer while participating in typical activities, like playing soccer and baseball, and being a Cub Scout. He performed in school plays throughout grammar and high school, before joining a community theater where he performed in productions of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and Tim Blake Nelson's "Eye of God." With the encouragement of drama coach and mentor, Sandra Peabody, as well as his parents, Harrison moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career despite still being a senior in high school. He did, however, finish his courses through correspondence and returned in June 2000 to graduate with the rest of his class. Within a month of his return to Los Angeles, Harrison landed his first major role on a television series, playing the bright, but socially inept neighbor of a working-class Irish Catholic family in "Grounded for Life" (Fox/WB, 2000-05).

Harrison stayed with the show for all five seasons while making guest starring appearances on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ), "That '70s Show" (Fox, 1998-2006), "Boston Public" (Fox, 2000-04) and "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07). In 2002, he made his feature film debut with a small role in "Orange County," then played a high school student struggling with his girlfriend (Lizzy Caplan) over the decision to have sex while under the thumb of their school's abstinence pledge in "Everybody's Doing It" (MTV, 2002-03). After starring in the straight-to-video rural drama, "Lightning Bug" (2004), Harrison returned to regular series television with the critically lauded, but sadly short-lived sitcom, "The Loop" (Fox, 2005-07). Harrison starred as a recent college grad who finds work with a major airline in Chicago and becomes the first in his family to take on a real job. Despite "The Loop" being canceled after its second season, Harrison bounced right back with his next series, "Reaper" (CW, 2007-09), in which he was a young slacker who learns that his parents pledged his soul to the Devil, obligating him to retrieve souls that have escaped from Hell.