Brandon Sklenar

Sklenar was born and raised in New Jersey to Bruce Feakins and Francine Sklenar. His mother is of Italian and Czechoslovakian descent.

His parents divorced when he was young and he attended school in Newton, NJ and Hopatcong, NJ. He graduated from Hackettstown High School, then attended County College of Morris for one year before dropping out to move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in acting.[1]

Sklenar made his professional film debut in the 2011 film Cornered. The following year, he appeared in the television series Dating Rules from My Future Self. He then appeared in the film Chance in 2014,[2] the NBC comedy series Truth Be Told in 2015, the films Hunky Dory and Bella Donna,[3] and the television series Fall into Me in 2016, and the American-Japanese horror film Temple[4][5][6][7] and the Fox sitcom series New Girl in 2017.[8]

He was then cast as Edward Mapplethorpe in the 2018 biographical drama film Mapplethorpe, which follows the life of New York photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.[9] It screened at Tribeca Film Festival in 2018[10][11][12] where it was named a Runner-up in the U.S. Narrative Competition section.[13][14] Sklenar received positive critical acclaim from multiple media outlets for his performance in Mapplethorpe, including from Boy Culture who praised him for "[having] maximum impact in [his] psychologically charged scenes with [Matt] Smith"[15] and Screen Daily who said:

"As the brother and photographer Edward Mapplethorpe, who Robert [Mapplethorpe] forced to change his name, Brandon Sklenar is a fragile mix of awe and fear."[16]

He appeared in the 2018 biographical drama film Vice, opposite Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell. The film explores the life of politician Dick Cheney and is directed by Academy Award-winner Adam McKay. Sklenar will appear in Amir Naderi's upcoming film Magic Lantern, in addition to films The Last Room and Glass Jaw.[17] In June 2018, Sklenar was also cast in the independent drama film Indigo Valley, which is based on director Jaclyn's Bethany's short film of the same name. That same year, Sklenar was cast in a lead role in London Calling, a noir crime thriller that weaves the British gangster genre with the American western, opposite Ron Perlman, Malcolm McDowell, Nicholas Braun and Leven Rambin.[18]

Sklenar is currently filming Roland Emmerich’s Midway for Lionsgate [19] with Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, and Patrick Wilson. Sklenar will portray George H. Gay Jr., who was the sole survivor of the 30 aircrew that participated in the pivotal Battle of Midway during WW2.

Up next is a starring role in Jonesin’ - a crime caper about a country boy who, after a case of mistaken identity, gets abducted and finds himself stuck in the city (and way out of his depth) between two rival gangs.[20]

• Brandon Sklenar at IMDb