John David Whalen

Whalen was born John David Woodmency Whalen in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was John Whalen, III, a veteran of the Vietnam War who died in 1989 as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. His mother, Linda Whalen, taught elementary school in the Baltimore County Public Schools school district and now owns Whalen Properties LLC.[1] Whalen's great- grandfather was Raymond Bond, an actor during the 1950s who appeared in films such as A Foreign Affair (1948)[2] and The Man From Planet X (1951).[3] Following his father's death, his mother enrolled him at the prestigious Boys' Latin School of Maryland.[4] There Whalen discovered lacrosse and acting. Later he played, and eventually served as an assistant coach, on the Navy lacrosse team prior to his commissioning in the US Navy. Whalen currently owns several businesses ranging from medical devices to lighting design to social experience venues.

2000–2005

After high school, Whalen was awarded a Presidential Appointment to the United States Naval Academy.[5] Despite his desire for an acting career, he decided to uphold his commitment to the United States and complete his degree in Oceanography at Annapolis and accepted his commission as a naval officer in May 2000. His naval career spread across the globe from San Diego to London to the Middle East. Whalen served as a Surface Warfare Officer[6] on board the USS Ogden (LPD-5)[7][8] and later transferred laterlly to the METOC community and finished his career in Monterey, California. Whalen was an engineer and Anti-Terrorist Officer on board.[6] During his tour, he was recognized as an Officer of the Deck and Command Duty Officer.[6] He completed one nine-month tour in the Middle East. His Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) was the first response deployment after September 11, 2001. During his career, Whalen was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for his service.[6] He is a Golden Shellback.[6] He resigned his commission as a lieutenant in the US Navy in March 2005.

2006–2018

In 2006, he began to perform in several plays and short films during the next few years. Later, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his career as an actor. After a short time in Los Angeles, he made his feature film debut in Casino Jack (2010) appearing opposite Kevin Spacey in which he plays real life ex-lobbyist Kevin Ring. In his first interview, Michael Sragow says "...Whalen was the ideal choice for Kevin Ring.[5] He has trained with veteran acting coach Cameron Thor. He has also begun producing projects focused on the human story, and more specifically the reemergence of the masculine and feminine archetypes. Most recently, he was a Consulting Producer on The Argument, 2011. Whalen also works in the theater community in Los Angeles. Upon first moving to Los Angeles, he accepted an acting apprenticeship following his performance in Our Town, at the Western Stage Theater, at the Theater West Theater in Studio City, CA. Whalen continues performing in plays in Los Angeles in Women are Crazy because Men are A**holes,[9] and traveling with that production to Chicago at the Mercury Theater. He appeared in the AFI film, Real Love. Whalen starred as an undercover DEA agent with a heroin addiction in the web pilot, Snitch.

Whalen portrayed astronaut John Glenn in the Damien Chazelle film First Man (2018), starring Ryan Gosling. Whalen has had a unique career disappearing into the roles and completely changing his aesthetic appearance to mimic the real life people he has portrayed. “Authenticity is very important to me. It’s always been more important to be real than to be noticed. Perhaps to my own career detriment.”