Luke Grimes

Grimes was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a Pentecostal pastor.[1] Grimes graduated from Dayton Christian High School in 2002. He moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Grimes has appeared in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, War Eagle, Arkansas, and Assassination of a High School President, which received a limited release in March 2009. He also appeared in the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, as Ryan Lafferty, the illegitimate son of William Walker, patriarch of the show's family. Beginning with Season 4, he became a series regular.[2]

He starred in the 2010 FX movie pilot, Outlaw Country, with Haley Bennett and Mary Steenburgen. Grimes played a cowboy named Eli Larkin.[3] The series was not picked up by FX, but the pilot aired on August 23, 2012 as a television movie. In 2012, he appeared in the Liam Neeson thriller Taken 2 as Neeson's daughter's boyfriend.[4]

Grimes also portrayed James in True Blood for six episodes during the show's sixth season, but later left the show. Reports indicated that he quit because he refused to participate in same-sex kissing or sex scenes or to play a character that was attracted to men.[5][6] Grimes's publicist claimed that he departed to pursue other opportunities.[6][7] Still, sources say writers and cast members were “baffled and angered” by the decision.[6]

Grimes played United States Navy SEAL Marc Lee, who was killed in action in 2006, in American Sniper (2014). He played Christian Grey's brother, Elliot, in the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), and its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018).[8]

Grimes played Todd Belkin in Freeheld opposite Julianne Moore, Steve Carell, Elliot Page and Michael Shannon. Peter Sollett directed this independent feature film, which is based on a true story.

Since 2018, he has starred alongside Kevin Costner in the Paramount Network drama series Yellowstone.

As of 2018, he is married to Bianca Rodrigues.

• Luke Grimes at IMDb