Josh Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for playing Danny McCoy in the American comedy-drama television series Las Vegas. A football player for his university team, Duhamel wanted to be a professional sportsman but became a movie and television star instead. He also spent time studying biology to become a dentist and tried his hand at entrepreneurship as well. He acquired a bachelor’s degree in biology to achieve his dream of becoming a dentist. But he could not get admission to study dentistry as his grades were not good enough to land him a place in any college. He did various odd jobs, such as joining a construction company, to earn a living. He was noticed by a talent scout who encouraged him to try his hand at a modeling career. He got his breakthrough when he landed an acting role in a television series while he was working as a model. Subsequently, he was cast to play roles in movies. In no time, he became very popular among television and movie audiences. He has French, Canadian, German, Norwegian, English, and Irish ancestry.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Dorian Gray | |
| 2004 | Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! | Tad Hamilton | Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Male Breakout Star Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar |
| 2006 | Turistas | Alex | Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller |
| 2007 | Transformers | Captain William Lennox | Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble (Captain Lennox vs. Blackout) |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Major William Lennox | |
| 2010 | The Romantics | Tom | |
| 2010 | When in Rome | Nick Beamon | |
| 2010 | Ramona and Beezus | Hobart | |
| 2010 | Life as We Know It | Eric Messer | Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy |
| 2011 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox | |
| 2011 | New Year’s Eve | Sam Ahern | |
| 2012 | Fire with Fire | Jeremy Coleman | Direct-to-video |
| 2012 | Planet Ocean | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2012 | Wings | Ace (voice) | |
| 2013 | Movie 43 | Anson | Segment: “Beezel” |
| 2013 | Safe Haven | Alex Wheatley | |
| 2013 | Scenic Route (aka Wrecked) | Mitchell | |
| 2014 | Wings: Sky Force Heroes | Ace (voice) | |
| 2014 | You’re Not You | Evan | |
| 2014 | Lost in the Sun | John Wheeler | |
| 2014 | Don Peyote | Transient | |
| 2015 | Bravetown | Alexander Weller | |
| 2016 | Misconduct | Ben | |
| 2016 | Spaceman | Bill “Spaceman” Lee | |
| 2017 | The Institute | Detective | |
| 2017 | The Show | Adam Rogers | |
| 2017 | CHiPs | Rick | |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last Knight | Colonel William Lennox | |
| 2018 | Love, Simon | Jack Spier | |
| 2019 | Capsized: Blood in the Water | John Lippoth | |
| 2019 | Buddy Games | Bobfather | Writer, Director, Producer |
| 2020 | The Lost Husband | James O’Connor | |
| 2020 | Think Like a Dog | Lukas Reed | |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One | Harvey Dent / Two-Face | Direct-to-video; voice role[45] |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two | Direct-to-video; voice role[46] | |
| 2021 | Night of the Animated Dead | Harry Cooper | Voice role |
| 2022 | Bandit | Gilbert Galvan/Producer | |
| 2022 | Blackout | Cain | |
| 2022 | Shotgun Wedding | Tom | Released on Amazon Prime Video |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2002; 2011 |
All My Children | Leo du Pres | Contract role Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002) Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001, 2003) Nominated — Daytime Emmy Special Fan Award: America’s Favorite Couple (shared with Rebecca Budig) Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Young Lead Actor |
| 2002 | Ed | Richard Reed | Episode: “The Shot” |
| 2003–2008 | Las Vegas | Danny McCoy | Main role, 106 episodes Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout TV Star – Male Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor – Drama/Action Adventure |
| 2004–2007 | Crossing Jordan | Danny McCoy | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | The Replacements | Himself | Voice role, 3 episodes |
| 2009–2012 | Fanboy & Chum Chum | Oz | Voice role, 52 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | Bomb Patrol Afghanistan | Narrator | Voice role, 17 episodes |
| 2012–2015 | Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Captain Flynn | Voice role, 14 episodes |
| 2015 | Battle Creek | FBI Special Agent Milton Chamberlain | Main role, 13 episodes |
| 2016 | 11.22.63 | Frank Dunning | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
| 2018 | LA to Vegas | Captain Kyle | Episode: “Two and a Half Pilots” |
| 2018 | Unsolved | Detective Greg Kading | Main role, 10 episodes |
| 2019 | Veronica Mars | Magnus | Episode: “Chino and the Man” |
| 2021 | Jupiter’s Legacy | Sheldon Sampson / The Utopian | Main role, 8 episodes |
| 2021 | Love, Victor | Jack Spier | Episode: “There’s No Gay in Team” |
| 2021–2022 | Blade Runner: Black Lotus | Marlowe | Voice role |
| 2022 | The Thing About Pam | Joel Schwartz | Main role |
| 2022 | The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers | Coach Colin Cole | Main role (Season 2) |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | High Volt | |
| 2017 | Call of Duty: WWII | Technical Sergeant William Pierson | Also motion capture |
| 2022 | The Callisto Protocol | Jacob Lee | Also motion capture |
Early Life
Joshua David Duhamel was born on November 14, 1972, in Minot, North Dakota. His parents divorced when he was in the fourth grade, with Duhamel and his three sisters remaining with their mother. Despite the split, he stayed close to both of his parents. As a child, he also had a tight-knit circle of friends, relationships that he still maintains.
Duhamel spent his high school and college years pursuing his passion for athletics. Though he was a quarterback at Minot State University, he realized a pro sports career wasn’t in the cards. He decided instead on dentistry, and majored in biology as preparation, but dropped out just short of graduation. (Ten years later, he completed his degree.)
From Modeling to Movies
After leaving college, Duhamel followed a girlfriend to northern California in 1995. A career in modeling soon began to take shape. While working as a model, Duhamel beat out another future Hollywood heartthrob, Ashton Kutcher, as male model of the year at a 1997 convention.
Following a move to Los Angeles, Duhamel began to seriously pursue acting. In 1999, he nabbed a role as the charming, yet conniving, Leo du Pres on the soap opera All My Children. The part garnered him three Daytime Emmy Award nominations, with a win as Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2003.