Since 2016, Polaha has appeared in numerous Hallmark movies and a seven-part series of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries films titled Mystery 101,[4] saying "as an actor, I am leaning into Hallmark because it's fun to sit with my seven-year-old and show him what I do for a living. These are family-friendly movies. I'm leaning in because my 91-year-old Nana finally thinks I've made it in Hollywood because I'm on Hallmark."[5]
Early life
Polaha was born in Reno, Nevada to Esther and Jerome Polaha.[6] Polaha family has Czech roots.[7] His father was a Washoe District Court Judge.[8] Polaha is the youngest of four brothers.[9] He left Reno in the early 1990s to attend Robert Louis Stevenson boarding school in Pebble Beach, California.[8] In 1999, he graduated from New York University Tisch School Of the Arts, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Arts.[10] He moved to Los Angeles on July 4, 2001.[1]
In 2004, he won the lead role of Jason Matthews on the prime-time soap opera North Shore. The series centered on the staff and guests of the fictional Grand Waimea Hotel and Resort. North Shore concluded in January 2005 after a 21-episode, single-season run. Polaha and his family lived in Hawaii for a year and their son was born there.[11] In 2007, Polaha took the role of Carlton Hanson on drama television series Mad Men.[12] In 2008, Polaha starred on the series Miss Guided[13] and appeared in the biographical film Billy: The Early Years (2008). In 2009, he appeared in several guest starring television roles, including The Ex List, Dollhouse, Without a Trace and Better Off Ted. In 2010, he began portraying Nate Bazile, a bar owner who discovers he has a teenage daughter Lux Cassidy (Britt Robertson), on the teen drama series Life Unexpected.[14][15][16] The series garnered mostly positive feedback during its two seasons, with many reviews favorably comparing the show to the critically acclaimed series Gilmore Girls and Everwood.[17][18] In November 2010, Polaha signed a talent holding deal with CBS.[19] Polaha founded a production company titled Podunk Productions in 2010.[20][21] He played writer Henry Butler in The CW's thriller crime series Ringer[22] until the series conclusion in 2012.[23][24]Las Vegas Weekly gave Ringer a mixed review, saying it was "a little silly but also juicy and well-acted".[25] In 2012, he landed a guest role on the second season of MTV's teen comedy series Awkward.[26]
Polaha starred as John Galt in Atlas Shrugged: Part III,[27] which was released on September 12, 2014. He appeared in the movies Devil's Knot (2013), Back in the Day (2014), Where Hope Grows (2015) and Vineland (2016). Where Hope Grows centers on the friendship between Calvin (portrayed by Polaha), a former professional baseball player and Produce (David DeSanctis), a young man with Down syndrome.[28] The film grossed $1.2 million at the box office.[29] He had a lead role as Jodie King in the short film Frontman (2016). He earned a Jury Award for Best Actor at Seattle Shorts Film Festival for his performance in Frontman. In 2017, Polaha played Jeffrey in five episodes of the comedy-drama television series Get Shorty.
Polaha has starred in several original Hallmark Channel films, including Dater's Handbook (2016) opposite Meghan Markle,[30][31][32]Rocky Mountain Christmas (2017) opposite Lindy Booth[33] and Pearl in Paradise (2018) alongside Jill Wagner.[34][35] Especially Rocky Mountain Christmas was a success for the network. Polaha commented the film's popularity by saying: "Rocky Mountain Christmas won the night on cable. We had the highest ratings, not just the highest ratings ever in the history of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, but we won the night across all the cable channels. It was a big deal for Hallmark, and it was a big deal for us as a cast because it really did set our movie apart. It was definitely one of those special moments."[10] In 2018, he appeared in six episodes of the thriller television series Condor and starred in two films, Beneath the Leaves and Bachelor Lions.
He played detective Travis Burke in Hallmark's mystery television film series Mystery 101 (2019) opposite Jill Wagner.[36][37] The film series included seven movies and the first one aired on January 27, 2019.[38][39] Polaha portrayed Michael Truett in the Christian drama filmRun the Race (2019), released on February 22, 2019 by Roadside Attractions.[40] The film made $2.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 10th at the box office.[41] In November 2018, Polaha revealed that he will appear in the upcoming film Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).[42][43][44] Polaha had a minor but notable role as Handsome Man in the superhero film Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) directed by Patty Jenkins.[45][46][47] On July 26, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Polaha will appear in Hallmark Channel's Christmas-themed television film Double Holiday (2019) opposite Carly Pope.[48] In 2020, he had a small role as Courthouse Reporter 2 in Hulu's drama miniseriesLittle Fires Everywhere starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.[49][50][51] Polaha starred in Hallmark's original Christmas filmA Dickens of a Holiday! (2021) as Jake Dorsey, famous action star who grew up in Dickens, Ohio.
Polaha appeared as CIA officer Wyatt Huntley in the science fiction film Jurassic World Dominion (2022),[3] which was a financial success, grossing $1 billion worldwide and becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2022.[52] On November 6, 2023, he appeared on the cover of TV Guide magazine alongside actress Bethany Joy Lenz.[53] He had a lead role as Kevin Garner in the sci-fi thriller film The Shift (2023), produced by Dallas Jenkins.[54] The film follows Kevin, who finds himself in a dystopian world confronted by a stranger known as "The Benefactor" who presents him with challenges as Kevin fights to shift realities and return to the woman he loves.[55] Filmed in Birmingham, Alabama, the film was released on December 1, 2023.[54]
Books
In June 2020, Variety reported that Polaha had signed a book deal with Rosewind Books to co-author a series of romance novels with Anna Gomez.[56][57] The first in the From Kona with Love book series, titled Moments Like This, is set in Hawaii and centers on a young woman looking to find herself after losing her career and relationship.[56] It was published on February 2, 2021.[56] The second book, Where the Sun Rises, is scheduled to be released on March 29, 2022 by Vesuvian Media's Rosewind Books.[58][needs update]
Polaha plans to produce the books for film and television through his production company Podunk Productions.[56]
Polaha is a practicing Christian and spoke about how he fell away from his faith, but a death-defying experience made him believe again.[59] In 2019, when asked in an interview what he would like to be remembered for, Polaha replied: "So I'm an actor, and if an audience is going to remember me, I'd kind of like to be in the same boat as Jimmy Stewart, Tom Hanks...these guys who are really great at their craft but who've also made people feel really good on a human level. Even Audrey Hepburn was somebody who – wouldn't it be great to have these amazing successes as an actor so that aspect of your life was a given, but then the stories also include how kind they are. Just what good people they were. And I would love that to be my legacy."[60]
Polaha married actress Julianne Morris on June 7, 2003 at the Windermere Chapel in Windermere, Florida.[61][62] The couple has three sons born in 2004, 2006, and 2011.[63][64][65]
Polaha, Kristoffer & Gomez, Anna (2021). Moments Like This. Rosewind Books.
Polaha, Kristoffer & Gomez, Anna (2022). Where the Sun Rises. Rosewind Books.
Related Research Articles
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress. One of her first roles was playing Bianca Montgomery, the daughter of Erica Kane, on All My Children, from 1992 until 1993. She then gained further prominence as a child actress for her role as Claudia Salinger in the Fox television drama Party of Five (1994–2000).
Teryl Rothery is a Canadian actress of stage, television, and film. She is best known for portraying Dr. Janet Fraiser in the TV series Stargate SG-1. She co-starred as Grace Sherman in Cedar Cove, and has had major roles as Muriel in Virgin River, Jean Loring in Arrow and Celia Hudson in Nancy Drew. She has been involved in a number of television movies.
Erica Durance is a Canadian actress known for her roles as Lois Lane in the superhero television series Smallville (2004–2011) and as Dr. Alex Reid in the medical drama series Saving Hope (2012–2017). She has also appeared in films such as The Untold (2002), The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006), and Painkillers (2015).
Colin Ferguson is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer. He is known for playing Sheriff Jack Carter on the Syfy series Eureka, the Maytag Man, and Lewis on Then Came You.
Jesse Eden Metcalfe is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of John Rowland on Desperate Housewives. Metcalfe has also had notable roles on Passions and played the title role in John Tucker Must Die. He starred as Christopher Ewing in the TNT continuation of Dallas, based on the 1978 series of the same name. From 2016 to 2021, Metcalfe starred as Trace Riley in Hallmark Channel's hit series Chesapeake Shores.
Taylor Cole is an American actress and former fashion model.
Julianne Morris is an American actress.
Corey Daniel Sevier is a Canadian actor, known for his role on the Fox television series North Shore as Gabriel McKay and as Timmy Cabot in Lassie.
Cameron Arthur Mathison is a Canadian-American actor and television host. From 1997 to 2011, he played Ryan Lavery in All My Children.
Justin Bruening is an American actor and former fashion model. He was discovered at a McDonald's in Escondido, California, and within a week, he was shooting photos with Bruce Weber. In 2003, his acting career began when he was cast in the role of Jamie Martin on the daytime drama All My Children, earning him a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2005 for the portrayal. In 2007, Bruening was cast as Mike Traceur, the son of character Michael Knight, a new take on the original Knight Rider series. In 2011, he was cast as Tyler Berrett, a recurring role on The CW series Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and in 2013, he joined Ravenswood.
Carly Pope is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on The WB's drama series Popular (1999–2001), supernatural drama series The Collector (2004–2005), USA Network's legal drama series Suits (2016–2017) and The CW's Arrow (2016–2017).
Torrey Joël DeVitto is an American actress and former fashion model. Her first starring role was as Karen Kerr on the ABC Family drama series Beautiful People (2005–2006). She followed this up with recurring roles as Carrie in The CW drama series One Tree Hill (2008–2009), as Melissa Hastings in the ABC Family/Freeform mystery drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017), and as Dr. Meredith Fell in The CW fantasy drama series The Vampire Diaries (2012–2013). DeVitto went on to star as Maggie Hall in the final season of Lifetime's drama series Army Wives (2013) and as Dr. Natalie Manning in the NBC medical drama series Chicago Med (2015–2021).
Hallmark Mystery is an American digital cable and satellite television channel owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel was spun off from sister network Hallmark Channel, and airs family-oriented feature and television films along with a limited number of murder- and mystery-themed television series.
Rebecca Staab is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder.
Niall Matter is a Canadian-American actor.
Tyson Wood is a Canadian actor. He has had several roles including his role as Tim Cherry in the biographical television drama Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story and in the role of Billy Campbell in the horror film The Haunting in Connecticut.
Barbara Lee Niven is an American actress, writer, and producer, best known for her performances in Hallmark and Lifetime movies, and for television roles in Pensacola: Wings of Gold, One Life to Live, Cedar Cove, and Chesapeake Shores. Niven had the leading role in the independent film A Perfect Ending (2012). She is also a motivational speaker, media trainer and animal rights activist, and a National Ambassador for American Humane.
Erin Krakow is an American actress and producer. She appeared in the Lifetime TV series Army Wives, and stars as Elizabeth Thatcher in the Hallmark TV series When Calls the Heart.
Marcus Rosner is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of television and film projects since 2012. Some of his more notable roles include appearances in the TV shows Unreal, Arrow, Supernatural, and Once Upon a Time.
Mystery 101 is an American/Canadian series of mystery TV movies created by Robin Bernheim and Lee Goldberg. It stars Jill Wagner, Kristoffer Polaha and Robin Thomas. The series airs on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel in the United States and on the W Network in Canada. Co-lead Wagner posted in April 2022 regarding her concerns about Hallmark not talking with her about the series' status. Her concern was justified. The series was officially cancelled by the network a year later, in late April 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
