Josh Duhamel
Josh Duhamel is an American actor recognized for his diverse roles across television and film. He gained early fame on the ABC soap opera "All My Children," where he portrayed Leo du Pres from 1999 to 2002, earning a Daytime Emmy Award. Duhamel further solidified his career with his role as Danny McCoy on the NBC drama "Las Vegas" from 2003 to 2008. His breakout role in the film franchise "Transformers" (2007-2017) as Captain William Lenox helped catapult him to international recognition.
Duhamel's filmography includes various genres, from romantic comedies like "Life As We Know It" (2010) to dramatic roles in "Love, Simon" (2018) and the recent "Bandit" (2022). He has also ventured into directing, with projects like "Buddy Games" (2019) and its sequel in 2023. On a personal note, Duhamel was previously married to singer Fergie, with whom he shares a son, and he married model Audra Mari in 2022. With a career spanning over two decades, Duhamel is admired for his versatility and appeal across multiple demographics.
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Josh Duhamel
Actor
- Born: November 14, 1972
- Place of Birth: Minot, North Dakota
Contribution: Josh Duhamel is an actor best known for his work on the ABC soap opera All My Children and the NBC drama Las Vegas, as well as his role in the hit action movies Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), and Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). He portrayed the infamous robber Gilbert Galvan Jr. in Bandit (2022).
Background
Joshua David Duhamel was born on November 14, 1972, in Minot, North Dakota. His mother was a teacher and his father was a salesman. When Duhamel was in fourth grade, his parents divorced, and he spent most of his time with his mother and three sisters.
Duhamel was an athlete in high school, playing football and baseball. He continued to play football at Minot State University and hoped to become a professional football player, but when told by a coach that he was not good enough, he studied biology instead, intending to become a dentist. He did not graduate from college, however, leaving Minot State University two credits shy of a degree.
Duhamel left for California in 1997. The same year, in New York, he won the title Male Model of the Year in an International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) competition, beating out future actor Ashton Kutcher. Shortly after, he was signed by an agent and began taking acting classes. He appeared in several music videos in 1998 and 1999, notably Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle.”
Career
In December 1999, Duhamel began appearing as Leo du Pres on the ABC soap operaAll My Children, a role that he played until 2002. Duhamel was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for best supporting actor in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and won the honor in 2002. He was also nominated, along with Rebecca Budig, for the 2002 Daytime Emmy Special Fan Award for America’s favorite couple. Duhamel reprised his role as du Pres for two episodes in 2011.
Duhamel was then cast as Danny McCoy on the 2003 prime-time National Broadcasting Company (NBC) drama Las Vegas. He continued to play McCoy until the series ended in 2008 and guest starred as the same character three times in Crossing Jordan, another NBC drama that often crossed over with Las Vegas.
In 2004, Duhamel made his American movie debut playing the title role in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! with Kate Bosworth and Topher Grace. Though the movie did not do well at the box office, his performance stood up to those of Bosworth and Grace and piqued the interest of Hollywood producers. In 2006, Duhamel starred in the thriller Turistas as a tourist in Brazil who is targeted by organ harvesters.
Duhamel next appeared as Captain William Lenox in the summer blockbuster hit Transformers (2007). He reprised the role for the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), and again in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) as well as Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). The role earned Duhamel widespread recognition. He also took on a dramatic lead role in The Romantics (2010), opposite Katie Holmes and Anna Paquin, and starred with Katherine Heigl in Life As We Know It (2010), about a pair of incompatible people who together must raise their best friends’ daughter.
Also in 2010, Duhamel played Hobart Kemp in Ramona and Beezus, a film adaptation of the Beverly Cleary book series for children. Duhamel stated that he enjoyed this role particularly because he recalled his own difficult transition when his parents divorced. Thanks in part to this role and partly to the popularity of the Transformers film franchise with younger audiences, Duhamel was invited to host the Kids’ Choice Awards in March 2013.
In 2013, Duhamel starred in the romance Safe Haven, an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s 2010 novel of the same name, and the DirecTV thriller Scenic Route, about two friends stranded in the desert. He also appeared in a James Gunn–directed segment of the anthology film Movie 43. Continuing to appear both in films and on television, he had roles in the comedy Don Peyote as well as the drama You're Not You in 2014 before starring in Bravetown and, along with Dean Winters, helming the short-lived CBS series Battle Creek in 2015. The latter, which centered on a detective and an FBI agent working together in a Michigan town, was canceled after its first season. In 2016, he played a recurring character in the Hulu miniseries 11.22.63 in addition to sharing the screen with Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins for the crime drama Misconduct.
Remaining in demand in Hollywood, Duhamel obtained parts in a number of films between 2017 and 2019. After appearing in the thrillers The Institute and The Show in 2017, he had a significant role as the father of a gay teen in Love, Simon (2018). In addition to his portrayal of a detective in the first season of the true-crime anthology series Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. in 2018, he went on to star in and direct the comedy Buddy Games in 2019.
Duhamel starred in Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez in 2022. During the same year, he played a defense attorney in the limited NBC series The Thing about Pam with Renée Zellweger and starred in the film Bandit, portraying Gilbert Galvan Jr., otherwise known as the "Flying Bandit." Galvan held the record for the most consecutive robberies in Canadian history. As he continued to land parts, 2023 saw Duhamel have a leading role in the sequel Buddy Games: Spring Awakening, which he also directed, while 2024 saw him star in the action-comedy London Calling.
Impact
Duhamel is a versatile actor who is respected for his work in a range of genres and projects. His work in movies that appeal to young people has garnered him an exceptional number of nominations for Fox’s Teen Choice and Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards. In 2011, he won the humorous Kids’ Choice 2011 Arm Fart Award, complete with induction into the Arm Fart Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
In 2004, Duhamel met the former Stacy Ann “Fergie” Ferguson when her band, the Black Eyed Peas, performed as themselves on the set of Las Vegas. The two began dating and became engaged in 2007. They were married on January 10, 2009. The couple welcomed their son, Axl, in 2013. After announcing that they were separating in 2017, Ferguson filed for divorce in 2019. Duhamel began dating model Audra Mari in the late 2010s, and they married in 2022. The couple had a son together in 2024.
Bibliography
Alamenciak, Tim. “Safe Haven Stars a Natural Fit Off-Screen.” Toronto Star. Toronto Star, 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Aug. 2013.
Bullock, Maggie. “Elle Man: Josh Duhamel.” Elle. Hearst Communications, 16 Aug. 2010. Web. 7 Aug. 2013.
Duhamel, Josh. “Chat with Josh Duhamel.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 2011. Web. 2 Aug 2013.
Duhamel, Josh. “Josh Duhamel Isn’t As Cool As He Looks.” Interview by Brittany Burke. Redbook. Hearst Communications, 2011. Web. 2 Aug 2013.
"Josh Duhamel." IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0241049/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Michaud, Sarah. “Fergie and Josh Duhamel Are Expecting.” People. Time, 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Aug. 2013.
Pearlman, Cindy. “For Josh Duhamel and Fergie, It’s Always Valentine’s Day.” Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Aug. 2013.
Sweeney, Katie. "Josh Duhamel Is a Bro with Soul." Haute Living, 5 May 2017, hauteliving.com/2017/05/josh-duhamel-interview-2017/634877/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Weitzman, Elizabeth. "'Bandit' Review: Josh Duhamel Steals the Show as a Legendary Canadian Bank Robber." The Wrap, 20 Sept. 2022, www.thewrap.com/bandit-review-josh-duhamel-elisha-cuthbert-nestor-carbonell/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.