Childhood & Early Years
Chris Carmack was born on December 22, 1980 as James Christopher Carmack in Washington, D.C. Apart from the fact that he has two siblings, a brother and a sister, nothing is known about his family background.
Chris spent his early years in Derwood, located just north of Rockville, Maryland. As a child, he was passionate about sports, participating in baseball, basketball, soccer and wrestling.
He became interested in music while studying at ‘Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School’. Very soon, he learned to play the guitar and saxophone, before joining a jazz band. Around this time, he also became interested in acting and joined the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts following his high school graduation.
In his sophomore year, he was spotted by modeling scout John Yannella. Chris was eventually selected by fashion photographer Bruce Weber for his Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. Very soon, he decided to abandon his studies in favor of a modeling career.
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Career
It did not take much time for Chris Carmack to become a successful model. During his modelling years in New York, he also began acting, debuting on television as Laird in the ‘Invisible Love’ episode of ‘Strangers with Candy’ (2000).
In 2001, he modeled for the Guess? Spring 2001 campaign, which was shot in Wailea, Hawaii. His other assignments were for brands like ‘Lord and Taylor’, ‘Macy's’, ‘Cosmogirl’, ‘Target’, ‘Who.A.U’, ‘Nautica’ and ‘Elle France’.
After working as a model in New York City for two years, Carmack moved to Los Angeles to focus on acting. In 2003, he appeared as himself in one episode of 'Player$'. Later in August, he was cast as Luke Ward, a lead character in ‘The O.C’.
Initially, the antagonist Luke was an integral part of the storyline but later, the character was sidelined, and the creators could not promise Chris sufficient air time in the upcoming seasons. He therefore left the production at the end of the first season, but returned as a special guest in season two.
In 2004, he debuted in films, appearing as Todd in the direct-to-video cheerleading comedy film 'Bring It On Again'. In the same year, he also appeared as Matthew Rondell in a television film called ‘The Last Ride’.
His second film ‘Candy Paint’ was released in 2005. It was followed by ‘Love Wrecked’, in which he appeared as the protagonist Jason Masters. In 2005, he also appeared in three television productions; 'Beach Girls', 'Smallville' and 'Jake in Progress'.
In 2005, Chris returned to modeling and became a model for Ezra Fitch. The recurring role of Alex Brody in 11 episodes of ‘Related’ (2005-2006) is another major work of his during this period.
He appeared in an un-credited role in the romantic comedy film ‘Just My Luck’ in 2006. In the same year, he was also seen in two theatrical productions 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane' and 'Summer and Smoke'.
In 2007, he received his second leading role when he was cast as Jed Hanson in the romantic-comedy film ‘Suburban Girl’. It was followed by ‘H20 Extreme' (2008),’ The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations’ (2009), ‘Into the Blue 2: The Reef’ (2009), ‘Alpha and Omega’ (2010), ‘Shark Night’ (2011) and ‘Dark Power’ (2012).
Apart with working in numerous films in the 2000s, Chris was also seen in many television productions, including ‘Higglytown Heroes’ (2007), ‘Desperate Housewives’ (2008), ‘CSI: NY’ (2008), ‘NCIS’ (2009) and ‘Drop Dead Diva’ (2009). All his roles in the aforementioned shows were limited to single episodes only.
In 2010, he appeared in two television films, ‘Beauty & the Briefcase’ and ‘Deadly Honeymoon’. These were followed by other television films, such as ‘Grace’ (2011), ‘A Christmas Wedding Date’ (2012) and ‘All About Christmas Eve’ (2012).
In 2013, he got his biggest break, when he was cast as Will Lexington in the ABC musical drama television series ‘Nashville’, in which he continued to appear until 2018. In the same year, he was also cast as Garth in the direct-to-video film ‘Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure’
He essayed the role of David in the musical-romance film ‘The Dust Storm’ in 2015. Currently, he is playing the role of Dr. Attucus Lincoln in the medical drama series, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.
