Childhood & Early Life
Max was born on August 1, 1988, in San Francisco, California, US. He has an elder identical twin brother named Charles. He has another brother, Bayard Carver.
His father, Robert Lawrence Martensen, is a renowned physician, historian, and author, apart from being a professor at ‘Harvard Medical School’ and ‘Tulane University.’
His mother, Anne Carver, is a philanthropist and community activist. He was raised by his mother. His mother later married Denis Sutro, a lawyer, vineyard owner, and public official, belonging to Napa Valley, California. She took him and his brothers with her to her new home.
He graduated from the ‘St. Paul’s Boarding School’ in Concord, New Hampshire, in 2007. He spent four years at the boarding school. There, he played various sports, such as ice hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. He also started developing an interest in humanities, acting, journalism, and graphic design.
After graduating high school, he enrolled at the ‘University of Southern California’ for his undergraduate studies. He joined the ‘Thematic Option’ academic program of the ‘University of Southern California’ that allows students to design their own academic path. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the ‘University of Southern California’ in 2012.
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Career
He and his brother, Charlie, started looking for acting jobs immediately after his arrival in Los Angeles to attend the ‘University of Southern California.’
He made his acting debut with Charlie in the hit ‘ABC’ series ‘Desperate Housewives.’ He played the role of ‘Preston Scavo’ in 40 episodes of the series, from 2008 to 2012.
In 2009, he bagged a role in the long-running American sitcom ‘The Office.’ He played ‘Eric’ in the episode ‘Gossip,’ the first episode of the sixth season of the series. In 2010, he played ‘Charlie’ in the short film ‘Cliffhanger.’
In 2010, he played the role of ‘Brad’ in an episode of the American sitcom ‘Good Luck Charlie.’ The episode, ‘Double Whammy,’ was the fourth episode of the first season of the series.
In 2012, he played the role of ‘Kevin’ in the short film ‘Haven’s Point.’ He played the character ‘Corey’ in an episode of the sitcom ‘Best Friends Forever.’ The episode, ‘Single and Lovin’ it,’ was the fourth episode of the first season of the series.
He appeared as ‘Evan Smith’ in an episode of the sitcom ‘Victorious’ in 2012. It was the twelfth and the last episode of the third season of the series.
The comedy series ‘NTSF: SD: SUV:’ featured him as ‘Thad.’
He bagged a role in the 2012 military science-fiction web series ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.’ The web series was based on the popular first-person shooter video-game series ‘Halo.’ His character, ‘Cadmon Lasky,’ was the brother of the protagonist, ‘Thomas Lasky,’ and appeared in all episodes of the series.
He had a small role in the 2013 film ‘Dean Slater: Resident Advisor,’ which featured him as an angry person. The 2013 made-for-TV film ‘The Cheating Pact’ featured him as ‘Jordan.’
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The 2014 drama film ‘Ask Me Anything,’ based on the novel ‘Undiscovered Gyrl’ by Allison Burnett, featured him as ‘Rory.’ The film was scripted and directed by Burnett himself. The 2014 comedy film ‘Mantervention’ featured him as a lifeguard.
From 2013 to 2015, he appeared in the ‘MTV’ series ‘Teen Wolf.’ The series also featured his brother, Charlie. Max portrayed ‘Aiden,’ while Charlie appeared as ‘Ethan.’ Their characters were alpha werewolves and appeared in a total of 20 episodes in the third and the fifth seasons of the series.
He played the lead role of ‘Adam Frost’ in the ‘HBO’ drama series ‘The Leftovers,’ based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name. He played the character ‘Claude’ in the 2014 TV film ‘Grand Theft Auto: Give Me Liberty.’
The drama series ‘The Following’ featured him as ‘Reggie.’
The sitcom ‘Filthy Preppy Teen$,’ made for ‘Fullscreen,’ featured him as ‘Chaad Bishop.’ He appeared in all eight episodes of the series. He also made a guest appearance as himself on the reality TV show ‘Cupcake Wars.’
In 2016, he appeared in two music videos. He appeared as ‘Thomas’ in the music video of the song ‘Rough Sweat’ by the rock band ‘White China Gold.’ He also appeared as himself in the music video of the song ‘Where’s the Love?’ by the popular band ‘The Black Eyed Peas.’
In May 2016, an announcement stated that he and his brother would be starring in the ‘MTV’ crime drama ‘Blooms.’ The identical twins were supposed to play the leading duo and also work as executive producers of the show.
The 2017 comedy movie ‘Fist Fight’ featured him as ‘Daniel.’ He appeared as ‘Snout’ in the 2017 movie ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
In 2017, he wrote and produced a 16-minute short animation film named ‘Simularity.’ The film narrated the tale of an artificially intelligent laptop going through an existential crisis after being advised by her therapist to abandon her idea of mothering a human baby.
