Childhood & Early Life
Scott was born Scott Kellerman Foley, on July 15, 1972, in Kansas City, to Connie and Hugh Foley. His father was an international banker. Scott is the eldest of the three children of his parents. He is of English, Irish, German, and Scottish descent. One of his brothers, Sean, is an actor.
While growing up, Scott and his family had lived in Japan and Australia for a few years. At the age of 15, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. He attended 'Ladue Horton Watkins High School' and then joined 'Clayton High School.' He did not want to study further and thus never applied for college.
Scott was quite young when his mother died of ovarian cancer. The death drew him apart from his father.
Scott worked at 'Mrs. Fields Cookies.' He had no money back then and had to live off the leftover cookies at his workplace.
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Career
Scott made his acting debut with a brief appearance as ‘Zack’ in the 1995 comedy–drama series 'Sweet Valley High.' Following this, he was seen as ‘Matt’ in the 1997 TV movie 'Crowned and Dangerous.' He briefly appeared as ‘Jeremy Beck’ in the 'ABC' sitcom 'Step by Step.'
Scott had a brief, recurring role in the teen drama 'Dawson's Creek.' His character, ‘Cliff Elliot,’ a student with a crush on ‘Jen Lindley,’ played by Michelle Williams, appeared in the first season of the series. From 1998 to 2002, Scott portrayed the character ‘Noel Crane’ in the drama series 'Felicity.' However, he was initially cast as ‘Ben Covington.’ Later, the makers found him more appropriate for the character ‘Noel.’ Following this, Scott Speedman played ‘Ben.’ Scott did a remarkable job as ‘Noel,’ a sophomore real-estate advisor of the title character, played by Keri Russell. He also directed an episode of the series, titled 'The Graduate.'
Scott was offered a place in the regular cast of the teen sitcom 'Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane,' but he refused because of 'Felicity’s' tight schedule. He then ended up making guest appearances as ‘Montana Kennedy’ in two episodes of the show.
In 2000, Scott made his big-screen debut with the slasher film 'Scream 3.' He played the negative character ‘Roman Bridger.’ The performance earned Scott his first nomination for a 'Teen Choice Award.' His next film was the drama 'Stealing Time,' in which he played ‘Casey Shepard,’ a coach for a girls' soccer team.
Scott was cast as a submarine officer, ‘Lieutenant Steven Coors,’ in the 2002 World War II horror film 'Below.' The same year, he began his stint of 12 episodes in the 'NBC' medical comedy–drama 'Scrubs,' in which he essayed the character ‘Sean Kelly,’ a handsome and charming animal trainer at 'SeaWorld.'
Meanwhile, Scott began working in the 'NBC' sitcom 'A.U.S.A.' The series featured him as one of the main characters, ‘Adam Sullivan,’ a federal prosecutor (an Assistant United States Attorney) in New York City, struggling to balance his personal and professional life. Scott also produced eight episodes of the sitcom.
Scott also ventured into the theater circuit. He enacted the character ‘Denis McClear’ in the play 'The Violet Hour.' One of Scott’s most notable stage credits was the role of ‘Peter Trofimov’ in 'The Cherry Orchard,' the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.
In 2004, Scott directed an episode of the comedy–drama 'Monk,' titled ‘Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month.’ His next prominent TV project was the 'CBS' action–drama 'The Unit' that revolved around an incognito military unit quite similar to the real ‘US Army’ special operations unit known as 'Delta Force.' From 2006 to 2009, Scott portrayed ‘Sergeant First Class Bob Brown.’ The character’s call code was "Cool Breeze."
Following this, Scott was seen as FBI agent ‘Sean Daley’ in the 2009 4-hour Canadian miniseries 'The Last Templar.' Based on a 2005 novel, the series was about Sean and his partner’s adventurous search for the secret of the 'Knights Templar,' a former Catholic military order.
The same year, Scott was seen as ‘Jeff,’ a businessman, in the 'ABC' (later 'TBS') sitcom 'Cougar Town.' His character was shown dating a divorced single mother, real-estate agent ‘Jules Cobb,’ played by Courteney Cox.
Scott’s next recurring role was that of ‘Henry Burton’ in the 'ABC' medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy.' He bagged his most prominent TV role in 2013. He played ‘Jake Ballard,’ the director of the NSA, in 100 episodes of the political thriller 'Scandal.' Scott’s character had a romantic angle with ‘Olivia Pope,’ played by Kerry Washington. He directed three episodes of the series, which were aired in 2016 and 2017. Scott debuted on the show as a guest star but was later made a regular.
The 2014 black comedy 'Let's Kill Ward's Wife' was Scott’s first feature-length film as a writer and a director. He also starred in the film as ‘Tom Bradford,’ a reporter. Most of the cast members of the film were related to each other in real life. For instance, the cast included Scott’s wife, Marika Domińczyk; his sister-in-law, Dagmara Domińczyk; and his brother-in-law, Patrick Wilson.
Scott currently plays the lead role of ‘FBI Special Agent Will Chase’ in the action comedy–drama series 'Whiskey Cavalier.'
Family & Personal Life
Scott married his 'Felicity' co-star Jennifer Garner on October 19, 2000. She had appeared on the show as ‘Noel’s long-distance girlfriend. Scott and Jennifer separated in March 2003 and got divorced in May 2003. In one of her interviews, Jennifer revealed that she was never recognized as Scott’s wife. People often mistook her as his manager and would hand out business cards to her.
In 2006, Scott became engaged to Polish-born actor Marika Dominczyk and eventually got married to her in June 2007 in a private ceremony in Hawaii. They have a daughter named Malina, born in November 2009, and two sons, Keller Aleksander, born on April 17, 2012, and Konrad, born on November 13, 2014.
Since Scott has lived in Tokyo for a few years, and he speaks fluent Japanese.
