Kyle Gallner

Kyle Steven Gallner (born October 22, 1986) is an American actor. He began acting in 2000, earning recognition for playing Bart Allen in the superhero series Smallville (2004–2009), Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas in the mystery drama series Veronica Mars (2005–2006), and Reed Garrett in the police drama series CSI: NY (2006–2010).

Kyle Gallner
Gallner in 2015
Born	Kyle Steven Gallner (1986-10-22) October 22, 1986 (age 38) West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Height	5’9”
Spouse	Tara Ferguson ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	2

Gallner was established as a scream king in the 2010s, starring in the horror films The Haunting in Connecticut, Jennifer's Body (both 2009), the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake (2010), Red State (2011), Scream (2022), and the Smile franchise (2022–2024). His other films include Dear White People, American Sniper (both 2014), Dinner In America (2020), The Passenger, and Strange Darling (both 2023).

Early life

Gallner was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to Larry and Mary Jane Gallner. He has three siblings: one older sister, one younger brother, and a younger sister. Gallner attended West Chester East High School. He started his career by following his sister along to one of her auditions.^[1] His father's family is Russian-Jewish immigrants^[2] At age four, Gallner underwent open-heart surgery.^[3]

Career

Gallner at WonderCon 2010

He proceeded to guest star on popular shows such as Judging Amy and Close to Home. Gallner joined the cast of Veronica Mars as Cassidy Casablancas toward the end of the show's first season, in May 2005, before becoming a season regular during the show's second season. After playing Bart Allen in the Smallville episode "Run", Gallner reprised the role on the January 18, 2007, episode "Justice"^[4] and the season eight finale. He also guest starred on Cold Case as a teenaged gunman in the episode "Rampage", and appeared in the independent film Sublime. In 2007, he guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled "Impulsive" as a high school student who accuses his teacher (played by Melissa Joan Hart) of statutory rape.^[5] He also guest starred in an episode of Bones as Jeremy Farrell, the suspected murderer of a child beauty-pageant contestant. He also played the lead role in the horror film The Haunting in Connecticut, playing a cancer patient who is tormented by evil spirits.

He appeared in the independent film Cherry, filmed on the campuses of Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University, along with several locations in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan.^[6] He plays Aaron, an Ivy-League freshman who falls for an older woman while becoming the object of affection for the woman's young daughter. Gallner played Quentin in the 2010 reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street; his character is the love interest of main character Nancy.^[7] Gallner played the brother of Aaron Paul's character in the 2012 film, Smashed. Gallner played Zach in one episode in the fourth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It was initially reported that he would be a recurring character, but his character was killed off instead.^[8] In 2013, Gallner co-founded the independent production company Minutehand Pictures along with Oliver Thompson and Bay Dariz. The trio produced the feature film Welcome to Happiness, in which Gallner portrays Woody Ward, a children's book author with a secret door in his closet.^[9] In 2014, Gallner played the role of Kurt, the antagonist to lead character Sam, in the independent film Dear White People.^[10] That same year, he acted alongside Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood's war film American Sniper.^[11]

Gallner had roles in several independent films throughout the 2010s and 2020s. He starred in the critically acclaimed comedy Dinner in America, which premiered at Sundance in 2020 and earned him praise for his performance opposite Emily Skeggs.^[12] The film struggled to find an initial audience but developed a cult following in 2024 after it gained popularity on TikTok.^[13] In 2022, he starred as Vince Schneider in the fifth Scream film, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.^[14][15][16] He also had a significant role in the commercially successful horror film Smile, for which he reprised his part for a sequel in 2024.^[17] In 2023, he led the thrillers Mother, May I?, The Passenger, and Strange Darling. For his participation in the horror genre, he has been labeled a scream king.^[18] His next film, Carolina Caroline, reunites him with Dinner in America director Adam Carter Rehmeier.^[19]

Personal life

Gallner married Tara Ferguson on December 12, 2015. They have two sons.^[20]

Filmography

Film

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Wet Hot American Summer	Bobby's buddy
2003	Finding Home	Young Dave
	Red Betsy	Charlie
2005	Red Eye	Headphone Kid's brother
2006	Danika	Kurt Merrick
2007	Sublime	Ned
2008	Gardens of the Night	Ratboy
	Red	Harold
2008	Trunk	Will
2009	The Haunting in Connecticut	Matt Campbell
	Jennifer's Body	Colin Gray
2010	Beautiful Boy	Sam Carroll
	Cherry	Aaron
	A Nightmare on Elm Street	Quentin Smith
2011	Cougars, Inc.	Sam Lowell
	Little Birds	Jesse McNamara
	Losers Take All	Brian
	Magic Valley	TJ Waggs
	Red State	Jarod
2012	Smashed	Owen Hannah
2013	Beautiful Creatures	Larkin
	CBGB	Lou Reed
	The Scissoring Part 2	Aaron Walker
2014	American Sniper	Winston
	Dear White People	Kurt
	Just Before I Go	Zeke
2015	Band of Robbers	Huck Finn
	Welcome to Happiness	Woody
2016	The Cleanse	Eric
	The Finest Hours	Andrew Fitzgerald
2017	Zen Dog	Reed / Mud
2018	Alien Code	Alex Jacobs
2019	The Cleansing Hour	Drew
2020	Dinner in America	Simon
	Ghosts of War	Tappert
	The Catch	Bobby McManus
2022	Scream	Vince Schneider
	What Comes Around	Eric
	Smile	Joel
2023	Mother, May I?[21]	Emmett
	The Passenger	Benson
	Strange Darling[22]	The Demon
2024	Smile 2	Joel	[23]
TBA	Carolina Caroline †	TBA	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Third Watch	Raleigh	Episode: "Young Men and Fire..."
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Marc Lesinski	Episode: "Juvenile"
2003	Touched by an Angel	Josh	Episode: "Virtual Reality"
2004; 2007; 2009	Smallville	Bart Allen / Impulse	Episodes: "Run", "Justice" and "Doomsday"
2004	The District	Brian Johnson	Episode: "Something Borrowed and Something Bruised"
2005	Jack & Bobby	BJ Bongaro	Episode: "Time Out of Live" and "Querida Grace"
	Judging Amy	Zachary Pettit	Episode: "The Long Run"
	Skater Boys	Sean Davis	Episode: "Sundown"
2005–2006	Veronica Mars	Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas	Main role (season 2); recurring role (season 1)
2006	Bones	Jeremy Farrell	Episode: "The Girl with the Curl"
	Close to Home	Jacob Towers	Episode: "The Good Doctor"
	Cold Case	Cameron Coulter	Episode: "Rampage"
	Four Kings	Spencer	Episode: "Upper West Side Story"
2006–2007	Big Love	Jason Embry	Recurring role (seasons 1–2)
2006–2010	CSI: NY	Reed Garrett	Recurring role (seasons 3–6)
2007	The Closer	Eric Wallace	Episode: "Homewrecker"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Shane Mills	Episode: "Impulsive"
	Medium	Young Stephen	Episode: "The Boy Next Door"
2008	Life	Zak Sutter	Episode: "Black Friday"
	The Shield	Lloyd Denton	Recurring role (season 7)
2010	Past Life	Xander	Episode: "Saint Sarah"
2012	Criminal Minds	James Heathridge	Episode: "Heathridge Manor"
	Jan	Robbie	Main role
2013	The Walking Dead	Zach	Episode: "30 Days Without an Accident"
2014	Play It Again, Dick	Himself	Main role
2016–2017	Outsiders	Hasil Farrell	Main role
2020	Interrogation	Eric Fisher	Main role

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2011	Fright Meter Awards[24]	Best Supporting Actor	Red State	Nominated
2016	Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema[25]	Best Actor – Feature	Welcome to Happiness	Nominated
		Excellence in Producing	Welcome to Happiness	Won
		Producer's Choice Award	Welcome to Happiness	Won
2021	Dublin International Film Festival[26]	Jury Prize	Dinner in America	Won
2025	Saturn Awards[27]	Best Actor	Strange Darling	Nominated

References

1. "Kyle Gallner Interview". NeptunePirates.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2005.
2. "Paid Obituaries". Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
3. "Kyle Gallner biography". Tribute.ca. Archived from the original on August 25, 2024.
4. "Ausiello on Smallville". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 27, 2006. ^{[dead link‍]}
5. "Ausiello on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Melissa Joan Hart and Kyle Gallner". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 24, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
6. "Movie mayhem invades Kalamazoo College as shooting begins for independent film Cherry". mlive.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
7. "BDTV: Video Interview with 'Elm Street' Stars Thomas Dekker, Rooney Mara, and Kyle Gallner! - Bloody Disgusting". www.bloody-disgusting.com. April 29, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
8. "'The Walking Dead' Season 4: Governor Arc Revealed, New Threat and 'Veronica Mars' Vet!". ScreenCrush. August 6, 2013. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
9. "Nick Offerman Joins Kyle Gallner, Olivia Thirlby in 'Welcome to Happiness'". June 27, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
10. "Interview with Kyle Gallner" Archived October 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. myFanbase. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
11. Sneider, Jeff (March 26, 2014). "Dear White People Star Kyle Gallner Joins Bradley Cooper in American Sniper (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
12. "Kyle Gallner". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
13. Rudi, Mariella (November 5, 2024). "For Dinner in America, a Surprise Theatrical Run Is Dessert". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
14. Kroll, Justin (September 10, 2020). "Mason Gooding And Dylan Minnette Join Ensemble Of New 'Scream' Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
15. Miska, Brad (August 28, 2020). "Relaunch of 'Scream' Slashing Into Theaters on January 14, 2022!". BloodyDisgusting. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
16. Kroll, Justin (June 24, 2020). "New Scream Movie From Spyglass Media Will Be Released by Paramount (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
17. Gonzalez, Umberto (January 11, 2024). "Rosemarie DeWitt and Kyle Gallner Round Out Untitled Smile Sequel Cast Exclusive". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
18. Van Horn, Shawn (September 1, 2024). "From Scream to Smile, Kyle Gallner Is Our Modern Scream King". Collider. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
19. Wiseman, Andreas (September 11, 2024). "Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, Kyra Sedgwick & Jon Gries Leading Romantic Crime-Thriller Carolina Caroline With Filming Underway". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
20. Kimble, Lindsay (December 13, 2015). "Veronica Mars' Kyle Gallner Marries Mother of His Children in Outdoor Wedding". People. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
21. Mother, May I? review – high-end horror put together with immense amount of style
22. Donnelly, Matt (March 26, 2024). "Fantastic Fest Horror Hit 'Strange Darling' Lands Wide Theatrical Release From New Bob Yari Venture (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
23. Squires, John (January 11, 2024). "Kyle Gallner and Rosemarie DeWitt Join the Cast of 'Smile' Sequel from Director Parker Finn". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
24. "2011 Fright Meter Award Winners". frightmeter.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
25. "Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema - Awards - IIFC 2016". Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
26. Clarke, Donald (March 15, 2021). "Pandemic movie wins top award at Dublin International Film Festival". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
27. Pedersen, Erik (February 3, 2025). "'Dune: Part Two', 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' & 'Alien: Romulus' Lead Saturn Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2025.

External links

• Kyle Gallner at IMDb
• Kyle Gallner on A Haunting in Connecticut at FEARnet