Luke Grimes

Luke Timothy Grimes^[2] (born January 21, 1984)^[3] is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee in the film American Sniper. He played Christian Grey's brother, Elliot, in the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), and its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018). He starred as Kayce Dutton in the Paramount Network drama series Yellowstone (2018–2024).

Luke Grimes
Grimes in 2014
Born	Luke Timothy Grimes (1984-01-21) January 21, 1984 (age 41) Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, musician
Years active	2006–present
Spouse	Bianca Rodrigues ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	1[1]

Early life

Grimes was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a Pentecostal pastor.^[4] Grimes graduated from Dayton Christian High School in 2002.^{[citation needed]} He moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Grimes has appeared in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, War Eagle, Arkansas, and Assassination of a High School President, which received a limited release in March 2009. He appeared in the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, as Ryan Lafferty, the illegitimate son of William Walker, patriarch of the show's family. Beginning with Season 4, he became a series regular.^[5]

He starred in the 2010 FX movie pilot, Outlaw Country, with Haley Bennett and Mary Steenburgen. Grimes played a cowboy named Eli Larkin.^[6] The series was not picked up by FX, but the pilot aired on August 23, 2012 as a television movie. In 2012, he appeared in the Liam Neeson thriller Taken 2 as Neeson's daughter's boyfriend.^[7]

Grimes portrayed vampire James Kent in True Blood for six episodes during the show's sixth season, but later left the show and was replaced by Nathan Parsons. Reports, confirmed by BuzzFeed,^[8] indicated that he quit because he refused to participate in same-sex kissing or sex scenes or to play a character that was attracted to men.^[9][10] Grimes's publicist stated that he departed to pursue other opportunities.^[10][11]

Grimes played United States Navy SEAL Marc Lee, who was killed in action in 2006, in American Sniper (2014). He played Christian Grey's brother, Elliot, in the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), and its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018).^[12] Grimes played Todd Belkin in Freeheld (2015). Since 2018, he has starred alongside Kevin Costner in the Paramount Network drama series Yellowstone in the role of Kayce Dutton.

Personal life

Grimes married Brazilian model Bianca Rodrigues Grimes in November 2018, and the couple had their first child, a son, in 2024.^[13] He moved with his family to the Bitterroot Valley of southwestern Montana in 2020.^[14]

Music

In January 2024, Grimes released "Burn – Live from Nashville" on Spotify.^[15]

On March 8, 2024, Grimes released his self-titled debut album, Luke Grimes.^[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	All the Boys Love Mandy Lane	Jake
2007	War Eagle, Arkansas	Enoch
2008	Assassination of a High School President	Marlon Piazza
2010	Shit Year	Harvey West
2011	The Wait	Ben
	The Light in the Night	Boy	Short film
2012	Taken 2	Jamie
2013	Stars	Evan
2014	Squatters	Michael Silverman	Direct to video
	American Sniper	Marc Lee
2015	Fifty Shades of Grey	Elliot Grey
	Shangri-La Suite	Jack Blueblood
	Freeheld	Todd Belkin
	Forever	Charlie
2016	Manhattan Undying	Max
2016	The Magnificent Seven	Teddy Q
2017	Fifty Shades Darker	Elliot Grey
	El Camino Christmas	Eric Roth
2018	Fifty Shades Freed	Elliot Grey
2019	Into the Ashes	Nick Brenner
2023	Happiness for Beginners	Jake
2025	Eddington	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009–2010	Brothers & Sisters	Ryan Lafferty	Guest (season 3) Main cast (season 4)
2012	Outlaw Country	Eli Larken	TV movie
2013	True Blood	James	6 episodes
2018–2024	Yellowstone	Kayce Dutton	Main role 2021: Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Discography

• Luke Grimes (2024)