Tanner Novlan

Tanner Novlan (born 9 April 1986) is a Canadian actor and model. He is best known for playing doctor John "Finn" Finnegan on the American CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful since 2020. He has starred as "Struggling Actor" in Liberty Mutual commercials (2019, 2023, and 2025) and as Gregory Manes on The CW's Roswell, New Mexico (2020–2021).

Tanner Novlan
Novlan in 2022
Born	(1986-04-09) 9 April 1986 (age 39) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Occupations	Actor model
Years active	2009–present
Height	1.85 m ( 6 ft 1 in )
Spouse	Kayla Ewell ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	2

Early life

Tanner Novlan was born on 9 April 1986 in Edmonton, Alberta to parents Doug and Coresa Novlan and raised in Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan.^[1][2][3] His mother is from Sacramento, California.^[4] His paternal grandfather, Clem, had a close bond with Novlan, as he was his first grandchild.^[2] Novlan is the eldest of three siblings, with a younger sister and brother.^[2]

Novlan grew up on his family's farm, and at the age of twelve, he drove a $350,000 combine harvester.^[2] During his childhood, Novlan was very athletic and active in hockey, basketball and water-skiing.^[2] Upon his arrival in the United States at the age of 21, he worked for a construction company while taking acting classes.^[4]

Career

Novlan made his feature film acting debut in the 2009 direct-to-video horror film Maneater and his television acting debut in the eighth episode of Season 6 of Bones. In 2013, he was selected to take part in the ABC Discovers: Los Angeles Talent Showcase and in 2016 starred in the independent feature film Flatbush Luck, which earned him award nominations for Best Actor at that year's FilmOut San Diego and the Hoboken International Film Festival. In addition, he went on to appear in guest roles on many TV shows, most notably Parenthood, Letterkenny and Modern Family.

In 2019, Novlan ascended to prominence by assuming the role of the "Struggling Actor" in a televised advertisement produced by Liberty Mutual. This particular commercial garnered such widespread acclaim and viewership that it remained in regular circulation until the year 2022.^[5] In September 2023, a new commercial for the aforementioned insurance company featuring Novlan was unveiled.^[5] In March 2020, he was cast in the recurring role of Gregory Manes in The CW's Roswell, New Mexico, first appearing near the end of its second season. He reprised his role for the series' third season in 2021.

Entertainment Weekly exclusively reported that Novlan will stae in a Hallmark Channel television film Christmas Class Reunion, opposite Aimee Teegarden.^[6] The film premiered on 10 December 2022.^[7][8] In September 2024, Novlan was cast in his second Hallmark film, Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle, scheduled to air on November 28, 2024.^[9] Novlan portrayed Austin, the manor's caretaker and Charlotte's (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes) first love, in a story about three adult siblings returning to their childhood home to fulfill their late grandmother's wishes.^[9]

As for his modeling career, Novlan was managed by the modeling agency Vision (styled as VISION) and modeled in print campaigns for the brands Guess and Tommy Hilfiger.^[1][10]

The Bold and the Beautiful

In July 2020, Novlan began playing the contract role of Dr. John Finnegan, on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.^{[11][12][13][14][15]} It was announced that Novlan had vacated the series in April 2022.^[16][17] Novlan's departure from the role, caused a major social media firestorm and uproar in which fans and critics alike responded negatively to the show's decision to write off Finn and had begun campaigning for the actor's return to the show, with several online petitions, the use of the hashtag #SaveFinn across various social media platforms, including Twitter, and expression of their devastation in soap opera sites' publications polls.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Novlan re-appeared on screen in late May in the series, where the viewers witnessed a shocking twist, where his character Finn was revealed to be alive, which meant the actor had never exited the series.^[22] During a segment episode of The Talk, Novlan reveals that he had known about Finn's revival but was bound by contractual obligations to maintain secrecy regarding this storyline arc.^[23]

Personal life

In May 2015, Novlan became engaged to actress Kayla Ewell whom he met five years prior in 2010 on the set of the Australian band Sick Puppies's music video "Maybe."^[24][25] The couple married on 12 September 2015.^[25][26]

On 16 July 2019, Ewell gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Poppy.^[27] On 6 June 2022, Ewell gave birth to their second child, a son, Jones.^[28][29][30]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Maneater	Roger Raintree	Direct-to-video natural horror film	[31]
2010	1313: Giant Killer Bees!	Connor	Sci-FI film	[32]
2016	Flatbush Luck	Jimmy	Comedy-drama film	[1]
2017	Fallen Stars	Ben	Drama film	[1]
2018	Ice: The Movie	Grant	Sports drama film	[1]
2019	My Best Friend's Christmas	Grant Hines	Showtime television film	[33]
2022	Christmas Class Reunion	Devin Ryan	Hallmark Channel television film	[8]
2024	Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle	Austin	Hallmark Channel television film	[9]

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Bones	Paul Linoto	Episode: "The Twisted Bones in the Melted Truck"	[1]
2012	Parenthood	Jake	Episode: "Together"	[1]
2014	Rizzoli & Isles	Wayne Bowman	Episode: "Just Push Play"	[1]
2016–2017	Mohawk Girls	Midas	7 episodes	[10]
2016	Cold	J.J.	GO90 original digital series; 2 episodes	[10]
2017	Letterkenny	Zack Russell Terrier	Episode: "Great Day for Thunder Bay"	[1]
2020	Modern Family	Liam	Season 11 Episode 12: "Dead on a Rival"	[1]
2020–2021	Roswell, New Mexico	Gregory Manes	Recurring role; 9 episodes	[1]
2020–present	The Bold and the Beautiful	John "Finn" Finnegan	Series regular: July 23, 2020–present	[34][35]

Music video

Year	Title	Artist
2010	"Maybe"	Sick Puppies

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations for Tanner Novlan

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2016	FilmOut San Diego — Audience Awards	Best Actor	Flatbush Luck	Nominated	[10]
2016	Hoboken International Film Festival	Best Actor in a Feature Film	Flatbush Luck	Nominated	[36]
2021	SoapHub Awards	Favorite The Bold and the Beautiful Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[37]
2021	SoapHub Awards	Favorite Newcomer	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[37]