Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. was born on March 8, 1976 in Los Angeles, California. Of Puerto Rican and Irish descent, he is the son of actor Freddie Prinze, who committed suicide in 1977. He began auditioning for acting roles after graduating from the La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico; he made his acting debut as a guest on the comedy series Family Matters, and shot his first film, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, in 1996.
Prinze became known for his string of teen-oriented movies, such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (and its sequel) and She’s All That, which was his first leading role. His popularity among younger viewers led People magazine to name him as part of their Most Beautiful People in the World list in 2000. While his films were relatively successful at the box office, most of his other roles, in films such as Wing Commander, Summer Catch and Down To You, were panned by critics.
Prinze’s career made a resurgence of sorts in 2002’s Scooby-Doo, a film adaptation of the popular classic cartoon series; he would reprise his role as Fred Jones in the 2004 sequel. In 2005, he was given the lead role in the short-lived sitcom Freddie, which was partly based on his life. After a few other television roles, including a writing role on WWE Friday Night SmackDown, he joined the cast of the eighth season of 24, appearing as CTU field ops head Cole Ortiz.
Prinze is married to actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, who he first worked with on I Know What You Did Last Summer. They were engaged in 2001, and tied the knot a year later.
"I will be the best father you've ever seen. I will win father of the year everytime. And Sarah will be the most fantastic mother."
"Life is not about making dough or how many movies you can make in a year. It's about finding someone that you can share things with."
"I was an untouchable. People just stayed away, which was good because I didn't like what they stood for or believed in. I was raised to believe in myself. I know I'm cool. I'm not trying to brag or say I'm the man or anything like that. I don't lie or cheat, and I'm not mean to anybody. I treat people with respect."