Award-winning American actor Tyler Hoechlin was born on September 11, 1987 in Corona, California. He played football as a child, starting out when he was seven. Two years later, he started his acting career, starring in the 1999 family film Family Tree. It was in 2002, however, when he was catapulted to fame when he starred in the film Road to Perdition.
Hoechlin was chosen among 2,000 aspirants to play the role of Michael Sullivan Jr., the eldest son of hitman Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks). He assists his father in stealing money from Al Capone’s (Anthony LaPaglia) crime syndicate in order to seek revenge for the murder of his brother and mother. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences, and became a huge success. For Hoechlin, this earned him two awards in 2003: a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award.
This catapulted him to the role of Michael Brewer in the drama series 7th Heaven. The only son of Marine Beau Brewer (Costas Mandylor), he arrived at the Camden’s home while his father is on duty in Iraq. His character is known for being staunchly conservative, although he ended up getting friend Sandy Jameson (Haylie Duff) pregnant.
Hoechlin hopes to pursue a professional baseball career; after playing for Arizona State University, he became an infielder for the University of California Irvine.