| Michael Evans Behling | |
| Birth Date: | 5 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Citizenship: | United States |
| Known For: | All American |
| Height: | 1.88m |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 2017–present |
| Spouse(S): | Madison Stanton (2021-2022) |
Michael Evans Behling (born March 5, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Jordan Baker on All American.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Behling was born in Columbus,Ohio and adopted by Mike and Carol Behling, but grew up in Columbus, Indiana.[1] [5] [6] He is biracial and was adopted by a white family.[1] [7] In a March 2020 YouTube video, he stated that his father is of Nigerian descent and his mother is of German descent and that his last name is German.[8] He has three siblings, Matt, Adam, and Andrea.[6] Behling's family owned ten acres of land, several dogs and cats and a chicken coop.[1] Sports were a big part of his life growing up, and Behling played baseball, soccer, and volleyball.[9] [10]
He first thought about being an actor when he was a freshman in high school and was inspired by Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight.[11] Behling attended Columbus North High School, where he played football for two years and ran track.[1] [12] [13] He was on the honor roll and graduated in 2015.[6] Behling continued to run track in college, competing in the 400-meter hurdles.[13] He stopped competing in track after breaking his foot twice, which required two surgeries.[13] He attended Indiana State University for two years as a pre-med student before dropping out to pursue modeling and acting.[1] [6] [9] [14] [15] [16] Prior to beginning his acting career, he worked as an assistant director at the Donner Aquatic Center in Columbus, Indiana.[6]
While in college, Behling began modeling, and eventually his team convinced him to audition for acting roles.[17] He did several advertising campaigns with Adidas and White Castle.[15] Behling began his career in television in 2017 with a role as "Handsome Dude" on Empire.[1] [6] In March 2018, he was cast as Jordan Baker on All American,[18] and filming for the pilot began two weeks later.[6] Behling moved to Los Angeles in January 2018 when filming began, and after his finances ran low he began sleeping on a friend's floor.[1] [6] He has said that he identifies with his character because they are both biracial and looking for the place where they fit in.[19] His role as Jordan Baker is his breakout role.[20] He is currently represented by HRI Talent and Management 101.[21]
Behling has a clothing line, DesignedAt5AM, which he started with three friends from high school (Nicholas Stevens, Drew Thompson, and Floyd Athaide).[16] [17] [22] The clothing line was inspired by his desire to start his day early to accomplish his goals and by his high school friends' early morning swim practices.[13]
Behling lives in Los Angeles.[11] [6] He actively advocates for animal rights and mental health awareness.[23]
| 2021 | Jackson Stone[24] | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2022 | The Manny | Morgan Washington | Tubi Original[25] |
| 2017 | Empire | Handsome Dude | Episode: "The Lady Doth Protest" | |
| 2018–present | All American | Jordan Baker | Main cast | |
| 2019 | Grey's Anatomy | Brady | Episode: "Good Shepherd" | |
| 2022 | Jordan Baker | Special guest, 4 episodes |