| Zachery Ty Bryan | |
| Birth Name: | Zachery Tyler Bryan |
| Birth Date: | 1981 10, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Aurora, Colorado, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1990–present |
| Other Names: | Zachery Bryan |
| Known For: | Brad Taylor on Home Improvement |
| Partner: | Johnnie Faye (2021–present; engaged) |
| Children: | 7 |
| Relatives: | Brady Quinn (cousin)[1] |
Zachery Tyler Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement. He also appeared in the films First Kid and .
Bryan was born in Aurora, Colorado, to Jenny and Dwight Bryan.[2]
Before he starred in Home Improvement, he appeared in local print and television advertising in Denver. He then appeared at a showcase in New York City, directed by Peter Seidman, where he was seen by a professional talent representative.[3] This, and his interest in acting soon brought him to California, where he was cast in the role of Brad, the oldest Taylor child, in the show Home Improvement. His character was known for experimenting with different hair styles as well as being the child most often in trouble. He is one month younger than Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who played his younger brother Randy on the show.
In the middle of Home Improvement Bryan made an appearance as Steve on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995.After Home Improvement ended, Bryan made brief appearances in many other television shows including (2002) Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Peter Nicols, (2005) Veronica Mars as Caz Truman, and (2006) Shark as Scott Natterson, as well as a guest appearance on an episode of Reading Rainbow. Additionally, he made a cameo appearance on MTV's I Bet You Will in which he portrayed himself and competed in a challenge where he wrestled female convicted felons. In 2001, he portrayed an ice hockey player in an episode of Touched by an Angel.[4] He also appeared on Smallville in 2003 where he played Eric Marsh, a high school baseball player using steroids made from meteor rock. He was the second Home Improvement alum to make a guest appearance on the show after Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In 2005, Bryan appeared as Bryan Nolan in ESPN's TV movie Code Breakers. Bryan also guest starred in Cold Case (as the young murderer in the flashback scenes) and in 2008 as a young man hiring a hitman to kill his stepmother on the show Burn Notice.
Bryan's film roles include the school bully in the 1996 Sinbad comedy First Kid. He starred in the 1995 movie Magic Island as Jack Carlisle, the 1998 TV movie Principal Takes a Holiday, and the 1999 movie True Heart. He also starred as Eric in 1999's . Later, he played defender Harry Keough alongside Gerard Butler in the 2005 movie The Game of Their Lives otherwise known as The Miracle Match about the 1950 US upset at the World Cup. In 2006, he played a villain named Clay in , then a deputy in the 2009 TV mini-series Meteor, which aired on NBC. He also played Thor in the made-for-TV Syfy channel film THOR: Hammer of the Gods. The film originally aired on November 29, 2009.
In 2022, he was cast in a small role in The Guardians of Justice.[5]
Bryan's cousin is former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn.
In 2007, he married Carly Matros, whom he met while attending La Cañada High School. They have twin girls born in 2014, a third daughter born in 2016, and a son born in 2019.[6] Bryan and Matros divorced in September 2020 after 13 years of marriage.[7]
On November 17, 2021, Bryan announced his engagement to model Johnnie Faye.[7] Bryan and Faye had a daughter in 2021.[8] In early November 2022, Bryan and Faye announced they were expecting twins.[9] They will be Bryan’s sixth and seventh children, and his second set of twins.
In October 2020, Bryan was held on several charges including felony strangulation, misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree assault and interfering with making a police report, after an apparent argument with his girlfriend in their apartment in Lane County, Oregon.[10] [11] In February 2021, Bryan pled guilty to two of the charges, while six others were dismissed. He was sentenced to three years of bench probation and ordered to partake in a batterer intervention program and to have no contact with the victim.[12]
In June 2023, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Bryan was accused of running a fraudulent agriculture-technology startup scheme. Four sources told the publication that the scheme involved them giving Bryan individual payment amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 in exchange for fake contracts which actually had no value.[13] The amount of money Bryan earned from the scheme is said to have totaled close to $50,000.
On July 28, 2023, Bryan was arrested for domestic assault again in Eugene, Oregon.[14]
Also in 2023, the Superior Court of Los Angeles ordered Bryan and his production company, Lost Lane, to pay $108,940.57 to an investor, after being judged guilty of scamming money for a film featuring Thomas Jane, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Alex Pettyfer.
On the morning of February 17, 2024, Bryan was arrested for alleged DUI after a traffic collision in La Quinta, California. Bryan was charged with both a misdemeanor "contempt of court" and a felony for operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.[15] This would be his fourth DUI charge. On March 27, 2024, it was revealed that Bryan had also received an additional felony charge related to driving under the influence after having three or more DUI convictions in the last 10 years.[16] [17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Cody | |||
| 1995 | Magic Island | Jack Carlisle | Video | |
| 1996 | First Kid | Rob | ||
| 1999 | True Heart | Sam | ||
| 1999 | Eric | |||
| 2000 | Held for Ransom | Glenn Kirkland | ||
| 2001 | Rustin | Keith Gatlin | ||
| 2001 | Longshot | Deke | ||
| 2004 | Slammed | Derek | ||
| 2005 | Harry Keough | |||
| 2006 | Annapolis | Johnson | Uncredited | |
| 2006 | Clay | |||
| 2008 | Trunk | Jake | Short film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | ABC TGIF | Brad | TV series | |
| 1990 | Child (uncredited) | TV movie | ||
| 1991–1999 | Home Improvement | Brad Taylor | Lead role | |
| 1994 | Thunder Alley | Brad Taylor | Episode: "First Date" | |
| 1995 | Steve | Episode: "There's the Rub: Part 1" Episode: "There's the Rub: Part 2" | ||
| 1996 | Picket Fences | Episode: "Winner Takes All" | ||
| 1997 | Soul Man | Brad Taylor | Episode: "Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon" | |
| 1997 | Promised Land | Ryan Gerhart | Episode: "Mr. Muscles" | |
| 1998 | Principal Takes a Holiday | John Scaduto | TV movie | |
| 2000 | Chicken Soup for the Soul | Daniel | Episode: "The Two Sides of Love" | |
| 2000 | Opposite Sex | Chuck | Episode: "The Dance Episode" Episode: "The Field Trip Episode" | |
| 2000–2001 | Boston Public | Malcolm White | Episode: "Chapter One" Episode: "Chapter Five" Episode: "Chapter Twenty-Two" | |
| 2001 | Family Law | Jamie Wilkins | Episode: "Liar's Club: Part 1" Episode: "Liar's Club: Part 2" | |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Jeff McHenry | Episode: "The Penalty Box" | |
| 2001 | ER | Upsilon Psi Lambda Frat Brother | Episode: "Sailing Away" | |
| 2001 | Ray | Episode: "Abduction" | ||
| 2002 | Val Massey | TV movie | ||
| 2002 | Philly | Brian Lee | Episode: "Lies of Minelli" | |
| 2002 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Peter Nicols | Episode: "Help" | |
| 2003 | Smallville | Eric Marsh | Episode: "Witness" | |
| 2004 | Century City | Teddy Paikin | Episode: "Love and Games" | |
| 2004 | Plainsong | Russell Beckman | TV movie | |
| 2004–2005 | Center of the Universe | Kevin Barnett | Episode: "Good Parenting, Bad Parenting" Episode: "If You Love Something Leave It Alone" Episode: "Oh Brother, What the Hell Were You Thinking?" | |
| 2005 | Veronica Mars | Caz Truman | Episode: "Ruskie Business" Episode: "Kanes and Abel's" | |
| 2005 | Code Breakers | Brian Nolan | TV movie | |
| 2006 | Cold Case | Petey (1988) | Episode: "8 Years" | |
| 2006 | Shark | Scott Natterson | Episode: "Déjà Vu All Over Again" | |
| 2007 | K-Ville | Ricky | Episode: "Critical Mass" Episode: "Game Night" | |
| 2008 | Burn Notice | Drew | Episode: "Double Booked" | |
| 2009 | Knight Rider | Terry Driscoll | Episode: "Knight and the City" | |
| 2009 | Meteor | Deputy Koskey | TV miniseries | |
| 2009 | THOR: Hammer of the Gods | Thor | TV movie | |
| 2022 | The Guardians of Justice | The President's Aide #1 | Netflix |
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Trunk | Co-producer | |
| 2010 | Associate producer | ||
| 2010 | Prowl | ||
| 2012 | Rogue River | ||
| 2012 | The Grief Tourist |