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Nicholas Brendon is an American actor best known for his character Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Biography[]

Nicholas Brendon was born three minutes after his identical twin brother in Granada Hill, San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles. His parents got divorced and his mother became a talent agent, giving the siblings a first glimpse into the acting world. He attended Chatsworth High School, where he struggled with stuttering but was also a starter on the baseball team and had dreams of playing for the L.A. Dodgers. His aspiration of playing professional baseball were squashed when a serious arm injury cut his sports career short about a year after graduating high school.

He then attended Pasadena City College. At the age of 20 he decided to try his hand at acting as a way to overcome his stuttering problem. He first appeared on television in a handful of commercials, debuting in a Clearasil one, and guest-starring roles including Married... with Children and Dave's World. But after two years, he gave up feeling disenchanted with Hollywood or, as he put it couldn't stand the politics in Hollywood.

During this acting hiatus he played the 'real life' roles of medical student, production assistant (for Dave's World), plumber's assistant, veterinary janitor, food delivery guy, script delivery guy, day care counselor and waiter (at approximately 13 different establishments). During his seventh year in the food and beverage industry, Brendon decided to give acting another try; after all he had been fired from all but one of the aforementioned positions.

At first, he played an evil corn follower in the feature film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, and starred in Los Angeles theater productions of The Further Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Theatre West, My Own Private Hollywood at The Black Hole Theatre and Out of Gas on Lovers' Leap at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Having just turned 25 he got his big break as an actor when it only took four days of auditioning for him to land the role of sensitive, wisecracking Xander Harris on the hugely successful TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; initially his character was that of the occasional comic relief and plucky sidekick, that with time grew into a more dramatic one. In the process, Brendon garnered a large fan base out of the huge cult of followers of the series.

During his hiatuses from the show he got his first major role in a feature film in the satire Psycho Beach Party and starred in Demon Island. After it wrapped he tackled the role of Seth in the series Kitchen Confidential and several minor roles in TV movies, feature films and as a recurring guest star in TV series such as 'Private Practice' and 'Hollywood Heights'.

In 2006 he got a recurring role putting voice to one of the characters of the animated series American Dragon: Jake Long, and after that he became Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch in the ongoing hit drama Criminal Minds.

Off-screen, the Los Angeles native enjoys attending Dodger games, camping and spending quality time with friends and family. He also enjoys daydreaming of world travel, writing poetry, philanthropy and his work on stage.

Brendon has played a major part in the Stuttering Foundation of America even appearing in a print campaign for the organization. He was the first person to serve the role of honorary chairperson of the Stuttering Foundation of America's Stuttering Awareness Week for three consecutive years, from 2000 to 2003.

Criminal Minds[]

He portrays A/V tech Kevin Lynch, a minor character with whom Garcia is romantically involved.

Filmography[]

  • Coherence (2013)
  • The Morningside Monster (2013)
  • Indigo (2013)
  • Big Gay Love (2013)
  • Hollywood Heights, 3 episodes (2012)
  • The Qincy Rose Show (2011)
  • Hard Love (2011)
  • Private Practice (2010-2011) - 4 episodes
  • Sweet Lorraine (2010)
  • Criminal Minds - 20 episodes (2007-present) TV episodes - Kevin Lynch
  • The Portal (2010) - Paul
  • A Golden Christmas (2009) - Michael
  • My Neighbor's Secret (2009) - Brent
  • Without a Trace - "Undertow" (2009) TV episode - Edger
  • Kitchen Confidential - 13 episodes (2005-2008) - Seth Richman
  • Blood on the Highway (2008) - Chase Sinclair
  • Turbo Dates - Full Disclosure (????) TV episode - Cameron
  • Unholy (2007) - Lucas
  • American Dragon: Jake Long - 6 episodes (2006-2007) (voice) - Huntsboy #89
  • Fire Serpent (2007) - Jake Relm
  • Relative Chaos (2006) - Gil Gilbert
  • Celeste in the City (2004) - Dana Blodgett/Harrison
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series (2004) (voice) - Xander Harris
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (2003) (VG) (voice) - Xander Harris
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer- 145 episodes (1997-2003) - Xander Harris
  • The Pool at Maddy Breaker's (2003)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002) (VG) (voice) - Xander Harris
  • Demon Island (2002) - Kyle
  • Psycho Beach Party (2000) - Starcat
  • Dave's World - Do the Write Thing (1995) TV episode
  • Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) - Basketball Player One
  • Married with Children - Hood in the Boyz (1993) TV episode (unaccredited) - Guy In Ray-Ray's Gang

Theater[]

  • Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them -2010 - The Blank Theatre Co. - Reverend Mike
  • The Santaland Diaries - 2009 - The Blank Theatre Co. - Crumpet the Elf
  • From Your Sweetheart - 2009 - The Blank Theatre Co. - Owen
  • Adam Baum and the Jew Movie - 2008 - The Hayworth Theatre - Garfield Hampson Jr.
  • Three Headed Dog - 2008 - The Blank Theatre Co. - Gary
  • Strand in the Closet - 2007 - The Blank Theatre Co.
  • Lobster Alice - 2006 - The Blank Theatre Co. - John Finch

Producer[]

  • Unholy (2007) (associate producer)
  • Demon Island (2002) (associate producer)

Soundtrack[]

  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Reptile Boy "(1997) (performer: "These Boots are Made for Walkin") and "Once More, with Feeling" (2001) TV episodes (performer: I'll Never Tell, I've Got A Theory, Bunnies, If We're Together, Walk Through The Fire, Where Do We Go From Here?)

Production Manager[]

  • Demon Island (2002) 

Miscellaneous Crew[]

  • Dave's World (1993) TV series (production assistant) (unknown episodes)

External links[]

Notes[]

  • His twin brother served as his occasional stand-in on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: played his double in an episode, filled for him while sick with pneumonia and was his double in most of the fight scenes.
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