Who is Chris Zylka?
Chris Zylka is an American actor and model, perhaps best remembered as Blake in the film “Shark Night” (2011), and as Tom Garvey in the TV series “The Leftovers” (2014-2017), in addition to several other roles that he’s secured so far in his career.
Chris Zylka Wiki: Age, Childhood, and Education
Christopher Michael Settlemire was born on 9 May 1985, in Howland Township, Ohio USA. He is the son of Kathy Zylka, while he never met his biological father. However, the family Settlemire has German, English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestry, while on her mother’s side, he has Polish and Ukrainian origin.
Chris attended Howland High School from which he matriculated in 2003, and then enrolled at the University of Toledo. However, he left the university after two years, as his maternal grandfather who lived in Ukraine became ill; Chris and his mother went there to tend to him.
He later returned to the US and settled in Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. However, he had a rather tough time as he was homeless, living in his ’94 Ford Probe in a parking lot behind a 7-11 store.
Chris was like this for six months before he was discovered by the manager and acting coach, Jon Simmons.
Career Beginnings
Chris made his acting debut in the TV comedy series “Everybody Hates Chris” in 2008. He continued with minor roles, such as Gabe Lamotti in the TV series “Hannah Montana” (2009), and the same year he was Brigg in the television movie “My Super Psycho Sweet 15”.
However, he secured the role of Joey Donner in the TV comedy series “10 Things I Hate About You”, featuring in 16 episodes of the acclaimed series, sharing the screen with Lindsey Shaw, Meaghan Martin and Ethan Peck, among others.
Moreover, he was Doyce Plunk in the TV series “Zeke and Luther” (2009-2010), about best friends who try to become the world’s greatest skateboarders, with Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks and Daniel Curtis Lee in the key roles. He reprised the role of Brigg in the 2010 sequel “My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2”, co-starring Lauren McKnight and Matt Angel.
Rise to Prominence
He co-starred in the 2010 romantic mystery-comedy film “Kaboom” about a college freshman and his dreams that involve his classmates, written and directed by Greg Araki and co-starring Thomas Dekker and Haley Bennett.
The following year, he appeared in the television fantasy comedy-drama movie “Teen Spirit”, with Cassandra Scerbo, Carissa Fowler and Gabriela Lopez in the lead roles. The film follows a story of a mean popular high school girl who dies but is prohibited from entering heaven unless she accepts to help the least popular girl become a Prom Queen.
Next, in 2011, he was Blake in the horror-thriller film “Shark Night”, starring Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, and Chris Carmack. The same year, Chris joined as Jake Armstrong in the short-lived, but award-winning fantasy-horror series “The Secret Circle”, which starred Britt Robertson, Thomas Dekker and Phoebe Tonkin.
The following year, he was Kyle in the sci-fi horror-comedy film “Piranha 3DD”, starring Danielle Panabaker, David Hasselhoff and Katrina Bowden, among others. Moreover, he was Flash Thompson in the award-winning new take on the popular story of the unlikely superhero spiderman, entitled “The Amazing Spiderman”, with Marc Webb as the director and Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
In 2014, Chris returned to silver screens with the role of Tom Gravey in HBO’s supernatural television series “The Leftovers”, co-starring with Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Liv Tyler and Christopher Eccleston in all 28 episodes of the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated series, that follows the lives of people struck with an unusual global event as the earth lost 2% of its population.
In between the seasons, Chris worked on several other projects – in 2015, he co-starred in the award-winning romantic drama film “Bare”, written and directed by Natala Leite, with Dianna Agron and Paz de la Huerta completing the main cast. Moreover, the same year he appeared in the critically acclaimed sci-fi horror-comedy film “Freaks of Nature”.
https://www.facebook.com/SonyPictures/photos/a.10153155493176931/10153155493196931/
Next, in 2016 he was the main star in the sci-fi horror film “Welcome to Willits”, alongside Bill Sage and Anastasia Baranova.
He was pretty busy in 2017 – first, he appeared in the drama “Novitiate”, about a young nun in training, with Melissa Leo, Lisa Stewart, and Alyssa Brindley in the lead roles, written and directed by Maggie Betts.
Then he starred in the crime drama “Dixieland” alongside Riley Keough and Faith Hill, in a film that follows two lovers trying to escape the downward spiral of crime by leaving the dead-end town.
In 2018, he featured with Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon and Jacob Tremblay, among other stars, in the drama film “The Death & Life of John F. Donovan”, about a young actor who talks about what impact on his life had been his written conversation with the long-gone American television star.
In recent years, he co-starred in the mystery crime-thriller series “Dare Me” (2020), based on the book by Megan Abbott, starring Willa Fitzgerald, Herizen F. Guardiola, and Marlo Kelly, which follows a group of cheerleaders whose life is changed after a shocking crime. Then he starred in the television movie “How I Met Your Murderer” (2021), and in the short film “And I Miss You Like A Little Kid” (2022).
He is now working on the films “Upon Waking”, which is scheduled to premiere late in 2022, and “Model House”, which is in post-production but without a premiere date.
Net Worth
According to reports, Chris Zylka’s wealth is estimated at $4 million as of late 2022, earned through his successful career as an actor, during which he’s appeared in more than 30 film and TV series.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmAm8VmLYpq/
Personal Life, Dating, Girlfriend
Chris has been known for several high-profile relationships. In early 2012, he started dating Lucy Hale, actress and singer, but the two broke up after nine months.
He next dated actress Phoebe Tonkin from February until April 2013, then in 2014, he started a relationship with Hanna Merjos, a model and socialite. After four months, they became engaged, but called off the engagement in March 2015.
In 2016, Chris began dating American socialite, reality TV star and Hilton heiress Paris Hilton. The two became engaged in January 2018 when on a trip to Aspen – he proposed to her with a $2 million valued ring, however, the couple called off the engagement in November of the same year, following which Chris demanded his ring back.
Since then, Chris has seemed single, and focused on his acting career.
Appearance and Vital Statistics
Chris Zylka has blonde hair and green eyes. He stands at 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall and weighs approximately 180lbs (81kgs), with vital statistics of 44-33-15.
Hobbies, Interests, and Trivia
Additional to acting, Chris is a painter. He launched his first art exhibition in August 2018, at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, Spain, entitled “Why Use A Name”.
He is a skilled guitar player, but has yet to pursue music professionally.
Chris has worked as a model, appearing in campaigns and ads for Abercrombie & Fitch, and has graced the cover pages of such magazines as Glamoholic, Bello, and Wonderland.
He enjoys playing baseball, football and basketball in his free time.
An avid fan of tattoos, he has several on his body, including a tattoo that reads ‘Mom’ and ‘SOSO’, his sister’s nickname.
