Marc Blucas

{{Infobox person

| name = Marc Blucas

| image = Marc Blucas jane austen book club.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Blucas in 2007

| birth_name = Marcus Paul Blucas

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1972|01|11}}

| birth_place = Girard, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 1995–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Ryan Haddon|2009}}

| children = 2{{cite web|url=https://magazine.wfu.edu/2019/03/19/i-have-to-know-if-i-can-make-it/ |title='I have to know if I can make it' |publisher=Wake Forest Magazine |author= Hanner, Carol L. |date=March 19, 2019 |access-date=January 13, 2021}}

| relatives = Dayle Haddon (mother-in-law)

}}

Marcus Paul Blucas ({{IPAc-en|'|b|l|uː|k|ə|s}}; born January 11, 1972)https://www.cleveland.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/01/ffb01b08a63899/todays-top-celebrity-birthdays.html is an American actor. Prior to his acting career, he played college basketball with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He had his first starring role as soldier and love interest Riley Finn on the WB supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1999 to 2000, and later starred as football team manager Matthew Donnelly on the USA drama series Necessary Roughness from 2011 to 2013.

Blucas starred alongside Katie Holmes in the romantic comedy film First Daughter (2004) and also had lead roles in the thriller films Three (2006) and The Killing Floor (2007). He had supporting roles in the romance films I Capture the Castle (2003), After Sex (2007), and The Jane Austen Book Club (2007); the horror films They (2002), Deadline (2009), and Unearth (2020); the thriller films Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and Looking Glass (2018); and the drama films Prey for Rock & Roll (2004) and Touchback (2011).

Early life

Marcus Paul Blucas was born on January 11, 1972, in Butler, Pennsylvania,{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20133205,00.html |title=A Beau for Buffy : People.com |publisher=People.com |date=December 11, 2000 |access-date=October 5, 2008}}{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-gazette/1988-04-25/page-12|access-date=October 27, 2014|title=Indiana Gazette Newspaper Archives, Apr 25, 1988, p. 12|date=April 25, 1988}} two years after his sister, Kristen. His parents, Walter Joseph Blucas and Mary Catherine (née Gordon), married on January 10, 1970, shortly before both graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).{{cite news|title = Mary Catherine Gordon Weds Walter J. Blucas|newspaper = The Indiana Evening Gazette|page = 10|date = January 27, 1970|access-date = November 14, 2017|url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15101155/mary_catherine_gordon_weds_walter_j/|via = Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} They are divorced.

A self-confessed "square who earned good grades,"{{cite news|title = Erie native Blucas shoots and scores as an actor|first = Barbara|last = Vancheri|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=84lIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DXIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2009,1122393|newspaper = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date = September 23, 2004|access-date = November 14, 2017|pages = 31, D3|via = Google News Archive}} Blucas was, like his father, a skilled sportsman.{{cite news|last = Steiner|first = Jeff|date = April 6, 1990|title = Blucas follows father's act, only in a different sport|newspaper = The Indiana Gazette|page = 16|url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15318605/blucas_follows_fathers_act/|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = November 23, 2017}} {{free access}} Wally was the quarterback on the undefeated 1968 IUP Big Indians team, competed in the Boardwalk Bowl, and in 1999 was inducted into the IUP Athletics Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url = http://iupathletics.com/hof.aspx?hof=132|title = IUP Athletic Hall of Fame – Wally Blucas|year = 2017|access-date = November 14, 2017|publisher = Indiana University of Pennsylvania|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170306105107/http://iupathletics.com/hof.aspx?hof=132|url-status = live|archive-date = March 6, 2017}}

The family moved to Girard in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1974, where Blucas' father rose from teacher to school principal and ultimately to Superintendent of Schools for the District. He attended Girard High School in Erie where he graduated in 1990. Blucas became the star player on the Girard High School basketball team, leading them to the Pennsylvania Boys AA State Championship, in the process earning all-state honors and a sports scholarship to Wake Forest University.{{cite news|title = Blucas a Rising Star|newspaper = The Indiana Gazette|page = 10|last = Kologie|first = Carl|date = March 19, 2002|url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15101760/blucas_a_rising_star/|access-date = November 14, 2017|via = Newspapers.com}} {{free access}}{{cite news|title = Inside Indiana – Names in the News|newspaper = The Indiana Gazette|page = 14|url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15104998/inside_indiana_names_in_the_news/|date = October 22, 1999|access-date = November 14, 2017|via = Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} He played on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team and graduated in 1994 after one season playing on the same court as Tim Duncan. He was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.{{cite web|url = http://www.greek101.com/lounge/famous.php?org=Sigma+Phi+Epsilon|title = Famous Fraternity and Sorority Greeks: Sigma Phi Epsilon|website = greek101.com|year = 2011|access-date = November 14, 2017|archive-date = April 15, 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160415141823/http://www.greek101.com/lounge/famous.php?org=Sigma+Phi+Epsilon}}

After Blucas failed to make it into the NBA, he moved to England, where he played professional basketball for a year with British Basketball League's Manchester Giants (1975–2001). He later decided to become a lawyer, but changed his mind and went into acting instead.{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804389185/bio |title=Marc Blucas Biography - Yahoo! Movies |publisher=Movies.yahoo.com |date=January 11, 1972 |access-date=October 20, 2010}}

Career

Blucas's first television role was in the television movie Inflammable, made in 1995. From there, he found roles in both television and film. He starred as the Basketball Hero in Gary Ross's Pleasantville (1998). However, Blucas landed his first major role in 1999 as Agent Riley Finn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Initially, Blucas was certain that he had blown his audition and had left apologizing for having wasted creator Joss Whedon's time. Whedon asked him to audition again, and he received the part two weeks later.{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdsnapshot.com/InterviewMarcBlucas.html |title=INTERVIEW: Actor Marc Blucas |publisher=Dvdsnapshot.com |access-date=October 20, 2010}} He played Buffy's love interest until 2000.

After Blucas' departure from the series, he went on to act in such films as Summer Catch (2001), We Were Soldiers (2002), alongside Mel Gibson and Chris Klein, and First Daughter (2004), with Katie Holmes. His character in Summer Catch was based on real life Cape League baseball player Michael Macone.

In 2007, Blucas began to land leading roles in films such as Thr3e and The Killing Floor.

In February 2010, Blucas joined the cast of the ABC television drama pilot True Blue.{{cite magazine|url=http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/16/pilot-intel-marc-blucas-recruited-for-true-blue-duty/ |title=Pilot Intel: Marc Blucas recruited for 'True Blue' duty |last=Ausiello |first=Michael |date=February 16, 2010 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=February 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218001847/http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/16/pilot-intel-marc-blucas-recruited-for-true-blue-duty/ |archive-date=February 18, 2010 }}

Blucas was part of the regular cast of the USA Network show Necessary Roughness for the first two seasons, playing Matthew Donnelly. The series premiered on June 29, 2011.

Personal life

On July 25, 2009, Blucas married journalist Ryan Haddon, daughter of Dayle Haddon. They have two daughters together and Blucas is the stepfather to Haddon's two children from her previous marriage to Christian Slater.{{cite web|url=http://www.whedonverse.net/news/marc_blucas_gets_married/|title=Marc Blucas Walks Down the Aisle|publisher=Whedonverse.net|access-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311180604/http://www.whedonverse.net/news/marc_blucas_gets_married/|archive-date=March 11, 2012|url-status=dead}} Since 2012, Blucas has lived on a 15-acre farm in rural Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |last=Hanner |first=Carol L. |date=2019-03-19 |title='I have to know if I can make it' |url=https://magazine.wfu.edu/2019/03/19/i-have-to-know-if-i-can-make-it/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Wake Forest Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Actor Marc Blucas Spent Years Renovating Historic Home Where Mother-in-Law Dayle Haddon Died of Suspected Carbon Monoxide Poisoning |url=https://people.com/marc-blucas-spoke-about-redoing-1700s-home-where-mother-in-law-dayle-haddon-died-8767218 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=People.com |language=en}}

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%"

style="text-align:center;"

!| Year

!| Film

!| Role

!| Notes

rowspan="1"|1996

| Eddie

| Bench Knicks

rowspan="1"|1998

| Pleasantville

| Basketball Hero

rowspan="2"|1999

| The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human

| The Female's Ex-Boyfriend

House on Haunted Hill

| Period Film Actor

| Scenes Deleted

rowspan="2"|2001

| Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

| The Guy

| Fred Jones look-alike

Summer Catch

| Miles Dalrymple

rowspan="3"|2002

| We Were Soldiers

| 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick

Sunshine State

| Scotty Duval

They

| Paul

rowspan="4"|2003

| I Capture the Castle

| Neil Cotton

Prey for Rock & Roll

| Animal

View from the Top

| Tommy Boulay

One Flight Stand

| Ben

| Short film

rowspan="2"|2004

| The Alamo

| James Bonham

First Daughter

| James Lamson

rowspan="1"|2006

| Thr3e

| Kevin Parson

rowspan="3"|2007

| After Sex

| Christopher

The Killing Floor

| David Lamont

The Jane Austen Book Club

| Dean Drummond

rowspan="2"|2008

| Meet Dave

| Mark Rhodes

Animals

| Jarrett

rowspan="4"|2009

| Deadline

| David

Stay Cool

| Brad Nelson

Stuntmen

| Eligh Supreme

Mother and Child

| Steven

rowspan="1"|2010

| Knight and Day

| Rodney

rowspan="1"|2011

| Red State

| ATF Sniper

rowspan="1"|2012

| Touchback

| Hall

rowspan="1"|2015

| Sleeping with Other People

| Chris

2016

| The Red Maple Leaf

| Derek Sampson

rowspan="1"|2017

| Brawl in Cell Block 99

| Gil

rowspan="1"|2018

| Looking Glass

| Howard

rowspan="1"|2020

| Unearth

| George Lomack

| {{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/339071/fantasia-fest-2020-unearth-review-you-can-work-the-ground-but-beware-what-it-can-yield/|title=Fantasia Fest 2020: Unearth Review – You Can Work The Ground But Beware What It Can Yield|last=Tinnin|first=Drew|date=August 27, 2020|website=Dread Central|access-date=May 4, 2021}}

2022

| Hunting Ava Bravo

| Buddy King