How did 34-year-old Brandon Sklenar make his way from small-town New Jersey to acting in one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, It Ends With Us? And even before that, shining in a television show apart of the famed Dutton universe in 1923, one of the Yellowstone prequel series? His story is similar to many young aspiring actors, but the career he’s building is all his own.

Who is Brandon Sklenar?

As a kid in New Jersey, Sklenar used acting as more of a tool than a hobby. “I had a really bad speech impediment – a stutter, and dyslexia when I was a kid,” he told Nobleman Magazine. “I was in a lot of public speaking classes to try and get rid of my crazy stutter, and they make you perform plays and whatnot, and I think that got me into it.”  

By the time he was 14, he had made up his mind: One day, he would move out to Los Angeles to become an actor. A short stint in college at his father’s request came after high school, but soon enough, he would pack his bags and head to California, working odd jobs and taking on minor roles before his career really kicked off.

Brandon Sklenar movies and TV shows

Sklenar’s earliest credited role was in 2011’s Cornered, and in the years that followed, he could be seen in shows like Truth Be Told and New Girl, as well as films including Mapplethorpe (2018), Vice (2018), The Big Ugly (2020) and more.

In 2022, however, he originated the role of Spencer Dutton in 1923, putting him on people’s radar.

Sklenar brought to life the character of Spencer Dutton, a big game hunter living in Africa, in the Yellowstone prequel series in which Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren also starred.

“I felt very confident about my connection to the material and to Spencer,” Sklenar told Esquire. “It was the most confident I’d ever been auditioning for a role. It just felt like something that I was supposed to do.”

Brandon Sklenar in It Ends With Us

Sklenar’s most recent role was in It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover. The film tells the story of a woman named Lily who meets and falls for a man named Ryle. Though charming at first, a darker side of him is revealed as the film progresses. Meanwhile, she reconnects with Atlas, her first love from childhood, complicating things further. The novel and film deal with heavy topics surrounding domestic violence, which is one of the reasons why this film was so personal for Sklenar.

“I wasn’t aware of the book and became aware of the book, and came aware of his [director Justin Baldoni] intentions behind making the film and how important it was,” Sklenar explained to Forbes. “I have someone in my life who’s very close to me who has gone through pretty much exactly what Lily has gone through, so it immediately, once I came aware of the story and its cultural impact and how many women it has helped, it just felt like something I had to do.”

While the world most certainly knows his name now, Brendan Sklenar is just getting started, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for him!