AllMovie

With a prematurely grizzled image enhanced by a dash of post-grunge earthiness, rugged young athlete-turned-actor Clayne Crawford maintains a staunchly anti-Hollywood glitz outlook, having made his film debut in a pair of quirky independent features before moving on to such teen films as A Walk to Remember and Swimfan (both 2002). An Alabama native who initially moved to Los Angeles in hopes of playing baseball at U.C.L.A., Crawford found himself questioning the reality of his dream when he was sidelined by an injury that ended his career on the diamond and found him seeking work in construction. After witnessing the ease with which his friends found commercial work, the onetime baseball hopeful opted to eschew concrete pouring in favor of being in front of the cameras. Though success was by no means immediate, it wasn't long before Crawford met actress Sunny Mabrey while working in a local theater. After finding out the two grew up a mere 20 minutes from one another, the aspiring actors became inseparable and eventually engaged. By Crawford's account, it was the exact day that he decided to let rejection roll down his back that he was offered a substantial role in the independent drama Gas Station Jesus (2001). After appearing in the I Am Legend-inspired horror-thriller One Blood Planet that same year, Crawford's newfound success found him landing roles in A Walk to Remember and Swimfan before turning up alongside Al Pacino in 2003's The Recruit.