Rider King Strong (born December 11, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Shawn Hunter in Boy Meets World and reprised the role in Girl Meets World, making his first appearance in the season 1 holiday episode, "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays". He has also directed numerous episodes of Girl Meets World.[1]
Biography[]
Strong was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Lin (née Warner), a teacher and nutritionist, and King Strong, a firefighter. He graduated from high school in Sebastopol, California in 1997. His brother is Shiloh Strong, an actor and photographer.
Strong began his acting career at the age of nine, when he starred as Gavroche in the San Francisco production of Les Misérables. After the stage production, he appeared in small screen roles on television. In 1992, he received his first regular television series role as Julie Andrew's son on Julie. When the series was canceled, Strong made his debut on film as Amy Irving's son in Benefit of the Doubt. It was not until he was chosen for the role of Shawn Hunter in the ABC series Boy Meets World that he received widespread recognition.
During the seven-year run he was nominated twice for the Young Artist Award and nominated for a Hollywood Reporter YoungStar Award. When the series ended, Strong returned to the big screen to star as Paul in the indie horror film Cabin Fever, directed by Eli Roth. In 2006, he returned to television for a regular series role in Pepper Dennis on the WB. The show was short-lived and was not chosen as one of the transferring shows to The CW Television Network. He has a brief cameo appearance in Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, the sequel to Cabin Fever. It was released in 2009.
Along with his brother, Shiloh Strong, he wrote and directed the short film, Irish Twins, which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. It went on to win both the Jury Award and Audience Award at the Woods Hole Film Festival, a Special Jury Prize in the Action/Cut Short Film Competition and Best First-Time Director at DC Shorts. Speaking to Pure Movies in 2010 he expressed that he wanted to expand his writing and directing career: "Acting is always there and I enjoy it but it’s kind of got a little unfulfilling lately. You know, I’m in the low budget horror world... I have a whole lot of other stuff I want to do."[2]
In April 2008, Strong co-created (with his brother and his then-girlfriend, actress Alexandra Barreto) a 30-second television ad in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, titled "It Could Happen to You." The ad, submitted to MoveOn.org, became one of fifteen finalists from a pool of over 1,100 submitted ads, and was chosen as the funniest ad in May 2008. In August, MoveOn raised $200,000 to air the ad on MTV and Comedy Central; it was the first political commercial to ever appear on Comedy Central. In early 2009, Strong narrated the audiobook of The Obama Revolution by Alan Kennedy-Shaffer. In 2010, Strong starred in the science fiction-thriller film The Darkening Sky alongside Ezra Buzzington, Charley Rossman, Sally Berman, Daniel Kirschner, and LaShan Anderson under the direction of Victor Bornia.[3]
In late 2012, Strong declined an offer to reprise his role as Shawn Hunter in the upcoming spinoff, Girl Meets World; however during production of the pilot in March 2013, Strong, along with other cast members who were also unconfirmed to return, appeared on the set sparking rumors of a cameo or return to the new series. Creator Michael Jacobs stated, "I think there's more than a chance, I think there's a strong chance," when commenting on Strong and other original series cast members returning. Other current cast members commented on Strong's return indicating that his return might be a secret not ready to be revealed. In June 2013, a Boy Meets World reunion was held with Strong attending, along with many of his former cast members.[4]
In 2004, Strong graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University as an English major. While a student at Columbia, he wrote the foreword for fellow Columbian Steve Hofstetter's "Student Body Shots." Before Columbia, Strong attended Occidental College. He completed his Master of Fine Arts degree in June 2009 at Bennington College.
Strong began dating actress Alexandra Barreto after they met while filming the 2006 television series Pepper Dennis. They became engaged in December 2012, and married on October 20, 2013 in Oregon. Their first child, a son, Indigo Barreto Strong, was born on December 28, 2014.
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Benefit of the Doubt | Pete Braswell | |
| 1998 | My Giant | Justin Allen | |
| 2001 | Buck Naked Arson | Willy Barnes | |
| 2001 | The Secret Pact | Lenny B. Dalton | |
| 2002 | Cabin Fever | Paul | |
| 2004 | Death Valley | Daniel | |
| 2005 | Paradise, Texas | Charlie | |
| 2007 | Cosmic Radio | Justin | |
| 2007 | Borderland | Phil | |
| 2007 | Tooth and Nail | Ford | |
| 2008 | Spy School | Mr. Randall | |
| 2008 | Irish Twins | Michael Sullivan | Short film |
| 2008 | Pulse 3: Invasion | Adam | Video |
| 2009 | H20 Extreme | Greg | |
| 2009 | Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever | Paul | |
| 2010 | Darkening Sky | Eric Rainer | |
| 2010 | Ruff Love | George | Short film |
| 2010 | The Penthouse | Kieran | |
| 2010 | Your Lucky Day | Young Man | Short film Shown at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festiva |
| 2011 | Lone | Jason Sumner | Short film |
| 2011 | Walter Don't Dance | Short film | |
| 2013 | Too Late | Matthew | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Long Road Home | Benjy Robertson | TV film |
| 1991 | Going Places | David | Episode: "The Camping Show" |
| 1992 | Julie | Adam McGuire | Recurring role (7 episodes) |
| 1992 | Empty Nest | Philip Logan | Episode: "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" |
| 1992 | Evening Shade | Jimmy | Episode: "The Diary of Molly Newton" |
| 1992 | Home Improvement | Danny | Episode: "Haunting of Taylor House" |
| 1993 | Nurses | Max Kaplan | Episode: "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" |
| 1993 | Time Trax | William Peterman | Episode: "The Prodigy" |
| 1993 | The Last Hit | Jimmy Dunne | TV film |
| 1993–2000 | Boy Meets World | Shawn Hunter | Main role (158 episodes) |
| 1994 | Summertime Switch | Frederick Egan III | TV film |
| 1996 | Maybe This Time | Shawn Hunter | Episode: "Acting Out" |
| 1996 | Party of Five | Byron | Episodes: "Summer Fun, Summer Not," "Going, Going, Gone" |
| 1997 | Oddville, MTV | 1 episode | |
| 1998 | Hercules | Pollux (voice) | Episode: "Hercules and the Trojan War" |
| 1998 | Invasion America | Jim Bailey (voice) | TV series |
| 1999 | The Practice | Gary Armbrust | Episodes: "Home Invasions," "Infected" |
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | Bobby Vance (voice) | Episode: "Lost Soul" |
| 1999–2000 | Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles | Pvt. Carl Jenkins | 12 episodes |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Ethan Edwards | Episode: "The Pilgrim" |
| 2002–2004 | Kim Possible | Brick Flagg (voice) | Recurring role (5 episodes) |
| 2005 | Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama | Brick Flagg (voice) | TV film |
| 2006 | Crumbs | Dennis | Episode: "Six Feet Blunder" |
| 2006 | Pepper Dennis | Chick Dirka | Main role (11 episodes) |
| 2006 | Veronica Mars | Rafe | Episode: "My Big Fat Greek Rush Week" |
| 2007 | Bones | Gregg Liscombe | Episode: "Mummy in the Maze" |
| 2009 | Castle | Rocco Jones | Episode: "The Fifth Bullet" |
| 2010 | 100 Questions | Alan | Episode: "Wayne?" |
| 2012 | Paulilu Mixtape | Sam Paxton | Episode: "Hooker Lawyer" |
| 2014-present | Girl Meets World | Shawn Hunter | Recurring Role |
| 2015-present | Star Vs The Forces of Evil | Tom | Recurring Role |
Girl Meets World Episodes Directed[]
- Girl Meets 1961
- Girl Meets First Date
- Girl Meets Gravity
- Girl Meets the Secret of Life (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Rules (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Yearbook (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Creativity (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Texas (Part 1) (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Texas (Part 2) (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets STEM (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Money (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Jexica (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Permanent Record (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Ski Lodge (Part 1) (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets Ski Lodge (Part 2) (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
- Girl Meets the Great Lady of New York (co-directed with Shiloh Strong)
Gallery[]
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The image gallery for Rider Strong may be viewed here.
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