Chris Zylka

Early life

Zylka was born on May 9, 1985 in Howland Township, Ohio. He took his mother's maiden name, Zylka, as a stage name. He graduated from Howland High School in 2003. Zylka studied art at the University of Toledo for two years, but dropped out to care for his maternal grandfather when he suddenly became ill. His grandfather is from Ukraine.

At the age of 19, he relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in acting. He was homeless for six months upon arriving to Los Angeles and lived in his car in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in Burbank. Zylka began working at restaurants, where he was discovered by manager and acting coach Jon Simmons.

Career

Acting

Zylka began his acting career with a guest appearance as Jason on the teen drama television series 90210 in 2008. He was cast in a recurring role in Everybody Hates Chris and had guest roles in television shows Hannah Montana, Cougar Town and Zeke and Luther. In 2009, Zylka landed a 16-episode recurring role as Joey Donner in sitcom 10 Things I Hate About You. Zylka began to move into films around this time, appearing in the comedy film The People I've Slept With (2009) and the horror television film My Super Psycho Sweet 16 (2009). Zylka would later reprise this role in the sequel, My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2 (2010). He portrayed Thor in the mystery comedy film Kaboom (2010), which premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Zylka starred in two animal-attack-themed films, Shark Night (2011) and Piranha 3DD (2012). Zylka portrayed Flash Thompson in the superhero film The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), based on the Marvel Comics and directed by Marc Webb. He played the role of Jake Armstrong in The CW's supernatural drama television series The Secret Circle (2011-2012). He had a leading role as Kermit opposite of Riley Keough in the crime drama film Dixieland (2015), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film centers around good-hearted Kermit, who just got out of prison and returns home to Mississippi.

He played Tom Garvey in HBO's supernatural television series The Leftovers from 2014 to 2017. He portrayed Alex Lachan in Lifetime's television film I Killed My BFF (2015). The film is inspired by a true story, the murder of Anne Marie Camp by Jamie Dennis and her husband, Michael Gianakos, in Minnesota in 1997. He played Chuck Harris in the drama film Novitiate (2017), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and fans. In 2018, he directed Paris Hilton's music video for the song "I Need You". He portrayed Will Jefford Jr. in the drama film The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2018), released in September 2018 at the Toronto International Film Festival. In April 2019, Zylka was cast in a recurring role as Officer Corporal Kurtz in USA Network's teen drama television series Dare Me (2020). The series follows the lives of competitive high school cheerleaders in a small Midwestern town. In April 2020, USA Network canceled the series after one season. On May 29, 2019, talent agency ICM Partners announced that they signed Zylka. Zylka portrayed Adult Ray in the short film Sorry or What Could Have Been (2020) opposite Paris Hilton.

He portrayed Oliver in the thriller television film Killer Infatuation (2021), which was filmed in Oklahoma City. The title was later changed to "How I Met Your Murderer". He played Thomas in Model House (2024).

Modeling

Early in his career, Zylka appeared in an advertising campaign for Abercrombie & Fitch, shot by photographer Bruce Weber. He has appeared on the cover of several magazines, including Wonderland, Glamoholic and Bello.

Art

He launched his first art exhibition titled "Why Use A Name" at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, Spain in August 2018.

Personal life

In 2012, Zylka dated American actress Lucy Hale for nine months and split in September 2012. He was engaged to model Hanna Beth Merjos in April 2014. The couple called off the engagement and broke up in early 2015. In January 2018, Zylka became engaged to American heiress and media personality Paris Hilton. He proposed to her with a ring worth US$2 million during a vacation in Aspen, after one year of dating. They called off the engagement in November 2018.

He has several tattoos, including a tattoo that says "Mom" in a heart on his arm, "an angel gone bad" and a gorilla.

Filmography

References

References

1. (January 3, 2018). "Paris Hilton to wed former UT student". [[WTOL-TV]].
2. Maloney, Maggie. (November 19, 2018). "Everything You Need to Know About Paris Hilton's Former Fiancé Chris Zylka".
3. McBride, Caitlin. (January 3, 2018). "Who is Chris Zylka? 5 things to know about Paris Hilton's new fiancé". [[Irish Independent]].
4. Gray, Andy. (January 3, 2018). "Howland native engaged to Paris Hilton". Tribune Chronicle.
5. Corinthios, Aurelie. (January 2, 2018). "Chris Zylka: 5 Things to Know About Paris Hilton's Fiancé".
6. Rathe, Adam. (February 16, 2012). "Chris Zylka".
7. Fallon, Kevin. (June 27, 2014). "From Homeless to HBO, 'The Leftovers' Star Chris Zylka's Crazy Hollywood Story".
8. Gray, Andy. (July 2, 2009). "One-time Howland QB changes playing fields". [[Tribune Chronicle]].
9. Yi, David. (June 19, 2014). "'The Leftovers' Star Chris Zylka Takes on Hollywood". [[Women's Wear Daily.
10. Brown, Emma. (June 25, 2014). "Chris Zylka Remains".
11. Maloney, Maggie. (November 19, 2018). "Paris Hilton Has Reportedly Ended Her Engagement to Actor Chris Zylka".
12. Lonardo, Thom . (March 7, 2015). "Chris Zylka". UTP Publishing.
13. Jeffery, Morgan. (June 29, 2012). "Chris Zylka joins American Horror Story".
14. (April 15, 2010). "Cannes 2010: Lineup reveals a heavy dose of auteurs, with a dollop of celebrity". [[Los Angeles Times]].
15. "Chris Zylka". Festival de Cannes 2019.
16. Nat. (January 4, 2018). "Five Things You Didn't Know About Chris Zylka". TVOvermind.
17. Orange, B. Alan. (November 20, 2010). "Chris Zylka Is Eugene Flash Thompson in 'Spider-Man'". MovieWeb.com.
18. Abrams, Natalie. (August 24, 2011). "Secret Circle Taps Chris Zylka As the Witchy New Bad Boy". [[TV Guide]].
19. Goldberg, Lesley. (June 29, 2012). "'American Horror Story' Adds 'Secret Circle's' Chris Zylka".
20. "Chris Zylka Is Totally Unrecognizable in His First Leading Film Role—Here's What He Has to Say About 'Dixieland'". [[Teen Vogue]].
21. Reilly, Kaitlin. "Chris Zylka Distracts Us From "The Leftovers" Heartbreak With Cute Interview About Girlfriend Paris Hilton".
22. Lebowitz, Shana. (January 2, 2018). "Paris Hilton just got engaged with a $2 million ring — here's a look at her 2-year relationship with actor and model Chris Zylka".
23. Reyes, Traciy. (January 3, 2015). "'I Killed My BFF' Lifetime Babysitter Movie Based On True Story Of Anne Camp, Jamie Dennis Gianakos Case". [[Inquisitor]].
24. Scott, A. O.. (October 26, 2017). "Review: 'Novitiate' Shares a Young Nun's Emotional Story". [[The New York Times]].
25. Travers, Peter. (October 26, 2017). "'Novitiate': And Then There Were Nuns in Stirring, Soulful Convent Drama".
26. Wallace, Francesca. (February 15, 2018). "Paris Hilton releases a new song dedicated to her fiancé". [[Vogue (magazine).
27. "Paris Hilton's New Single 'I Need You' Is Inspired by Her 'Perfect' Fiancé Chris Zylka".
28. Cusumano, Katherine. "The Trailer for The Death and Life of John F. Donovan Is Here at Last". [[W (magazine).
29. Debruge, Peter. (September 13, 2018). "Toronto Film Review: 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan'". [[Variety (magazine).
30. Ritchie, Kevin. (September 11, 2018). "TIFF 2018: Five things you missed at 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' premiere". [[Now (newspaper).
31. Petski, Denise. (April 29, 2019). "'Dare Me': Chris Zylka & Taveeta Syzmanowicz To Recur In USA Network Series".
32. Andreeva, Nellie. (July 25, 2018). "'Dare Me': Willa Fitzgerald, Herizen Guardiola & Marlo Kelly To Star In USA Pilot".
33. Swift, Andy. (April 30, 2020). "USA's Dare Me Cancelled After 1 Season".
34. Ramos, Dino-Ray. (May 29, 2019). "ICM Partners Signs 'The Leftovers' Actor Chris Zylka". Deadline Hollywood.
35. (May 6, 2020). "Watch This Short Film Starring Paris Hilton and Nasty Cherry's Gabriette".
36. "Killer Infatuation {{!}} The Journal Record".
37. Weatherby, Jager. (August 28, 2012). "Teen Wolf's Tyler Posey Looks Hot on the Cover of Wonderland Magazine With Chris Zylka (PHOTOS)". Wetpaint.
38. "Glamoholic.com".
39. (July 2024). "The Amazing Spider-Man".
40. Musuka, Maryanne. (August 10, 2018). "Paris Hilton attends fiancé Chris Zylka's art exhibit". Kiss FM.
41. "Sealed With a Kiss from Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka's Cutest Pics". [[E! News]].
42. (September 20, 2012). "Chris Zylka Apologizes for Slamming Ex Lucy Hale on Twitter".
43. MTV News Staff. "'Secret Circle' Star Chris Zylka Keeps Things Creepy With 'American Horror Story' Role".
44. (September 18, 2012). "Bitter Twitter Breakup: Lucy Hale and Chris Zylka Take Split Public".
45. Corriston. (April 27, 2014). "Chris Zylka and Hanna Beth Are Engaged". [[People (magazine).
46. Rivera, Zayda. (April 27, 2014). "'Spider-Man 2' actor Chris Zylka gets engaged to Hanna Beth". [[New York Daily News.
47. Johnson, Zach. (March 12, 2015). "Chris Zylka and Hanna Beth End Their Engagement and Their Breakup Gets Insanely Messy on Instagram and Twitter!". E! News.
48. McRady, Rachel. (March 12, 2015). "Chris Zylka, Model Hanna Beth Split, End Engagement in Nasty Online Feud". [[Us Weekly]].
49. (January 2, 2018). "Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka Are Engaged: 'I Have Never Felt So Happy'". People.
50. "Paris Hilton engaged to 'Leftovers' star Chris Zylka". [[CBS News]].
51. France, Lisa Respers. "Paris Hilton keeping 20-carat engagement ring". CNN.
52. Hilton, Paris. (January 2, 2018). "I said Yas!". Paris Hilton verified [[Instagram]] account.
53. (November 19, 2018). "Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka Have Ended Their Engagement". [[Elle (magazine).
54. Gonzales, Erica. (November 19, 2018). "Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka Called Off Their Engagement".
55. Baty, Emma. (November 19, 2018). "Paris Hilton and Fiancé Chris Zylka Have Split, Meaning That Huge Engagement Ring Is Officially Retired".
56. (March 1, 2018). "Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka Open Up About the Highbrow Secret to Their Love".
57. "How I Met Your Murderer".