James Christopher Carmack (born December 22, 1980) is an American actor, singer, and former fashion model. He is known for his roles in popular television shows—the teen drama series The O.C. (2003–2004) as Luke Ward, the country music drama Nashville as Will Lexington (2012–2018), and the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2018–present) as Dr. Atticus "Link" Lincoln.
Carmack has also appeared in films, including The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations, Into the Blue 2: The Reef, Love Wrecked, Beauty & the Briefcase and Alpha and Omega.
Early life and education Carmack was born on December 22, 1980 in Washington D.C. He was born James Christopher Carmack and grew up in Derwood, Maryland. He has a brother and a sister. As a young boy, he played baseball, basketball, and football at Magruder High School. However, his attentions turned to theater and he began working on three productions per year, on-stage and off, in addition to competing in numerous drama festivals.
Career After graduation, Carmack attended New York University to pursue an arts degree at the Tisch School. He left NYU after he was discovered by John Yannella, a modeling scout, and decided to have a go at the profession. His looks were exactly what Bruce Weber was seeking for Abercrombie & Fitch. The other catalogs and editorials that he has worked for include: Lord and Taylor, Macy's, Target, Who.A.U, Elle France, Nautica, Guess?, and Cosmogirl.
He played Luke on the first season of The O.C., but did not continue because producers could not guarantee him airtime in the upcoming year. In 2005, Carmack became a model for Ezra Fitch, a limited upscale label sold at Abercrombie & Fitch.
In 2006, Carmack starred in the film Lovewrecked with Amanda Bynes and Jonathan Bennett and honed his acting skills in the theaters of New York and London.
From March 16 to May 21, 2006 Carmack starred in the Off-Broadway production of Entertaining Mr. Sloane at the Laura Pels Theatre. The play, directed by Scott Ellis, also featured Tony Award nominees Alec Baldwin and Jan Maxwell.
In 2006, Carmack made his London stage debut in a rare revival of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, a play that had not been performed in London for 55 years. Carmack starred opposite Rosamund Pike and was directed by former Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Adrian Noble. It played the Apollo Theatre from October 21 – November 25, 2006, failing to complete its scheduled run.
Carmack portrayed Susan Delfino's cousin Tim in the television show Desperate Housewives for one episode.
Carmack portrayed Sam Reide, the main character of the film The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations, the third film in The Butterfly Effect film franchise, released in theaters in January 2009. He also made his first voice role in Alpha and Omega, which was released in theaters in September 17, 2010, and reprised his role as Garth in Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure, being one of the few actors from the original to appear in at least one sequel.
In 2013, Carmack was cast in the ABC drama series Nashville as Scarlett and Gunnar's neighbor Will, a sexy and charming country singer and guitar player. Carmack's character initially appeared to be a womanizer and a potential threat to Scarlett and Gunnar's relationship, but it was revealed that the character is gay, and trying to protect his image as a heterosexual country music heartthrob. Carmack appeared in the final six episodes of the season, and was promoted from a recurring role to a series regular for season 2.
In 2018, Carmack was cast as Dr. Atticus "Link" Lincoln on the ABC hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy.
In 2019, Carmack made his Hollywood Bowl debut playing the role of Rapunzel's Prince in the show Into the Woods.
Personal life Carmack announced his engagement to Erin Slaver on March 2, 2016. They married on October 20, 2018. Their first daughter was born in August 2016, and a second daughter was born in May 2022.
Filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes 2004 Bring It On Again Todd 2005 Love Wrecked Jason Masters 2006 Just My Luck David Pennington Uncredited 2007 Suburban Girl Jed Hanson 2008 H2O Extreme Austin 2009 The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations Sam Reide Into the Blue 2: The Reef Sebastian White 2010 Alpha and Omega Garth Voice role 2011 Shark Night Dennis 2012 Dark Power Durant 2013 Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure Garth Voice Role; Direct-to-video film 2015 The Dust Storm David 2025 The Stranger in My Home Tom Truby on Prime
Television Year Title RoleNotes 2000 Strangers with Candy Laird Episode: "Invisible Love" 2003 Player$ Himself Episode: "Voodoo That You Do... with Hobbits!" 2003–2004 The O.C. Luke Ward Main role (season 1); special guest (season 2); 21 episodes 2004 The Last Ride Matthew Rondell Television film2005 Beach Girls Cooper Morgenthal Television miniseries Smallville Geoff Johns Episode: "Recruit" Jake in Progress Jared Rush Episode: "Ubusy?" 2005–2006 Related Alex Brody Recurring role, 11 episodes2007 CSI: Miami Cole Telford Episode: "Kill Switch" Higglytown Heroes Referee Hero Episode: "Little Big Fish / Good Sports"2008 Desperate Housewives Tim Bremmer Episode: "Sunday" CSI: NY Colby Duncan Episode: "Forbidden Fruit"2009 NCIS Kevin Nelson Episode: "Love & War" Drop Dead Diva Brian Episode: "Crazy"2010 Beauty & the Briefcase Liam Television film Deadly Honeymoon Trevor Forrest Television film 2011 Grace Dylan Doran Television film2012 A Christmas Wedding Date Chad Television film All About Christmas Eve Aidan Green Television film Bad Girls Troy Gibson Unaired pilot 2013–2018 Nashville Will Lexington Recurring role (season 1); main role (seasons 2–6) 2018–present Grey's Anatomy Dr. Atticus "Link" Lincoln Recurring role (season 15); main role (season 16–present)2023 That's My Jam (UK) Himself Music game show, episode 1x05 Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas Matthew Television film
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2015 Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Quon Yobatz Voice role
Theater credits Year Title Role Venue Notes2006 Entertaining Mr Sloane Sloane Laura Pels Theatre Off-Broadway Summer and Smoke John Buchanan Jr. Apollo Theatre West End 2019 Into the Woods Rapunzel's Prince Hollywood Bowl
Discography EPs Stonewall (2020) Life on Eris - 5 Songs with Erin Slaver Pieces of You (2015) Nashville, Season 6: Episode 1 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "Don't Come Easy" Nashville, Season 6: Episode 2 (2018) Contributed 2 tracks: "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" with Sam Palladio and Jonathan Jackson and "Right Where You Want Me" with Sam Palladio Nashville, Season 6: Episode 4 (2018) Contributed 2 tracks: "Tearin Up My Heart" with Sam Palladio and Jonathan Jackson and "My Arms" with Sam Palladio and Jonathan Jackson Nashville, Season 6: Episode 5 (2018) Contributed 2 tracks: "Go With It" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake and "Hold On (Not Leaving You Behind)" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake Nashville, Season 6: Episode 6 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "Love is Loud" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake Nashville, Season 6: Episode 7 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "Smoking the Boys" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake Nashville, Season 6: Episode 8 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "Hard Days" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake Nashville, Season 6: Episode 9 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "My Turn" Nashville, Season 6: Episode 10 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "Go" with Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and Rainee Blake Nashville, Season 6: Episode 16 (2018) Contributed 1 track: "A Life That's Good" with Sam Palladio, Rainee Blake, and Jonathan Jackson, and "A Life That's Good" with Hayden Panettiere, Connie Britton, Charles Esten, Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson, Lennon Stella, Maisy Stella, and Ronny Cox
Soundtrack The Music of Nashville: Season 1, Volume 2 (2013) Contributed 1 track: "You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter)" with Clare Bowen The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 1 (2013) Contributed 2 tracks: "What If I Was Willing" and "Can't Say No To You" with Hayden Panettiere The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 2 (2014) Contributed 4 tracks: "It's On Tonight" with Will Chase and Charles Esten, "Is That Who I Am", "Hurtin' On You" and "Then I Was Loved By You" Nashville: On the Record (2014) Contributed 2 tracks: "It's On Tonight" with Will Chase and Charles Esten and "A Life That's Good" with the Nashville cast The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 1 (2014) Contributed 2 tracks: "If It's Love" and "If Your Heart Can Handle It" with Aubrey Peeples Nashville: On the Record Volume 2 (2015) Contributed 3 tracks: "If I Drink This Beer" with Will Chase, "If Your Heart Can Handle It" with Aubrey Peeples and "Friend of Mine" with the Nashville cast The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 2 (2015) Contributed 2 tracks: "I'm On It" and "Broken Song" The Music of Nashville: Season 4, Volume 1 (2015) Contributed 2 tracks: "Sleep Tonight (A Lullaby)" with Jonathan Jackson and "Run With Me" Nashville: On the Record Volume 3 (2016) Contributed 2 tracks: "Being Alone" and "And Then We're Gone" with the Nashville cast The Music of Nashville: Season 4, Volume 2 (2016) Contributed 2 tracks: "Moving On Never Felt So Good" and "Ain't it Beautiful" The Music of Nashville: Season 5, Volume 1 (2017) Contributed 1 track: "Burn to Dark" The Music of Nashville: Season 5, Volume 2 (2017) Contributed 1 track: "By Your Side" The Music of Nashville: Season 5, Volume 3 (2017) Contributed 2 tracks: "Stand Up" and "Little Darlin'" with Clare Bowen The Music of Nashville: Season 6, Volume 1 (2018) Contributed 2 tracks: "Hold On (Not Leaving You Behind)" with Sam Palladio, Rainee Blake, and Jonathan Jackson and "Love is Loud" with Sam Palladio, Rainee Blake, and Chris Carmack The Music of Nashville: Season 6, Volume 2 (2018) Contributed 3 tracks: "My Turn", "Go" with Sam Palladio, Rainee Blake, and Jonathan Jackson, and "A Life That's Good" with Hayden Panettiere, Connie Britton, Charles Esten, Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson, Lennon Stella, Maisy Stella, and Ronny Cox
Singles Year Single Sales Album 2013 "What If I Was Willing" 4,000 The Music of Nashville: Season 2 Volume 1 2015 "Being Alone" Pieces of You
Tours Nashville in Concert (2014)
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