Kevin Zegers (born September 19, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Framm in the Air Bud film series, Toby Osbourne in Transamerica (2005), Damien Dalgaard in the CW teen drama Gossip Girl, and as rookie FBI Agent Brendon Acres on the ABC crime drama The Rookie: Feds. He has also starred in the films Dawn of the Dead (2004), It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008), Frozen (2010), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and Nighthawks (2019).
Early life Zegers was born in Woodstock, Ontario, the son of Mary-Ellen (née Veldman), a teacher, and Jim Zegers, a quarry worker. He has two sisters, Krista and Katie. (The latter is also an actress; she appeared with him in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness). He is of Dutch descent; all four of his grandparents were born in the Netherlands. He attended St Mary's Catholic High School in Woodstock.
Zegers is active in sports, especially basketball, ice hockey, and golf. He played on the Hollywood Knights celebrity basketball team, raising money for local Los Angeles schools.
Career Early work Zegers began his performing career at the age of six, appearing in about 30 TV commercials. His first film role was at the age of seven, in a small part in the Michael J. Fox comedy Life with Mikey (1993), playing a younger version of Fox's character. Subsequently, he made a guest appearance on the acclaimed science fiction series The X-Files, playing a stigmatic child, Kevin Kryder, in the 1995 episode "Revelations," and had a recurring role on the Canadian TV series Traders (1996). During this time, he appeared in several made-for-television films, including Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story, The Silence of Adultery, and Rose Hill, and as Noah Thompson in the "Let's Get Invisible!" episode of Goosebumps.
His career received a major boost when he won the role of Josh Framm in Air Bud (1997), a film about a lonely boy who befriends a basketball-playing dog. Air Bud launched a franchise, with four sequels. Zegers appeared in four of the films, as well as a similar title, MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000), which featured a hockey-playing chimp.
Around that time, he starred in other family-friendly fare, including A Call To Remember (1997) with Joe Mantegna, Nico the Unicorn (1998) with Elisha Cuthbert, Treasure Island (1999) with Jack Palance, and Time Share (2000) with Nastassja Kinski. He also played a boy who discovers he is a clone in the TV series So Weird (1999). While also headlining numerous family/animal films, between 1997 and 2004, Zegers had starring or costarring roles in many low-budget horror films, often Canadian, including Shadow Builder, Komodo (1999), Wrong Turn (2003), and Fear of the Dark and The Hollow (both 2004).
In Four Days (1999), Zegers played a nameless boy devoted to his bank-robber father. He also appeared in the short-lived American television series for NBC and Spelling Television Titans (2000), opposite Yasmine Bleeth, for which he was chosen by producer Aaron Spelling. It was his first regular television series role. Zegers had previously worked with Bleeth in the 1999 film It Came from the Sky, where he played a mentally disabled child visited by an angel-like couple. He co-starred with Harry Hamlin in Sex, Lies & Obsession (2001), a Lifetime Network film about sex addiction, and with Gena Rowlands and James Caan in The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2003), a television film drama that won three Daytime Emmy awards: Outstanding Children/Youth/Family Special, Outstanding Performer (Rowlands), and Outstanding Writing.
In the summer of 2003, he filmed the drama Some Things That Stay at the same time as the remake of Dawn of the Dead, shuttling across Canada between sets. Around this time, he also continued his television work, appearing on Smallville in 2003 and House in 2004.
2005–present In 2005, he had a major role in the Academy Award-nominated independent film Transamerica, co-starring Felicity Huffman. Zegers' performance as Toby Osbourne, the street-hustling bisexual son of a trans woman (Huffman) was praised by several critics, and he won the Trophée Chopard for Male Revelation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Director Duncan Tucker said he had to overcome his initial wariness over Zegers' good looks before casting him for the role. Varietys reviewer wrote that "Zegers... finds multiple dimensions in pic's potentially most clichéd character...," and The Hollywood Reporters critic said, "As a boy who considers sex his chief talent, Zegers... conveys Toby's essential sweetness and hunger for real affection, making him much more than just a vain or damaged kid."
Also in 2005, he appeared with Shailene Woodley in Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, a television film set in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1775, based on the American Girl book series. He played 15-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Davidson, an apprentice at a shop owned by Felicity's father. In 2006, Zegers played supervillain Concussion in the comedy Zoom, with Tim Allen, and had the lead role opposite Samaire Armstrong in the romantic comedy It's a Boy Girl Thing. He guest-starred as Damien Dalgaard in Gossip Girl from 2009 until 2010, and returned again in late 2010 for multiple episodes throughout season 4. He appeared in Rock Mafia's 2010 music video "The Big Bang", and in 2012, played the male protagonist in the television series Titanic: Blood and Steel.
Zegers portrayed Alec Lightwood in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013).Tatiana Siegel, Borys Kit, Kevin Zegers Joins Fantasy Epic 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones', August 1, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter He joined the cast of Fear the Walking Dead for the series' fourth season.
Personal life In August 2013, Zegers married Jaime Feld, a talent agent.Kevin Zegers Marries Jaime Feld, People Magazine, Sheila Cosgrove Baylis, 08/04/2013 The couple had twin girls in August 2015.
In October 2024, Zegers announced he had converted to Judaism.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1993 Life with Mikey Little Mikey Chapman 1994 In the Mouth of Madness Kid Appeared with his real-life sister Katie 1996 Specimen Bart 1997 Air Bud Josh Framm1998 Shadow Builder Chris Hatcher Air Bud: Golden Receiver Josh Framm Nico the Unicorn Billy Hastings1999 Treasure Island Jim Hawkins Four Days Simon Komodo Patrick Connally2000 Lou Carpman Air Bud: World Pup Josh Framm MVP: Most Valuable Primate Steven Westover2002 Virginia's Run Darrow Raines Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch Josh Framm2003 Wrong Turn Evan Fear of the Dark Dale Billings The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie Charlie Proud2004 Dawn of the Dead Terry The Hollow Ian Cranston Some Things That Stay Rusty Murphy 2005 Transamerica Toby Wilkins2006 Zoom Connor Shepard / Concussion It's a Boy Girl Thing Woody Deane/Nell Bedworth2007 Trey Normal Jordie The Stone Angel John Shipley2008 Gardens of the Night Frank The Narrows Mike Manadoro Fifty Dead Men Walking Sean 2009 The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll Spyder 2010 Frozen Dan Walker2011 Vampire Simon Girl Walks into a Bar Billy The Entitled Paul Dynan2013 The Colony Sam The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Alec Lightwood All the Wrong Reasons Simon Brunson 2015 The Curse of Downers Grove Chuck 2017 Aftermath John Gullick Another Kind of WeddingKurt 2019 Nighthawks Chad 2022 Corrective Measures Captain Jason Brody
Television Year Title Role Notes 1992 Street Legal Jeremy Morris Episode: "It's a Wise Child" 1993 & 1994 Tales from the Cryptkeeper 6X (voice)/Jeremy (voice) Episodes: "Grounds for Horror" & "Uncle Harry's Horrible House of Horrors" 1994-1997 The Magic School Bus Mikey Ramon Voice role, 2 episodes1994 Free Willy Einstein (voice) Episode: "Cry of the Dolphin" Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story Larry McLinden in 1954 Television film1995 Road to Avonlea Gordon Bradley Episode: "A Time to Every Purpose" The X-Files Kevin Kryder Episode: "Revelations" The Silence of Adultery Steven Harlett Television film1996 Goosebumps Noah Thompson Episode: "Let's Get Invisible!" The Cold Heart of a Killer Matthew Arnold Television film 1996–1997 Traders Sean Blake Recurring role (seasons 2 & 3), 7 episodes1997 Rose Hill Cole Clayborne at 13Television film A Call to Remember Ben Tobias1999 Twice in a Lifetime Young Flash Jericho Episode: "Blood Brothers" So Weird Ryan Ollman Episode: "Second Generation" It Came from the Sky Andy Bridges Television film 2000 Time Share Thomas Weiland Television film 2000–2001 Titans Ethan Benchley Main role 2001 Sex, Lies & Obsession Josh Thomas Television film 2003 Smallville Seth Nelson Episode: "Magnetic" 2004 House Brandon Merrell Episode: "Occam's Razor" 2005 Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Benjamin "Ben" Davidson Television film 2009–2011 Gossip Girl Damien Dalgaard Recurring role (seasons 3–4), 10 episodes 2012 Titanic: Blood and Steel Mark MuirMain role 2014 Gracepoint Owen Burke 2016 Notorious Oscar Keaton2018 Dirty John Toby Sellers Recurring role Fear the Walking Dead Melvin Recurring role (season 4), 6 episodes 2019 Hell's KitchenHimself Represented St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at a private dinner service; episode: "Poor Trev" What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage Episode: "Flaremenon" 2021title=Rebel Drama From Grey'''s Boss, Starring Katey Sagal, Gets Series Order at ABC|url=https://www.tvline.com/news/rebel-series-order-katey-sagal-krista-vernoff-drama-abc-1234576306/|work=TVLine.com|date=September 16, 2020 |access-date=September 18, 2020}}</ref> |Nate | Main role |- | 2022–2023 | data-sort-value="Rookie: Feds, The" | The Rookie: Feds| Brendon Acres | Main role |- | 2024 | Doctor Odyssey| Bennet | Episode "I Always Cry at Weddings" (S1.E6) |- | 2025 | The Rookie| Brendan Acres | Recurring role (seasons 5-7), 5 episodes |- | 2026 | The Madison| Cade Harris | Main Role |- |2027 |Heated Rivalry''Coach Brandon Wiebe(filming as of late 2026)
Music video Year Title Artist 2010 "The Big Bang" Rock Mafia
Awards Year Award Category Work Result1998Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actor Air Bud Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series: Supporting Young Actor A Call to Remember rowspan=5 Best Performance in a TV Movie or Feature Film: Young Ensemble Rose Hill YoungStar Award Best Young Actor in a Comedy Film Air Bud 1999 Young Artist AwardBest Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actor Air Bud: Golden Receiver 2001 Young Artist Award MVP: Most Valuable Primate 2006 Cannes Film Festival Trophée Chopard – Male Revelation Transamerica
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