TV star profile – Lee Thompson Young

Born in South Carolina on February 1st 1984, Lee Thompson Young was only in second grade when his parents Velma and Tommy Scott young separated. After joining a theater group in Greenville, South Carolina, Young decided on an acting career at the tender age of ten, having taken on the role of Dr. Martin Luther King in the play ‘A Night of Stars and Dreams.’ Young attended the Irmo Middle School and won the Optimist Oratorical Scholarship, a scheme that gives youngsters a chance to address the world.

In 1996, Young moved to New York with his mother and attended the Professional Children’s School, a privately owned college prep school that helps children develop their artistic talents without neglecting their academic needs. It was here that Young began auditioning professionally, shooting several commercials before landing the starring role in Disney’s ‘The Famous Jett Jackson.’ A year later young learnt he had landed the role and took on the role for 47 episodes, before shooting a TV movie of the same title. Young even wrote one of the episodes of this series himself.

In 1999, Young took on the role of Johnny Tsunami in another Disney Channel MovieIn 2001, Young was accepted into the University of California School of Cinematic Arts. While attending, he still took on roles, guest starring in shows such as ‘Philly,’ ‘ The Guardian,’ ‘Jake 2.0,’ ‘Redemption,’ ‘The Proud Family,’ ‘Friday Night Lights’ and ‘Kevin Hill.’ Successfully pursuing his undergraduate degree in Film Production all the while, Young graduated from the University of California with honors in 2005.

Young immediately landed a role in ‘South Beach’ and after filming five episodes; he then went on to star alongside, Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett in ‘Akeelah and the Bee’. 2007 saw Young take on his second movie role, as a National Guard in Wes Craven’s ‘The Hills Have Eyes II,’ unfortunately this remake of a sequel did not do so well. At the same time, Young was also concentrating on re-occurring roles as Victor Stone, a cyborg in ‘Smallville’ and Agent Stone in the Terminator spin-off series ‘The Sarah Conner Chronicles.’ He also managed to find time to direct and star in short film ‘Mano,’ a 24 minute salsa drama

2009 saw Young join the cast of ‘Scrubs’ as a surgical intern Derek, staying for 3 episodes before a guest appearance in’ Lincoln Heights’ playing Julian. Later that year, Young’s talent development deal he’d signed with ABC a year earlier finally culminated in him landing a role in the hugely successful ‘Flashforward.’ Scoring an eight-episode deal, Young portrayed Al Gough, an FBI Agent who ends up taking his own life in order to save a civilian.

After reprising his role once more in ‘Smallville’ in May 2010, Young appeared on TV screens in ‘Rizzoli and Isles.’ A program born of characters from hugely successful writer Tess Gerritsen. Young stared in all 10 episodes as Detective Barry Frost, Detective Jane Rizzoli’s new partner.