Garrett Hedlund's Real Name: Garrett John Hedlund

Quick answer: Garrett Hedlund's documented full name is Garrett John Hedlund. AllMusic records that form and dates his birth to September 3, 1984, in Roseau, Minnesota. Interview magazine likewise describes him as a Minnesota native (AllMusic; Interview).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Garrett Hedlund. AllMusic says he was the youngest of three children of Kristi and Robert Hedlund, spent his childhood on a cattle farm near Wannaska, Minnesota, and moved with his mother to Scottsdale, Arizona, at 14. His parents were country-music fans, the biography says, and he became a fan of Tim McGraw as a child before discovering punk rock at 15. A talent agency signed him before he finished high school. He graduated in 2003 and moved immediately to Los Angeles, AllMusic says, intent on starting an acting career.

Career highlights

AllMusic dates his film debut to Troy (2004), less than a year after the move, and to Friday Night Lights the same year—a football drama also cited in Interview magazine. Four Brothers followed in 2005, then Eragon (2006) and Georgia Rule (2007). Interview also lists Country Strong (2010) and Tron: Legacy (2010), which AllMusic calls a step up to leading roles. In Country Strong he played a country singer opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw and performed on the soundtrack. Interview magazine's profile, written as Walter Salles's On the Road approached release, casts him as Dean Moriarty, the film's version of Neal Cassady. AllMusic traces later singing appearances in Lullaby (2014), Mojave (2015), Dirt Music (2019), and Desperation Road (2023), plus a regular role as Mitch Keller on the series Tulsa King. AllMusic says he released "The Road" in 2022, his first recording not tied to a film or television role, and later singles including "Best Ones" and "Always Wanted To." He also appeared, without a singing part, in the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), AllMusic notes, and in a Kings of Leon music video the same year. A 2024 Tulsa King soundtrack EP on Lakeshore Records featured his vocals, the biography says.

Name notes for searchers

Garrett John Hedlund is the documented full name; the professional name is Garrett Hedlund. Searchers looking for the quarterback in Friday Night Lights, a lead in Tron: Legacy, or Dean Moriarty in On the Road are usually aiming at the same person.