Justin Hartley's Real Name: Justin Scott Hartley

Quick answer: Justin Hartley's documented full name is Justin Scott Hartley. TV Guide lists that form as his birth name and a birth place of Knoxville, Illinois. An NBC Insider profile independently dates his birth to January 29, 1977, in Illinois, and uses the professional name Justin Hartley (TV Guide; NBC Insider).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Justin Hartley. TV Guide uses the birth name Justin Scott Hartley and Knoxville, Illinois. NBC Insider, citing "his biography," says he was born in Illinois on January 29, 1977, without naming Knoxville, a difference of precision rather than a contradiction. Both sources say he studied history and theater at Southern Illinois University (NBC specifies Carbondale) and the University of Illinois at Chicago. NBC says that after graduating he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Career highlights

TV Guide says he got his start on the soap opera Passions and is best known for This Is Us, and that he was originally cast as the title character in a CW Aquaman pilot. NBC Insider independently says his first paid job was as Foxworth Crane on the NBC soap Passions, in more than 400 episodes from 2002 to 2006, then a five-season run as Oliver Queen (the Green Arrow) on Smallville, ending in May 2011, with the unused 2006 Aquaman pilot shot during that period. After Smallville, it lists guest work on CSI: NY, Cold Case, Hart of Dixie, Castle, and Chuck, a lead in Emily Owens, M.D. (2012), recurring roles on Revenge and Mistresses, and 185 episodes as Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless, before Kevin Pearson on This Is Us, a six-season series that, NBC says, received 39 Emmy nominations and four wins. TV Guide lists a 2016 Daytime Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a drama series and SAG Awards for outstanding ensemble in a drama series in 2018 and 2019, plus later Critics Choice nominations. NBC also notes the 2024 series Tracker.

Name notes for searchers

Justin Scott Hartley is the documented birth name in TV Guide; NBC Insider uses Justin Hartley. The professional name is Justin Hartley. Searchers looking for Kevin Pearson on This Is Us, or for Oliver Queen on Smallville, are usually aiming at the same person.