In the vastly underrated genre of Hanukkah rom-coms, you might notice some pretty big Jewish stars. Broadway actor Jeremy Jordan and Yael Grobglas from “Jane the Virgin” were fabulous in “Hanukkah on Rye.” The titular boy from “Boy Meets World” Ben Savage played David in the fever dream of a movie “Love, Lights, Hanukkah!” And in 2023, Bryan Greenberg — whom you probably know from any number of projects —joined their ranks in “Round and Round.”
So let’s learn more about him, shall we?
Here are 18 things to know about Bryan Greenberg.
1. Bryan was born on May 24, 1978 in Omaha, Nebraska to Jewish parents.
2. He was a very dapper young man!
3. Bryan grew up in Conservative Judaism, had a bar mitzvah, was a part of Jewish youth groups and attended Camp Herzl in Wisconsin.
4. Bryan got his started acting at the Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater when he played a chorus member in “Oliver.”
“This is when I knew I was going to be an actor and dedicated my life to it,” he wrote on Instagram. “Crazy how after all these years I’ve fallen even more in love with the craft. Still motivated, working, studying, learning, and digging deeper. It’s a lifetime pursuit.”
5. He has joked that he was “the one” Jew in Omaha, Nebraska.
“But it’s not really like that,” Bryan told JVibe Magazine. “There is a pretty big Jewish community out there — not huge. I was the only Jewish kid at school.”
6. At 12 years old, Bryan’s family moved to St. Louis, MO where he got his first big gig: a Cookie Crisp commercial!
7. Meet his great-great-grandparents Morris and Lena Greenberg!
8. He graduated from Parkway Central High School in 1996 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from NYU in 2000.
9. His first big role was as Jake Jagielski, a recurring character in the mid-2000s teen drama “One Tree Hill.”
10. Bryan is also a singer-songwriter! He debuted his first album “Waiting for Now” in 2007 and has since released albums “We Don’t Have Forever” (2011), “Everything Changes” (2015) and EP “The 36 Hour” (2019).
11. But he’s not only an actor and musician… he’s also a cover model.
12. He was on “The Mindy Project” as Mindy’s boyfriend and later husband, Ben.
13. Bryan started dating actress Jamie Chung in 2012 and they got engaged in December 2013. (Bryan proposed by singing her a song he wrote. Swoon!) They were married in October 2015 in Santa Barbara, CA.
According to Martha Stewart Weddings, “The pair exchanged vows under a chuppah adorned with olive branches and wild grasses.”
14. Bryan and Jamie became parents to twin boys on October 24, 2021! Just look at Bryan being a proud Jewish dad.
Too sweet!
15. Some of Bryan’s other notable roles include Nick Garrett in “October Road,” Ben Epstein in “How to Make It in America,” David Bloomberg in “Prime” and Issac in “You People.”
16. He was part of a roundtable discussion on antisemitism called “Recipe for Change: Standing Up to Antisemitism” in 2022. You can listen to his thoughts on being Jewish in the entertainment industry here:
17. He plays the nicest Jewish boy ever in Hallmark’s 2023 Hanukkah movie “Round and Round.”
18. Bryan will soon make his directorial debut! He wrote, directed and starred in an opioid drama called “Junction,” which is slated to come out in 2024.
“This is a very personal story to me, as I’m sure it will be for millions of people who have found themselves affected by this crisis,” Bryan said in a statement.
