READER PANEL

PROFILE

Austin Peck

ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE

SOAP STAR STATS

Austin Peck (Brad, ATWT)

Austin Peck (Brad, ATWT)

— PGP

Vital Statistics

Birthdate:: April 9
Birthplace:: Honolulu, HI
Star Sign:: Aries
Years On Show:: 2007-present
Marital Status:: Peck and wife Tara wed on April 16, 2000.
Children:: Aidan (b. 7/02), Roman (b. 2/05)

The 411

Austin Peck was born in Hawaii, where his naval officer father was stationed. After his parents divorced when he was 4, his quirky actress mom took him and older sister Casey to San Francisco and later, L.A. The dichotomy between his parents' professions transferred to young Peck, whose future plans came down to a choice between the military and acting. Having been discovered by a modeling agent while he was a junior in high school (and been introduced to the individuality-stripping rigors of military life during a visit to Annapolis with his dad) the hyperactive young man went the artistic route. After his first gig — a Pop Tarts commercial — he was signed by the Nina Blanchard Agency and shipped off to Europe to model for the likes of Valentino and Gaultier. But the jet-setting, poseur lifestyle wore on the goofy, free spirit. These days, he's known to wander the hallways looking for stimulating conversation; back then, he sometimes got so freaked out in social situations that he would just take out a sketchbook and start drawing. So, he headed to acting class in New York. He met his future wife Tara at a club called The Roxy, where she happened to be go-go dancing. In 1995, he landed the recast part of DAYS OF OUR LIVES's Austin, replacing the popular original portrayer, Patrick Muldoon, and moved to L.A.. He continued to play that quintessential, often-bland hero — despite occasional outbursts of frustration over the preposterousness of late-'90s DAYS storylines — until 2002, when the show decided not to renew his contract. He briefly reprised the role from 2005 until 2006, when he was let go again. A few months later, in January 2007, Peck showed up in Oakdale as Jack's now-younger scoundrel of a brother, Brad, a role that had last been played by three different actors from 1998-99.

Peck and his family live in Brooklyn, NY.

Et Cetera

Five Random Facts
— Knew Josh Holloway (LOST's Sawyer) and Paolo Seganti (ex-Damian, ATWT) in his modeling days.
— Boxes to stay in shape (and work out his aggression).
— Screen-tested for a role on AMC opposite Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley).
— Draws comic-book style sketches and is considering doing a children's book called The Adventures of The Dude and Mr. Bo Buishie, a reference to his nickname for son Roman.
— Has appeared in many magazines including GQ, British Vogue, Esquire ... and Playgirl.

Career Highlights

Other Soap Roles
DAYS OF OUR LIVES (Austin Reed, 1995-2002; 2005-06)

TV Movie Roles
MYSTERY WOMAN; SING ME A MURDER (Harmony, 2005)

Film Roles
Dating Games People Play (Nick Jenkins, 2006)
Aimée Price (Aidam McAllister, 2005)
Revenge (Davis White, 2004)
Breaking Dawn (Dr. Scott, 2004)
Are You a Serial Killer (Patrick, 2002)

Guest-Starring TV Roles
CSI: NY (Daniel Gecko, 2006)
CHARMED (Ryder, 2003)
THE DISTRICT (Fantasy Dexter, 2003)
SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH (Victor, 2002)

Official Web site>>

Austin Peck's Photo Gallery>>

Memorable Quotes

Model Type
"You walk up to a table full of models, and everybody's posing. And you say, 'Hi' and no one says hi to you, and then I just want to go up and slap everybody, because I'm like, 'Are you a man or what? I say hi to you, you can't say hi to me? Are you really that insecure?'"
— Soap Opera Weekly, 4/18/95

"My size stopped me [from going farther in modeling] I can't really wear jackets — I'm too broad, too muscular under the arms. The whole idea is not for you to look good, but for you to make the clothes look better."
— Soap Opera Digest, 8/15/95

"I'll never have a body like Brad Pitt's."
— Digest, 10/16/07

Temper, Tempered
"I look back on my behavior and I remember the actor tantrums I threw because I was frustrated or because I wasn't prepared or frustrated that I had to do this virtual reality storyline and wear vine underwear for three months and just feeling ridiculous."
— on the end of his first DAYS stint, Digest, 12/13/05

"I was the only person who wasn't court-appointed [in anger management class]. It was really eye-opening. I don't know how much it helped me. I went in and said, 'I've got problems.' But to have people in anger management go, 'This guy's angry!' — I thought that was really funny."
— Digest, 8/7/07

A Question Of Faith
"It's the most important thing that's ever happened in my life; it's the best thing that's happened in my life. If you want to know about the world, if you want to know how things happen, ask God; He'll tell you."
— on finding religion, Digest, 5/26/98

"When I became a Christian, I became really outspoken and passionate about my faith. Imagine feeling you're a living tornado, you have all these questions of purpose and meaning and then all of a sudden, you have this experience and all of that totally gets answered. That tornado gets blown out. There's actual peace inside you. That's what it was like for me.... It became that stereotypical, born-again experience. Looking back, I realize how overbearing I was, and how I brought it into the workspace and I think it put a lot of people off. My heart was pure and sincere, but it was too much."
— Digest, 12/13/05

Character Flaws
"I used to try and fight things, but one of the producers came up to me once and said, 'Instead of changing the lines, why don't you face up to the challenge of making them work?' That was great advice. Now I think, 'Okay, this scene doesn't necessarily make sense, and people don't necessarily talk like this, but why don't I just see how much reality I can bring to it?' Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail, but when I actually make it work ... that's a real high."
— on playing DAYS's Austin, Digest, 4/1/97

"One thing I can't stand is when they make the heroes stupid."
— on soap writing, Digest, 5/26/98

"I'm always wanting to play Brad being affected by what his brother says and being offended. Instead, it's got to roll off my back, whereas on DAYS, I had to be affected and irritated by everything. So it's a transition."
— Digest, 2/13/07

"Brad would eat Sami for breakfast. He would tear Sami apart."
— Soap Opera Weekly, 3/13/07