READER PANEL

PROFILE

Mark Hapka

ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE

SOAP STAR STATS

Mark Hapka (Nathan, DAYS)

— NBC

Vital Statistics

Birthdate:: May 29
Birthplace:: Buffalo, N.Y.
Star Sign:: Gemini
Years On Show:: June 2009 to present
Marital Status:: Single

THE 411

Born and raised in upstate New York, Mark Hapka attended college in Syracuse, where he studied music education and voice. He concentrated on building strong credits in theater. "When I lived in New York, that's all I did. That's all we had," he notes.

Eventually, Hapka's desire to pursue film work inspired him to relocate. He moved to Los Angeles in 2005 and enrolled in acting classes at Playhouse West, studying under Jeff Goldblum, Robert Carnegie, Mark Pellegrino and Sean Barnes. There, he met fellow student and future film actor James Franco. In fact, Hapka landed his first job working on Franco's film, Good Time Max.

Hapka went on to star in a variety of short films and independent projects. He landed his first starring role in The Danny McKay Project, playing the title role. Hapka fully immersed himself into portraying a young man searching for the meaning of life while battling a terminal brain tumor, losing 40 pounds throughout the shoot to depict his character's deterioration.

He went on to land a starring role in the Web spin-off of GHOST WHISPERER: Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side. Hapka even crossed over to the TV series to seek Melinda's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) help. Hapka has guest-starred on other TV shows, including GREEK, COLD CASE, and HANNAH MONTANA, on which he played Hannah's fake boyfriend.

Hapka recently completed two films: Near Fall, a high school wrestling drama, and Midgets vs. Mascots, which garnered third place at 2009's Tribeca Film Festival.

The single actor resides in Los Angeles and claims to be "pretty active" when he's not working on the DAYS set. He enjoys mountain biking, writing and singing.

ET CETERA

Five Random Facts
— Used to hold down a day job at UPS.
— Once tipped the scales at 265 pounds.
— Before landing the role of Nathan, Hapka appeared in a DAYS fantasy sequence as a grown-up Johnny in 2008.
— Was nominated in three categories, including best pecs, on soap hunks.net.
— Professes to be a very good cook.

OTHER ROLES

TV Roles
HANNAH MONTANA (Austin, 2009)
COLD CASE (Mark, 2009)
GREEK (Jeff, 2008)
GHOST WHISPERER (Zach, 2007-'08)

Film Roles
The Danny McKay Project (Danny, 2009)
Midgets Vs. Mascots (Little Richard, 2009)
Second Sight (Matt, 2009)
Private High Musical (Chad, 2008)
Real Fiction (Photographer, 2008)
Good Time Max (Mark, 2007)