Brian Altemus

From the runway to a Brooklyn high school

Brian Altemus didn't set out to get into movies as a child. He got into show business through professional modeling in New York while finishing his studies. But modeling was just a way to pay the bills before making the real leap into acting.

In 2020, he landed his first major role in the Netflix series Grand Army. He played Luke Friedman, a high school student caught up in a complex storyline about consent and privilege culture. Critics praised his ability to carry a character with dark nuances without falling into the caricature of the teen villain.

That project was his real acting school.

The show demanded a rawness that Altemus hadn't experienced in his earlier commercial work. The production was canceled after its first season. So the actor had to look for new opportunities in an industry that was starting to become saturated with teen dramas.

Breaking out in fantasy

In 2022 his career picked up a much faster pace. He joined the HBO series The Time Traveler’s Wife, where he played the young version of one of the leads. It was technical work that required complete coordination with the rest of the cast to keep the character consistent across the time jumps.

That same year, he joined the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin universe. In this new take on the teen classic, he played Henry, a dancer who brought a calmer tone to a storyline packed with murders and suspense. The role let him show a different physical side thanks to his dance training for the conservatory scenes.

And the industry took notice.

In 2023, he appeared in the final season of Never Have I Ever. His stint on Mindy Kaling's comedy was brief but strategic, helping him stay visible on global streaming platforms. Altemus avoided being typecast by alternating mystery projects with light, mainstream comedies.

Maturing on traditional cable

The year 2024 marked a major change of pace when he joined the cast of The Way Home on Hallmark Channel. He plays the teenage version of Elliot Augustine in scenes set in 1999. It's a role that calls for capturing the nostalgia of an era he barely lived through, yet one that connects with a very broad, multigenerational audience.

His work on this production is built on emotional restraint. Sharing the role with an adult actor, he must replicate specific gestures and mannerisms so that viewers believe in the man's evolution across the decades.

But his ambitions go beyond being in front of the camera. Altemus has started to take an interest in production processes and the development of original scripts in Los Angeles. In 2024, he juggled shooting in Canada with searching for independent projects that steer clear of the big networks' commercial circuit.

Season three of The Way Home is scheduled to shoot during the middle months of 2024.