Justin Chambers Biography

Justin Willman Chambers (born July 11, 1970) is an American actor and former fashion model, known for his role as Dr. Alex Karev in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy.

Early life

Chambers was born in Springfield, Ohio, the son of Pamela Sue (Willman) and John William Eugene Chambers II. He has a fraternal twin brother named Jason, one older brother John Jr. (Chip), and two older sisters, Mia and Susan. He and his twin brother visited hospitals often as children due to frequent bouts with pneumonia. He attended Southeastern High School in South Charleston, Ohio, and later Springfield Clark JVS.

Career

Chambers was discovered by a modeling scout on the Paris Metro and went on to represent Calvin Klein in a fragrance campaign. He worked throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States for Calvin Klein, Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana. After deciding on an acting career, he moved to New York, where he studied at the HB Studio. Studios and Ron Stetson Studios for four years. That landed him a few television roles, including recurring role in soap opera Another World as Nicholas Hudson, and New York Undercover. In 1998 he was cast as series regular in the short-lived CBS primetime soap opera Four Corners. Chambers also appeared in several television movies, such as Harvest of Fire, Rose Hill, and Seasons of Love

Chambers starred in several movies, notably Liberty Heights (1999, as Trey, alongside Adrien Brody),The Wedding Planner (2001, as Massimo, alongside Jennifer Lopez), The Musketeer (2001) Southern Belles (2005), The Zodiac (2005), and the HBO original movie Hysterical Blindness (2002). In 2003, Chambers was cast as one of the leads in the CBS crime drama Cold Case but left after appearing in only four episodes.

In August, 2004, Chambers was cast as surgical intern Alex Karev in Shonda Rhimes's medical drama series Grey's Anatomy, opposite Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, and T. R. Knight. In 2006, along with other cast members, he was awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In 2009, he also guest-starred on the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice, for the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event.

Personal life

In 1993, he married Keisha Chambers, a former model agency booker; they have five children together: Isabella (b. December 1994), twins Maya and Kaila (b. June 1997), Eva (b. March 1999) and Jackson (b. January 2002). In late January 2008, Chambers admitted that he suffered from a biological sleep disorder. The actor checked himself into Los Angeles's UCLA Medical Center to treat exhaustion due to the sleep disorder after a period of getting only two hours of sleep each week.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Liberty Heights	Trey Tobelseted
2001	The Wedding Planner	Massimo
2001	The Musketeer	D'Artagnan
2002	Leo	Ryan Eames
2003	For Which It Stands	German Soldier	Short film
2005	Southern Belles	Rhett Butler
2005	The Zodiac	Inspector Matt Parish
2008	Lakeview Terrace	Donnie Eaton
2010	The Happiest Man Alive	Sherman	Short film
2013	Broken City	Ryan Blake
2013	Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox	The Flash / Barry Allen	Direct-to-video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Another World	Nicholas 'Nick' Hudson #1	Recurring role
1996	New York Undercover	Officer Nick Caso	Episode: "Unis"
1996	Harvest of Fire	George	TV Movie
1996	Swift Justice	Rick	Episode: "Stones"
1997	Rose Hill	Cole Clayborne	TV Movie
1998	Four Corners	Caleb Haskell	Series regular, 2 episodes
1999	Seasons of Love	Adult Hocking	TV Movie
2002	Hysterical Blindness	Rick	TV Movie
2003	Cold Case	Chris Lassing	Series regular, left after 5 episodes
2004	The Secret Service	Charles Brody	TV pilot
2005-present	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Alex Karev	Main Cast (Season 1-present) Nominated - Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Breakout Performance - Male (2005) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2006, 2008) Won - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2007) Nominated - Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor - Drama Series (2007) Won - Satellite Award for Best Cast - Television Series (2006) Nominated - Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Episode (2008) Nominated - Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline (2009) Won - Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline (2014) Nominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor (2015) Nominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor (2016)
2009	Private Practice	Dr. Alex Karev	Episode: "Ex-Life"