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Joey Pollari

American actor (born 1994)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Joey Pollari (born April 9, 1994) is an American actor, musician, and director. He first gained recognition for his role as Eric Tanner in the second season of the ABC series American Crime, and later appeared as Lyle, one of Simon's potential love interests, in the 2018 film Love, Simon. Beginning in 2025, he became a frequent collaborator of Ryan Murphy, first appearing in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, followed by The Beauty, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, and American Horror Story: 13 (all 2026).

In 2020, Pollari released his debut album, About Men, followed by his second album, I'll Be Romance, on April 5, 2024.

01Early life

Pollari was born on April 9, 1994 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

02Career

Acting

He started his acting career when he attended a scouting event in downtown Minneapolis with his mother. He received callbacks the next day from agents who wanted to represent him. Pollari has appeared in stage productions at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, and the SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development, also in Saint Paul.

On April 30, 2006, Pollari appeared as a newsboy in "The Hen House", an episode of the police procedural television series Cold Case. The Walt Disney Company cast him in Skyrunners, a 2009 Disney XD Original Movie about two brothers who stumble upon a spaceship that is sought after by the FBI agents and space aliens. The film, which was shot in New Zealand, premiered on Disney XD on November 27, 2009. Pollari was 15 years old when it first aired. His co-star in the film, Kelly Blatz, a long-time friend of Pollari, said Pollari grew "like a foot taller and his voice changed and everything" during the filming of Skyrunners.

In 2018, Pollari had a supporting role in the teen romantic comedy Love, Simon as Lyle, one of Simon's potential boyfriends. In 2019, he appeared in another gay-themed film, The Obituary of Tunde Johnson.

In 2023, he appeared as a pivotal guest star on SEAL Team for Paramount+, playing a grieving vet whose guilt comes with dire consequences.

In 2024, he was in a recurring role for Sugar on Apple TV+ starring Colin Farrell and Amy Ryan.

In 2025, he starred in a gay rom-com Things Like This written and directed by Max Talisman, and he played Anthony Perkins in Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix starring Charlie Hunnam.

Music

In 2020, Pollari released an album, About Men. In a June 2020 interview, Pollari said that he is still acting, but in his free time, he will be releasing more music and directing music videos. In 2023, he announced an EP, Last Evenings, that was released October 25. His first single, "Supine Soundtrack," was released September 15, and was followed by a second single, "Aliveness," which he self-directed a video for.

In January 2024, he announced a second full-length album, "I'll Be Romance," with an accompanying first single and self-directed music video for "So Close." The video was called both "dreamy and rousing," and Pollari's songwriting was compared to "Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, his baritone delivery fixated on enveloping the listener in a vivid and introspective narrative" by Wonderland Magazine. The album has been teased as "a sonorous balm that seems to touch on vintage tropes" by Clash Magazine, and was released April 5, 2024.

03Personal life

He is gay, having come out at 18 to friends and family.

04Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2009SkyrunnersTyler BurnsDisney XD Original Movie
2010Avalon HighMilesDisney Channel Original Movie
2012Profile of a KillerDavid JenksIndie Thriller Movie
2014EtherealAsherShort film
2015EdenGeorgie
2018 Love, Simon Lyle
2019 The Obituary of Tunde Johnson Charlie
2025 Things Like This Zack

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Cold Case Newsboy Episode: The Hen House
2012 Up All Night Mark Episode: I Can't Quit You
2012 The Inbetweeners Will McKenzie Regular; 12 episodes
2014 Saint George Tanner Whitman 4 episodes
2014 Major Crimes Wesley Grant Episode: Party Foul
2016 American Crime Eric Tanner Season 2; series regular: 10 episodes
2022-2024 SEAL Team Ben Seasons 6-7; recurring guest star: 5 episodes
2024 Sugar Moss Seasons 1; recurring guest star: 4 episodes
2025 Monster: The Ed Gein Story Anthony Perkins Recurring guest star: 3 episodes
2026 The Beauty Mike McGuinn (Post Beauty) Guest star; 2 episodes
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story John Morse
American Horror Story: 13 TBA Post-production
Watch videos about Joey PollariExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Joey Pollari, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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