Zachery Ty Bryan

Zachery Tyler Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American retired actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement. He also appeared in the films First Kid and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Early life Bryan was born in Aurora, Colorado, to Jenny and Dwight Bryan.

Career Bryan started off his career by appearing in local print and television advertising in Denver. He then appeared at a showcase in New York City, directed by Peter Seidman, where he was seen by a professional talent representative. This, and his interest in acting, soon brought him to California, where he was cast in the role of Brad, the oldest Taylor child, in the show Home Improvement, a role he played until the series ended in 1999. His character was known for experimenting with different hair styles as well as being the child most often in trouble. He is one month younger than Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who played his younger brother Randy on the show.

In the middle of Home Improvement Bryan made an appearance as Steve on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995. After Home Improvement ended, Bryan made brief appearances in many other television shows including (2002) Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Peter Nicols, (2005) Veronica Mars as Caz Truman, and (2006) Shark as Scott Natterson, as well as a guest appearance on an episode of Reading Rainbow. Additionally, he made a cameo appearance on MTV's I Bet You Will in which he portrayed himself and competed in a challenge where he wrestled female convicted felons. In 2001, he portrayed an ice hockey player in an episode of Touched by an Angel. He also appeared on Smallville in 2003 where he played Eric Marsh, a high school baseball player using steroids made from meteor rock. He was the second Home Improvement alum to make a guest appearance on the show after Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In 2005, Bryan appeared as Bryan Nolan in ESPN's TV movie Code Breakers. Bryan also guest starred in Cold Case (as the young murderer in the flashback scenes) and in 2008 as a young man hiring a hitman to kill his stepmother on the show Burn Notice.

Bryan's film roles include the school bully in the 1996 Sinbad comedy First Kid. He starred in the 1995 movie Magic Island as Jack Carlisle, the 1998 TV movie Principal Takes a Holiday, and the 1999 movie True Heart. He also starred as Eric in 1999's The Rage: Carrie 2. Later, he played defender Harry Keough alongside Gerard Butler in the 2005 movie The Game of Their Lives otherwise known as The Miracle Match about the 1950 US upset at the World Cup. In 2006, he played a villain named Clay in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, then a deputy in the 2009 TV mini-series Meteor, which aired on NBC. He also played Thor in the made-for-TV Syfy channel film THOR: Hammer of the Gods. The film originally aired on November 29, 2009.

In 2009, Bryan retired from the acting profession.

Personal life Bryan's cousin is former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn. Bryan and Matros divorced in September 2020 after 13 years of marriage.

On November 17, 2021, Bryan announced his engagement to model Johnnie Faye Cartwright. twins born in May 2023;

During an arrest in Oklahoma in October 2024, Bryan revealed that he was now "running" from his previous longtime home of California, stating, "I hate that place." In February 2021, Bryan pleaded guilty to two of the charges, menacing and fourth degree assault,

In June 2023, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Bryan was accused of running a fraudulent agriculture-technology startup scheme. The amount of money Bryan earned from the scheme is said to have totaled close to $50,000. Bryan had been charged with fourth degree robbery and harassment. On October 25, 2023, Bryan pleaded guilty to Felony Assault in the Fourth Degree Constituting Domestic Violence. As part of his plea deal, another count that Bryan was charged with was dismissed. Bryan was sentenced to 36 months of supervised probation, seven days in jail and was required to abide by a set of conditions typical of domestic violence cases, including no contact with his victim. Bryan was also warned that failure to comply with the probation terms would result in him serving 19–20 months in prison. This was his fourth DUI charge.

On October 24, 2024, Bryan was arrested in Custer County, Oklahoma for driving under the influence, his second DUI offense in the year 2024, and also for driving without a valid license. The Custer County Sheriff's Office's website shows that Bryan was booked into the jail shortly after 8:30 a.m. that morning. His Oklahoma DUI charge was described as a "driving under the influence - second felony offense." On October 27, Deadline Hollywood reported that on the day of his booking, Bryan was able to get released after posting a $65,000 bail. On October 29, 2024, additional dashcam footage obtained by Fox News was released that confirmed that Bryan was arrested after refusing to take a sobriety test, and that he also admitted to driving after a night of drinking during his arrest.

On January 2, 2025, Bryan was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and charged with second-degree domestic violence. He was released from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center the following day. The victim was later identified as Cartwright. During his arraignment, Bryan entered a denial on the charges; as a result, he was given a hearing date for later the same month on the probation charges and was transferred on a "detainer" to Lane County Community Corrections. Bryan was released from police custody ten days later. He went on to admit to three probation violations during a court appearance on December 29, 2025. A sentence hearing in relation to the charges was set for February 17, 2026. Bryan was convicted and ultimately sentenced to serve sixteen out of the twenty months he was originally meant to serve prior to receiving his 36 months of probation in 2023. He was then held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, California. The following month, Bryan was ordered to serve an additional 19 months in Oregon, in relation to his November 2025 arrest.

Filmography

Awards

Wins 1994 – Young Artist Awards for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series (Home Improvement) **Shared with Taran Noah Smith and Jonathan Taylor Thomas** 1999 – Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a TV Drama or Comedy Series – Leading Young Actor (Home Improvement) 1999 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series (Home Improvement)

Nominations 1993 – Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series (Home Improvement) 1998 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Miniseries/Made-for-TV Movie (Principal Takes a Holiday)