Robbie Amell

Unlike many child actors, Robbie Amell easily matured from kiddie roles to teen heartthrob parts to more challenging mature fare. Equally gifted in comedy and drama, Amell made use of his model-quality looks without relying on them as a crutch.

Like his cousin Stephen Amell, star of the superhero drama "Arrow" (The CW, 2012- ), Robbie got his start in his native Toronto, beginning his career as a child model and actor at the age of six before Hollywood came courting. Amell's first screen role was in the 2005 family-film sequel "Cheaper By the Dozen 2," in which he played the son of Canadian comedy legend Eugene Levy and brother to future teen superstar Taylor Lautner.

After completing his studies in acting at Toronto's Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute in 2006, Robbie guest starred in two episodes of the drama series "Runaway" before taking on a recurring role in the Disney Channel family comedy "Life with Derek" (2005-09) as Max, the boyfriend of series lead Casey McDonald, played by Ashley Leggat.

The nominal sequel "American Pie Presents Beta House" (2007) reunited Robbie with Levy, but it was the following year's romantic comedy "Picture This" that cemented his pin-up status as he played the archetypal "most popular boy at school" and the object of star Ashley Tisdale's affections. Robbie then landed a recurring role on the Nickelodeon sitcom "True Jackson, VP" as -- once again -- the lead character's love interest.

Amell's square-jawed good looks and talent for comedy made him ideal casting for the lead role of Fred Jones in the 2009 TV movie "Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins," telling the story of how the crime-solving group Mystery Inc. was formed. The movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, "Scooby Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster," the following year.

By coincidence, Robbie was actually cast as a character called Scooby in 2011, when he appeared as the endearing dog-like boyfriend of Robin (Cobie Smulders) in two episodes of the hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 2005-14). That same year saw the release of "Devil's Night" (a.k.a. "Left for Dead") a retro-style horror movie which harked back to 1980s slasher movies. Robbie starred as, naturally, one of a group of college students stalked by a machete-wielding maniac.

A keen ice-hockey player and student of the martial art Muay Thai, Amell used his more physically intimidating side in episodes of dramatic TV series such as the crime procedural "CSI: NY" (CBS, 2004-2013), throwback cop-show reboot "Hawaii Five-O" (CBS, 2010- ) and teen mystery-drama "Pretty Little Liars" (ABC Family, 2010- ).

This exposure led to recurring roles in the short-lived science-fiction drama "Alcatraz" (Fox, 2012) and the soapy drama "Revenge" (ABC, 2011-15). In 2013, he returned to a sly updating of his teen roles as the hot boyfriend on the NBC political sitcom "1600 Penn." As D.B., the kindhearted but lunkheaded mall employee who impregnated First Daughter Becca Gilchrist (Martha MacIsaac) during a misbegotten one-night stand, Amell displayed an endearing sincerity along with his frequent shirtlessness.

Later in the year, he appeared on the quickly cancelled MTV sitcom "Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous." Shortly thereafter, Amell finally found a lead role in a high-profile project when he joined the cast of "The Tomorrow People" (The CW, 2013-14), an American remake of the vintage British sci-fi show of the same name. With "The Tomorrow People" airing immediately after his cousin's "Arrow," eager CW fans began dubbing the night "Amell Wednesday."