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| Someone's TOO sexy for his shirt... Colton for A&F The Making of a Star | Photo by Bruce Weber |
Of the American heartland, Colton L. Haynes was born on July 13, 1988, to parents Dana Denise Mitchell and William Clayton Haynes in Wichita, Kansas. "I grew up on a farm in Kansas. I guess you could say I had a 'hick' childhood, but when I go back to visit now, I see how beautiful it was. I come from a traveling family, and I lived with my sister for a time, and also with an uncle," he shared with fans on his abercrombie.com profile earlier this year. Colton experienced much moving through his childhood which brought him to places in Arkansas, New Mexico, Florida, and Texas. It was in Texas where he graduated from high school and to this day remembers the guys and girls who made him feel at home, "senior yr. In Texas...being the new kid isn't always easy but these incredible ppl welcomed me wit open arms (missing in our crew photo was Topher, [W]here the hell r u bud?[)] Such great memories."
Before graduation, however, Colton had kickstarted his modeling career by having gotten a spot at posing for the lens of our Bruce Weber for A&F! At the young age of 15, he had scored the widely coveted dream of being a part of an Abercrombie & Fitch campaign and it naturally got him the resulting attention to set off his future endeavors. The amazing modeling opportunities continued to present themselves henceforth, and he went on to devote himself fully to his flourishing career opportunities after his 2006 high school graduation. His modeling repertoire came to include J.C. Penny, Kira Plastinina (back when the Russian womenswear brand was expanding, though soon closed, in the U.S.), and Ralph Lauren among others in his early years; and his modeling work furthermore flourished on in storm with multitudinous appearances across high-fashion publications worldwide continuing on today.
Expanding into another outlet of artistic expression, while molding, Colton soon, too, harboring a sense of deep personal direction, entered the acting scene: "I have a lot of energy, so I think that that's why I chose acting 'cause it kinda calms me down," he shares in his A&F Spring 2014 profile vid. His first role was an uncredited appearance in Michael Bay's Transformers (2007) and guest appearances on TV shows (CSI: Miami (2007; ep. "Bang, Bang, Your Debt"), The Hills (2008; two cameo appearances as model), Privileged (2008; ep. "All About Family and Friends"), Pushing Daisies (2008; ep. "Frescorts")) and a role in My Chemical Romance's music video for "I Don't Love You" (2007). Colton actually auditioned for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight – we all know that one went to Robert Pattinson – and years later he lightheartedly joked that it was just "all about the love triangle and the glistening skin." His second film role did come playing as the main character's son in Always and Forever (2009). That fall, Colton scored a guest appearance on The CW's Melrose Place which happened to star former A&F model Katie Cassidy (both models were not of same campaign). (Watch Colton explain modeling/acting for him in this 2009 Models.com video clip). The next year, in 2010, Colton was finally cast as a main actor. His role as jock-turns-werewolf in ABC's supernatural crime-drama, The Gates, also had him teaming up with another A&F model, James Preston (a highly featured and popular A&F model during this time, check out his viral-hit M.S.H.T.W.F.M.T.O. post here at #THEHOTTESTBLOG!). That same year, Colton was also main-casted as "17-year-old asshole" Shane in HBO's drama, Look: The Series. Both series were canceled after short runs with each, incidentally, eleven episode.
Gold finally struck when Colton was made cocky, self-centered, privileged lacrosse captain, Jackson Whittemore, in MTV's runaway success, Teen Wolf! Everyone loves a steamy, troubled badboy, and, oh, how Colton made Jackson a classic! Teen Wolfers fell in love with the character and the actor, and the fandom for both EXPLODED! Colton remained as part of the main cast of Teen Wolf for its first two seasons before his character was written off to having "left for London" in a mutual decision between Colton and producers so he could personally move onto other projects. The fandom for Colton as Jackson remains as one of the strongest among Teen Wolfers, and Colton made forever friends with his castmates with which he loves hanging out with post-leaving.
Today, Colton continues his widely-obsessed-over TV heartthrob status as Roy Harper in The CW's superhero hit, Arrow. At the series, he's been reunited with former A&F model, Katie Cassidy, with which he's been great friends along with the rest of his new castmates. Having begun as a recurring character in season one after leaving Teen Wolf, he was made series regular for season two which kicked off October 19, 2013. And it was by those last weeks of 2013 when he was reached out by Abercrombie & Fitch to make the ultimate return with the moose (and in the most perfect of timing)!
A classic (already, seriously) and evermore beloved, Colton, as a part of A&F The Making of a Star, solely, and appreciatively, forms a direct connection back to the olden, golden A&F days when the brand was still just growing in the United States, exclusive and compelling, as indisputably the ultimate in cool. He channels in, with his personal form, an aesthetic characteristic to Abercrombie & Fitch as what in which in hallmark made the brand admired inline with fresh, ever-original and classic marketing. Furthermore, Colton stands as the only A&F model to return after such gap between his first appearance for the brand. A decade later, our boy brings quintessential Aber-essence back to this Abercrombie & Fitch. He's wondrous Abergod and king of this campaign for all his merits!
(Selected A&F photography of Colton, and also of Debby Ryan, were used as well for abercrombie kids Spring 2014).
Recently, Colton surpassed 1,000,000 followers – 1.047+ million by the time of the publishing of this post – on his personal Instagram account which only ever accelerated on followers in the past months. Super amusing, his IG is 100% by him and just pure awesome. Earlier this year, he lightheartedly parodied Jennifer Lawrence (another former modeled-for-Bruce-Weber-for-A&F celebrity) in her Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2013/14 dress she wore to the 2014 Golden Globes, and his pic even got featured on E!'s Fashion Police. For all the general hilarity and cool sharings... Got. To. Follow him! "Because of the shows I've been in, I have a lot of social media follows," he commented on his A&F profile. Though not just because of that. Come on now, Colton. People naturally get hooked! Also, check out his twitter, his facebook, and his tumblr!
But if you thought he was already well-rounded enough, our boy is also a budding singer! He's been working on material with his close buddy, Travis-Atreo Graham (musician from band, New Heights), and the guys released their first original single working together, a Christmas tune titled "Baby It's Christmas" (listen on YouTube; buy on iTunes; buy on Amazon), on December 20, 2013. Back in November, the fellas had released on YouTube only as video performance their acoustic cover of Dan + Shay's "19 You + Me". #WatchOut #TotalTripleThreat
Apart from his work, Colton also makes time for helping out in the community: "[..] I like reaching out to kids who are going through some problems." Back in November 2010, Colton had publically shared, "I was born with an extremely negative attitude. I was the kid who wouldn't smile in Christmas photos, was a poor sport, and hated a lot of things. I eventually grew out of my negativity when I matured. I have to be optimistic now because when I let negativity enter my life I get so depressed, and it's a downward spiral from there. You have to find the things that you are happy about and focus on that." And his pursuit for strengthening positivity in everyday extends through his humanitarian work: "I also volunteer with the organization Love is Louder, where we talk to kids about bullying," he furthered on abercrombie.com.
...Stay FIERCE!
P.S. Check out what Colton wore to the A&F The Making of a Star party on February 22, (here)! It was...just Colton genius. ;) Plus, check out the A&F The Marking on a Star posts (here) at #THEHOTTESTBLOG featuring him and the other wonderful faces of the campaign!
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