Marc Blucas
Marcus Paul "Marc" Blucas (born January 11, 1972) is an American actor, known for playing Riley Finn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Matthew Donnelly on Necessary Roughness.
Early life
Blucas was born in Butler, Pennsylvania. His mother, Mary Catherine (née Gordon), is an educator, and his father, Walter Joseph Blucas, is a school superintendent. They are divorced. After moving to Girard, Pennsylvania (a town near Erie), Blucas became the star player on the Girard High School basketball team. He also played basketball at Wake Forest University, graduating in 1994 after one season playing on the same court as Tim Duncan. He was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
After Blucas failed to make it into the NBA, he moved to England, where he played professional basketball for a year with British Basketball League's Manchester Giants. He later decided to become a lawyer, but changed his mind and went into acting instead.
Career
Blucas's first television role was in the television movie Inflammable, made in 1995. From there, he found roles in both television and film. He starred as the Basketball Hero in Gary Ross's Pleasantville (1998). However, Blucas finally landed his first major role in 1999 as Agent Riley Finn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Initially, Blucas was certain that he had blown his audition and had left apologizing for having wasted creator Joss Whedon's time. Whedon asked him to audition again, and he received the part two weeks later. He played Buffy's love interest until 2000.