Tom Maden is an American actor, who is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Jake Fitzgerald in the MTV anthology slasher series Scream, from 2015 to 2016. Prior to acting, Maden was also a participant in the third season of the Discovery Kids reality series Endurance (2004–2005). Other prominent credits in Maden's career include main roles in the web series Lifeline (2017) and All Night (2018), as well as numerous recurring roles in television series, such as Parenthood (2011), Make It or Break It (2012), and Famous in Love (2017–2018). Additionally, Maden has starred in a number of films, including The Nanny Express (2008), General Education (2012), and The Ninth Passenger (2018).
Life and career
Early life
Tom Maden was born in Texas, United States, and grew up in Los Angeles, California.[1] Maden first came to prominence with his participation in the third season (2004–2005) of Endurance, entitled Endurance 3: Hawaii. The series, filmed on location at an island in Kauai's North Shore, consists of 21 episodes and aired on Discovery Kids between 2004 and 2005.[2]
Career beginnings, Parenthood and Make It or Break It
In 2006, Maden made his television acting debut in a tenth season episode of the long–running The WB family series 7th Heaven, which was followed by his film debut in Reversion; alongside actors Leslie Silva and Jason Olive, the drama was released in 2008.[3] That same year, Maden went on to star in an episode of the sitcom According to Jim, as well as appeared in the television movies Fall of Hyperion and Hallmark's The Nanny Express. His next two credits were in the 2010 independent films Breaking the Press and Spilt Milk, the latter starring Jake Johnson.
From 2013 to 2015, Maden had numerous roles in both film and television. In 2013, he was featured in the television movie Untitled Bounty Hunter Project; the film starred Geena Davis and Marsha Mason.[9] The actor's next credit that year was in a short film, The Lonely Waiter. Maden appeared in the fourth episode of the YouTubeGeek & Sundry series, Caper, released in 2014.[10] He later starred in the film Mission Air (2014), and in a fourth season episode of the ABC teen/family drama series Switched at Birth (2015).[11]
Scream and other projects
Maden landed the recurring role on MTV's Scream, in late 2014. The television series, based on the slasher film series of the same name, follows a group of teenagers being stalked and targeted by a masked serial killer.[12] Maden plays Jake Fitzgerald, a popular jock, member of the 'Lakewood Six', and the on-and-off again boyfriend of Brooke Maddox (actress Carlson Young).[13] In preparation for the series, Maden and the cast watched the film series together; for the role of Jake, Maden took inspiration from the original Scream (1996) characters Stu Macher (actor Matthew Lillard) and Billy Loomis (actor Skeet Ulrich).[1] Maden's character is killed off during the second season premiere episode, serving as a "major reset" to the season; yet, he continues to feature prominently in the storyline and in cameo appearances throughout the rest of the season.[14] Maden also appears as Jake in an episode of the Scream web series If I Die (released on YouTube),[15] and as himself in the first installment of the aftershow, Scream After Dark, which was released on MTV following the season two premiere.[16] In a Screen Rant piece by Aedan Juvet, Jake Fitzgerald was ranked the second best character in the whole series, behind Brooke, with the author claiming Maden brought a "protective sense of kindness to the role".[17]
After Scream, Maden was credited in television film A Housekeeper's Revenge, along with Kathryn Newton and Kenton Duty.[18] He had a lead role in the Lifetime movie thriller Swim at Your Own Risk (previously, Killer Coach) as Bryce Hinge; the role was alongside Keesha Sharp and premiered on Lifetime on July 30, 2016.[19] In 2017, Maden went on to appear in two episodes of the Netflix teen drama 13 Reasons Why, as Robert Wells, a librarian and leader of a poetry club that series protagonist Hannah Baker (actress Katherine Langford) attends.[4][20] He starred in the YouTube Red series Lifeline as Tom,[11] as well as recurred in Freeform's Famous in Love; the series, which starred Bella Thorne, had Maden appear as Adam throughout both seasons of its run.[21]
In 2017, the actor was cast as Nino Clemente in the teen comedy series All Night. The series, which had a large ensemble cast featuring Maden, premiered on Hulu in May 2018.[22] Later in 2018, Maden starred in the television movies Tomboy, and 25, the latter opposite Emily Osment and Matt Shively.[4] With Jesse Metcalfe and Alexia Fast, Maden also headlined the Vancouver–based horror–thriller film The Ninth Passenger (2018).[23][24] In 2019, Maden co–starred in the Hallmark film Love in the Sun, opposite Emeraude Toubia and Shawn Christian.[25][26] The romantic–comedy was filmed in Florida, United States, and premiered on May 27, 2019.[11][27] Moreover, he also starred in the YouTube science–fiction short film Sky Fighter, released in 2020.[28][29]
