Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American film and television actor. He began his career in the early 2000s, appearing on the Gilmore Girls and other series, and subsequently came to fame for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C., establishing his defining screen persona. Joel Stein of Time magazine has described Brody as creating an "Adam Brody type", a screen persona of a "nerdy, sarcastic, obscure-reference-laced Jew". Brody has also appeared in several film roles, including Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Thank You for Smoking and In the Land of Women.
Born and raised in San Diego, California, Adam Brody spent a lot of his teen years hanging out with his friends, having fun and surfing. Upon graduation, he convinced his parents to allow him to attend college in Los Angeles. However, instead of enrolling in school, he hired an acting coach, signed with a personal manager and soon landed the lead in the NBC movie-of-the-week, Growing Up Brady (2000) (TV), playing Barry Williams (I) (Greg Brady). Soon after, Brody was cast as the lead in the MTV cult series Now What? His television credits also include a recurring role as Coop in ABC's "Once and Again" (1999); a recurring role as Dave in the WB's Emmy-nominated "Gilmore Girls" (2000); and standout guest starring roles in "Judging Amy" (1999), "Family Law" (1999) and "Smallville" (2001). Brody will also soon be seen starring in the new Fox television series "O.C., The" (2003), playing the son of Peter Gallagher (I)'s character. In addition to Grind (2003), Brody's feature film credits include an very small role in the 2002 hit thriller Ring, The (2002) and the dynamic lead role as Patrick in Missing Brendan (2003), opposite Edward Asner and Illeana Douglas. He also starred in the skateboarding movie, Grind (2003).