Kris Polaha

Kris Polaha (born Kristoffer Jon Polaha) is an American actor best known for his roles in Life Unexpected, North Shore and Ringer. Polaha attended Robert Louis Stevenson School, a boarding school in Pebble Beach, California, before studying acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.

Polaha moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to pursue acting and made his television debut that year with a guest role on Angel. He went on to appear in Roswell before landing a starring role as Jason Matthews on the drama series North Shore in 2004. Polaha later played Nate Bazile on Life Unexpected from 2010 to 2011 and Henry Butler on Ringer from 2011 to 2012. He also appeared as Carlton Hanson on Mad Men and starred in the Fox series Backstrom.

Polaha has appeared in films including Devil’s Knot (2013), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022). He became a familiar face to Hallmark viewers through movies including Dater’s Handbook (2016), Pearl in Paradise (2018), A Biltmore Christmas (2023) and the Mystery 101 series. In 2025, he made his feature directorial debut with Mimics, a film in which he also stars and voices a character.

Polaha married actress Julianne Morris in 2003. The couple share three sons: Kristoffer (born in 2004), Micah (born in 2006) and Jude (born in 2011).