Throwing it back to the 2000s! Max Thieriot made his film debut in the 2004 movie Catch That Kid alongside Kristen Stewart and Corbin Bleu, but he’s come a long way since then.

Fans have watched him sing and dance through the Sound of Music in 2005’s The Pacifier, steal Emma Roberts heart as Ned Nickerson in the 2007 movie Nancy Drew and even had his name cleared by Abigail Breslin when Kit Kittredge: An American Girl premiered in 2008. That same year, he even reunited with former Catch That Kid star Kristen for the movie Jumper.

While the actor has nabbed some supporting movie roles over the years — like alongside Jennifer Lawrence in House at the End of the Street — he switched to TV in 2013 by starring in Bates Motel for five seasons. Along with playing opposite Freddie Highmore in the thriller series, Max stepped behind the camera and kicked off his directing career.

“I’ve wanted to be a director since I started acting and have always kind of been so inquisitive and just curious about how things worked at a young age. You know, why the director chose to do certain things, why they put the camera in certain places. I’m super excited,” he shared in an August 2016 interview about the new gig. “I’m really grateful that they’re giving me the opportunity to do it. But it’s also a really great place for me to sort of start because I’m so familiar with the characters and the writing and the show and how the show looks. I already feel at home. I’m just excited at this point.”

When Bates Motel came to an end in 2017, Max immediately nabbed another TV role in the Paramount+ series SEAL Team. He’s directed an episode too.

“He’s certainly the type of person who doesn’t really half-ass and does everything 100 percent,” Max told Outsider.com about his character, Clay Spenser, during a December 2021 interview. “I think the most fun part about playing Clay is to get to play pretend and get paid to do it and go to some awesome places and have a lot of fun with great people.”

Amid his SEAL Team role, it was announced in March 2022 that the California native would be starring in an upcoming TV series titled Cal Fire, which, per Deadline, is inspired by Max’s own experiences.

Scroll through our gallery to see what else the actor is up to now. 

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