DJ Qualls (1978)

 early life

Qualls was born to Debbie and Donnie Qualls in Nashville, Tennessee, one of five children. He was raised in Manchester, Tennessee, and attended school nearby. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 14, and after two years of treatment, his cancer was said to be in remission. After graduating in 1996 from Coffee County Central High School, in Manchester, Tennessee, Qualls attended the University of London in England where he studied English and literature. He returned to Tennessee in 1997 and enrolled in Belmont University in Nashville, where he also began acting in a local theatre company.

 career

He was an extra in the HBO movie Against the Wall in 1994. He landed the small role of Jason in the television miniseries Mama Flora's Family while participating for free in Community Theater. After auditioning for a one-liner in Road Trip he was asked to come from the Atlanta office to meet producer Ivan Reitman in California. Qualls debuted in Road Trip as shy virgin Kyle Edwards.

After Road Trip, Qualls increasingly worked as a model, working for Prada and with photographers David LaChapelle and Steve Klein. In Cherry Falls , he played Wally, another virgin. In 2001 he played Neil Lawrence in Chasing Holden.

In 2002, he appeared as Archie in the film Comic Book Villains, Andrew in Big Trouble, Junior in Lone Star State of Mind, Dizzy Gillespie Harrison in The New Guy, and Rat in the sci-fi film The Core. Qualls starred in the comedy Delta Farce with Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy.

In 2005, Qualls delivered a breakout performance in the movie Hustle & Flow in a supporting role as Shelby with Terrence Howard.

His television work includes appearances on Monk, Scrubs, Criminal Minds, Lost, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI, Numb3rs, My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory, Supernatural and Memphis Beat.

Qualls appeared in a cameo in Britney Spears' music video, "Boys", and he was also in the "I'm Just a Kid" music video by Simple Plan. He stars in the Paramount Pictures web series Circle of Eight.