Film and television Early in his career, Polaha appeared in theatre productions, including
Ragtime Revue at
Lincoln Center,
The Long Days Journey Into Night at the
Roundabout Theater,
Bread & Butter at
Provincetown Playhouse, and
Uncle Vanya at the
Stella Adler Conservatory. In early 2000s, Polaha began appearing in small roles in several American television series and films. His first on-screen appearance was a role as Gavin in the episode "Plus One" of comedy-drama series ''
That's Life''. In 2004, he won the lead role of Jason Matthews on the prime-time soap opera
North Shore. The series centered on the staff and guests of the fictional Grand Waimea Hotel and Resort.
North Shore concluded in January 2005 after a 21-episode, single-season run. Polaha and his family lived in Hawaii for a year and their son was born there. In 2008, Polaha starred on the series
Miss Guided and appeared in the biographical film
Billy: The Early Years (2008)
. In 2009, he appeared in several guest starring television roles, including
The Ex List, Dollhouse, Without a Trace and
Better Off Ted. In 2010, he began portraying Nate Bazile, a bar owner who discovers he has a teenage daughter
Lux Cassidy (
Britt Robertson), on the teen drama series
Life Unexpected. The series garnered mostly positive feedback during its two seasons, with many reviews favorably comparing the show to the critically acclaimed series
Gilmore Girls and
Everwood. In November 2010, Polaha signed a talent holding deal with
CBS. Polaha founded a production company titled Podunk Productions in 2010. He played writer Henry Butler in
The CW's thriller crime series
Ringer until the series conclusion in 2012.
Las Vegas Weekly gave
Ringer a mixed review, saying it was "a little silly but also juicy and well-acted". In 2012, he landed a guest role on the second season of MTV's teen comedy series
Awkward. ,
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Polaha attending
Ringer panel at the 2011
San Diego Comic-ConPolaha starred as
John Galt in
Atlas Shrugged: Part III, which was released on September 12, 2014. He appeared in the movies ''
Devil's Knot (2013), Back in the Day (2014), Where Hope Grows (2015) and Aberrant
(original name: Vineland)
(2016). Where Hope Grows
centers on the friendship between Calvin (portrayed by Polaha), a former professional baseball player and Produce (David DeSanctis), a young man with Down syndrome. The film grossed $1.2 million at the box office. He had a lead role as Jodie King in the short film Frontman
(2016). He earned a Jury Award for Best Actor at Seattle Shorts Film Festival for his performance in Frontman
. In 2017, Polaha played Jeffrey in five episodes of the comedy-drama television series Get Shorty.'' Polaha has starred in several original
Hallmark Channel films, including ''Dater's Handbook
(2016) opposite Meghan Markle, Rocky Mountain Christmas
(2017) opposite Lindy Booth and Pearl in Paradise
(2018) alongside Jill Wagner. Especially Rocky Mountain Christmas'' was a success for the network. Polaha commented the film's popularity by saying: "
Rocky Mountain Christmas won the night on cable. We had the highest ratings, not just the highest ratings ever in the history of
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, but we won the night across all the cable channels. It was a big deal for
Hallmark, and it was a big deal for us as a cast because it really did set our movie apart. It was definitely one of those special moments." The film series included seven movies and the first one aired on January 27, 2019. Polaha portrayed Michael Truett in the
Christian drama film Run the Race (2019), released on February 22, 2019 by
Roadside Attractions. The film made $2.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 10th at the box office. In November 2018, Polaha revealed that he will appear in
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), directed by
Patty Jenkins; he played the 'host' to the resurrected spirit of
Chris Pine's character. On July 26, 2019,
The Hollywood Reporter announced that Polaha will appear in Hallmark Channel's Christmas-themed television film
Double Holiday (2019) opposite
Carly Pope. In 2020, he had a small role as Courthouse Reporter 2 in
Hulu's drama
miniseries Little Fires Everywhere starring
Reese Witherspoon and
Kerry Washington. Polaha starred in Hallmark's original
Christmas film A Dickens of a Holiday! (2021) as Jake Dorsey, famous action star who grew up in Dickens, Ohio. Polaha appeared as
CIA officer Wyatt Huntley in the science fiction film
Jurassic World Dominion (2022), On November 6, 2023, he appeared on the cover of
TV Guide magazine alongside actress
Bethany Joy Lenz. He had a lead role as Kevin Garner in the sci-fi thriller film
The Shift (2023), produced by Ken Carpenter. The film follows Kevin, who finds himself in a dystopian world confronted by a stranger known as "The Benefactor" who presents him with challenges as Kevin fights to shift realities and return to the woman he loves. Filmed in
Birmingham, Alabama, the film was released on December 1, 2023.
Books In June 2020,
Variety reported that Polaha had signed a book deal with Rosewind Books to co-author a series of romance novels with Anna Gomez. The first in the
From Kona with Love book series, titled
Moments Like This, is set in Hawaii and centers on a young woman looking to find herself after losing her career and relationship. Polaha plans to produce the books for film and television through his production company Podunk Productions. ==Personal life==