Early life Tom Maden was born in Texas, United States, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. Maden first came to prominence with his participation in the third season (2004–2005) of
Endurance, entitled
Endurance 3: Hawaii. The series, filmed on location at an island in
Kauai's North Shore, consists of 21 episodes and aired on Discovery Kids between 2004 and 2005.
Career beginnings, Parenthood and Make It or Break It In 2006, Maden made his television acting debut in a tenth season episode of the long–running
The WB family series
7th Heaven, which was followed by his film debut in
Reversion; alongside actors
Leslie Silva and
Jason Olive, the drama was released in 2008. That same year, Maden went on to star in an episode of the sitcom
According to Jim, as well as appeared in the television movies
Fall of Hyperion and
Hallmark's
The Nanny Express. His next two credits were in the 2010 independent films
Breaking the Press and
Spilt Milk, the latter starring
Jake Johnson. During 2011, Maden had a recurring role as Zach Bell on the
NBC family comedy drama
Parenthood, during the series'
third season. He later guest starred in the CBS police procedural
The Mentalist, in the
fourth season episode "Something's Rotten in Redmund". In 2012, Maden had a recurring role on the ABC Family teen comedy series
Make It or Break It. Throughout the series'
third and final season, Maden portrayed
Rigo, the boyfriend of main character
Payson Keeler (actress
Ayla Kell). Also in 2012, Maden was cast in the
Warner Bros. comedy film
General Education; the film was shot in
Chico and
Gridley, California, and released in August of that year. From 2013 to 2015, Maden had numerous roles in both film and television. In 2013, he was featured in the television movie
Untitled Bounty Hunter Project; the film starred
Geena Davis and
Marsha Mason. The actor's next credit that year was in a short film,
The Lonely Waiter. Maden appeared in the fourth episode of the
YouTube Geek & Sundry series,
Caper, released in 2014. He later starred in the film
Mission Air (2014), and in a
fourth season episode of the ABC teen/family drama series
Switched at Birth (2015).
Scream and other projects Maden landed the recurring role on
MTV's
Scream, in late 2014. The television series, based on the
slasher film series of the same name, follows a group of teenagers being stalked and targeted by a masked serial killer. Maden plays
Jake Fitzgerald, a popular
jock, member of the 'Lakewood Six', and the on-and-off again boyfriend of
Brooke Maddox (actress
Carlson Young). In preparation for the series, Maden and the cast watched the film series together; for the role of Jake, Maden took inspiration from the original
Scream (1996) characters
Stu Macher (actor
Matthew Lillard) and
Billy Loomis (actor
Skeet Ulrich). Maden also appears as Jake in an episode of the
Scream web series
If I Die (released on YouTube), and as himself in the first installment of the
aftershow,
Scream After Dark, which was released on MTV following the season two premiere. In a
Screen Rant piece by Aedan Juvet, Jake Fitzgerald was ranked the second best character in the whole series, behind Brooke, with the author claiming Maden brought a "protective sense of kindness to the role". After
Scream, Maden was credited in television film ''A Housekeeper's Revenge
, along with Kathryn Newton and Kenton Duty. He had a lead role in the Lifetime movie thriller Swim at Your Own Risk
(previously, Killer Coach
) as Bryce Hinge; the role was alongside Keesha Sharp and premiered on Lifetime on July 30, 2016. In 2017, Maden went on to appear in two episodes of the Netflix teen drama 13 Reasons Why, as Robert Wells, a librarian and leader of a poetry club that series protagonist Hannah Baker (actress Katherine Langford) attends. He starred in the YouTube Red series Lifeline'' as Tom, In 2017, the actor was cast as Nino Clemente in the teen comedy series
All Night. The series, which had a large ensemble cast featuring Maden, premiered on
Hulu in May 2018. Later in 2018, Maden starred in the television movies
Tomboy, and
25, the latter opposite
Emily Osment and
Matt Shively. In 2019, Maden co–starred in the Hallmark film
Love in the Sun, opposite
Emeraude Toubia and
Shawn Christian. The romantic–comedy was filmed in
Florida, United States, and premiered on May 27, 2019. Moreover, he also starred in the YouTube science–fiction short film
Sky Fighter, released in 2020. ==Filmography==