# Chris Browning
**Chris Browning** (Christopher Jay Browning, born 1964) is an American film and television actor known for character roles, often tough or villainous figures, in films such as *3:10 to Yuma* (2007), *Terminator Salvation* (2009), *The Book of Eli* (2010), and *Bright* (2017), and in television series including *Westworld*, *Ray Donovan*, *[Bosch](https://www.edgepedia.org/bosch-tv-series)*, and *Bosch: Legacy*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/credits/3030428277/) A Nevada native, he has described himself with the joke that he is "that guy who died in that movie you like."[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Jay Browning, born 1964 in Reno, Nevada[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/bio/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/credits/3030428277/) |
| Training | Enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles intending to study screenwriting, without realizing it was a school for actors only; AADA alumnus, class of 1989[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/bio/) |
| Career break | Addiction led to homelessness; sobriety found in Taos, New Mexico; comeback began with a call for extras for the 2005 miniseries *Into the West*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) |
| Breakthrough | A small part as a deputy sheriff in *3:10 to Yuma* (2007) raised his profile and paired him for the first time with Christian Bale[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) |
| Signature screen moments | Hijack leader whose hand is cut off by Denzel Washington's character in *The Book of Eli*; burned alive in a stagecoach in *3:10 to Yuma*[5](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/) • [6](https://fredericdoss.blogspot.com/2011/03/chris-browning-on-subtely-in-acting.html) |
| Notable TV roles | Preston Borders in *Bosch* and *Bosch: Legacy*, Gary Royal in *Ray Donovan*, Holden in *Westworld*[7](https://www.dailybloid.com/interview/tv-series-bosch--interview-with-actor-chris-browning) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) |
| Recent work | Teddy Vogel in *The Lincoln Lawyer* (6 episodes, 2023), Preston Borders in *Bosch: Legacy*, Grand Canyon Elder in *Fallout* (2025–2026)[8](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/819/chris-browning) |
## Early career and training
Browning intended to be a screenwriter. A friend mentioned someone who attended the [American Academy of Dramatic Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-academy-of-dramatic-arts), and Browning enrolled expecting to learn "the dramatic arts" of writing; only after paying did he learn the schedule was voice and speech, Shakespeare, comedy, and movement. He decided to give acting a try and found he loved performing.[5](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/) One of his first parts was in a [Dr Pepper](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-pepper) commercial, and he spent the 1990s working in television.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) His early roles included a regular part in the short-lived 1994 baseball sitcom *Hardball* and a seven-episode guest appearance on [LL Cool J](https://www.edgepedia.org/ll-cool-j)'s sitcom *In the House* (1995).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/)
## Addiction and comeback
**Substance abuse derailed the first phase of his career.** Browning has said he lived on the streets for six years and spent half of that time in jail, going from a Malibu beach house to a mattress next to the freeway.[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp) He sought treatment in 1994 and later found sobriety in [Taos, New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/taos-new-mexico).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) He has said it took him 12 years to finally make it 90 days into recovery, quitting both alcohol and drugs.[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp)
The comeback began by accident: after five years of inactivity, he responded to a call for extras for the Western miniseries *[Into the West](https://www.edgepedia.org/into-the-west-miniseries)*, which was filming in [New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-mexico) in 2005, and won a role.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) • [9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/bio/3030428277/) New Mexico's film tax incentives were drawing productions to the state at the time, and work on *3:10 to Yuma* and *Terminator Salvation* brought him back to the attention of Los Angeles casting.[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp)
## Film work
A small part as a deputy sheriff in *3:10 to Yuma* (2007) raised Browning's profile and paired him for the first time with [Christian Bale](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-bale); the two worked together again on *Terminator Salvation* (2009), the fourth film in the *Terminator* series, in which Browning played Morrison.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/chris_browning) He has said of the *Yuma* shoot, "I knew I had a pretty rare opportunity having Christian's ear for hours on weeks on end. I got as much out of him as I could."[9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/bio/3030428277/)
In *The Book of Eli* (2010) he played the leader of a band of hijackers who loses his hand to [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington)'s character. Director Allen Hughes allowed him to play with his delivery once on-set rehearsals showed something different from the scripted lines was called for. Washington argued against killing the character in a brutal way, telling Browning, "He's put so much personality into this instead of just being 'evil bad guy' that the audience is going to kind of like him. So if I kill him like that, they're not going to like me." The scene ended with Washington's character sliding a knife into Browning's chest as a mercy.[5](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/)
His other film credits include the neo-Nazi prisoner in *[Felon](https://www.edgepedia.org/felon-film)* (2008), *[Cowboys & Aliens](https://www.edgepedia.org/cowboys-and-aliens)* (2011), Randy Greenawalt in *The Last Rampage* (2017), Serling in *Bright* (2017) opposite [Will Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-smith), and *Donnybrook* (2018).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/chris_browning) On Rotten Tomatoes his highest-rated film is *Greenlight* (2019), at 100 percent with critics, and his lowest is *Passion Play* (2010), at 3 percent.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/chris_browning)
## Television work
Browning has been a recurring guest player across network and streaming drama. He played Preston Borders, a rock musician imprisoned for murder, in *Bosch*, returning in *Bosch: Legacy* after new DNA evidence surfaces in the character's case.[7](https://www.dailybloid.com/interview/tv-series-bosch--interview-with-actor-chris-browning) • [8](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/819/chris-browning) His other television credits include Gary Royal in *Ray Donovan*, Holden in *Westworld*, roles in *Sons of Anarchy*, *Agent Carter*, *Supergirl*, *The 100*, *Timeless*, *S.W.A.T.*, *NCIS*, Teddy Vogel in *The Lincoln Lawyer*, and Grand Canyon Elder in *Fallout*.[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/credits/3030428277/) • [8](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/819/chris-browning)
## Approach to acting
Browning advocates subtlety in small parts. In his view, an actor playing "cop #2" should deliver exposition in a way that does not draw focus from the lead; overplaying a five-line paramedic role is, in his words, the one thing that will ensure the actor does not get the job.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/bio/3030428277/) • [5](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/) On bigger roles he tries to find the most likely choices and then do something else, "as long as it's still believable."[9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/bio/3030428277/) He credits scene study classes, where actors listen and play with dialogue back and forth, as where he got the most help, and advises new actors to build a reel from student films showing several different characters in the first minute.[5](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/)
In 2020 he starred in the independent short film *Clarity* as an older father with Alzheimer's disease reunited with a son he does not recognize; the film won the Grand Jury Award for Short Film at the Mammoth Film Festival.[3](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp)
## References
1. [Chris Browning (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/)
2. [Chris Browning, TV Guide credits](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/credits/3030428277/)
3. [Reno actor overcomes addiction, succeeds in Hollywood, KOLO-TV (August 14, 2020)](https://www.kolotv.com/2020/08/14/reno-actor-beats-addiction-succeeds-in-hollywood/?outputType=amp)
4. [Chris Browning Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115152/bio/)
5. [Between Takes: Catching Up With Actor Chris Browning, NYCastings](https://www.nycastings.com/between-takes-catching-up-with-actor-chris-browning/)
6. [Trust me, I'm an Actor: Chris Browning on Subtlety in Acting, Frederic Doss blog (March 31, 2011)](https://fredericdoss.blogspot.com/2011/03/chris-browning-on-subtely-in-acting.html)
7. [TV series 'Bosch', interview with actor Chris Browning, Dailybloid (April 15, 2019)](https://www.dailybloid.com/interview/tv-series-bosch--interview-with-actor-chris-browning)
8. [Chris Browning, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/819/chris-browning)
9. [Chris Browning Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chris-browning/bio/3030428277/)
10. [Chris Browning Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/chris_browning)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Bo to Br*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license