Clayne Crawford

Years of playing intense young men in series like "24" (Fox, 2001-2010) paid off for actor Clayne Crawford in 2016, when he was cast in a starring role as a hotwired police detective in the small screen version of "Lethal Weapon" (Fox, 2016-); however, widesperead reports of bad behavior by Crawford on the set led to his being fired from the series following its second season. Born Joseph Crawford in Clay, Alabama, Crawford moved to Los Angeles in 1997, where he made his screen debut in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (The WB/UPN, 1997-2003). Billing himself as Clayne Crawford after a distant member of his family, he soon divided his time between episodic series and supporting roles youth-oriented features, including Shane West's best friend turned enemy in "A Walk to Remember" (2002) and "Swimfan" (2002); in 2005, he made his directorial debut with the short "Trust," which he also wrote. The following year, Crawford was cast as the malevolent Mitchell Caffrey in "Jericho" (CBS, 2006-08), and he would continue to essay unpredictable young men in numerous subsequent projects, including "Life" (NBC, 2007-09) and "24" (as the vengeful ex-convict Kevin Wade. In 2013, he was cast as Ted Talbot, Jr., the morally conflicted stepbrother of recently freed parolee Aden Young, in the critically acclaimed "Rectify" (SundanceTV, 2013-16). After years of guest roles and supporting turns, Crawford was boosted to leading man status, playing another edgy figure - the short-fused police detective Martin Riggs - in "Lethal Weapon," which was based on the popular features starring Mel Gibson in the Riggs role. However, as the show continued into its second season, rumors persisted of abusive behavior on-set by Crawford. These rumors were confirmed in May 2018 when it was announced that Crawford had been fired from the series and would be replaced by Seann William Scott (in a different role) for its third season.