Why Cody From Ride Looks So Familiar

For anyone who wants a Hallmark spin on some "Yellowstone"-esque ranch family shenanigans, "Ride" is the answer they've been waiting for. The show has ranch-saving drama and cowboy shenanigans in droves, but it's also got Hallmark's general penchant for aww-inducing romantic subplots. One particularly engaging love story in the series has to do with the fresh-faced farrier Cody, who seems to have a bit of a spark with lead character Isabel McMurray (Nancy Travis).

As it happens, Cody's actor James Tupper is an experienced actor with a massive list of industry credits. He's made minor appearances on popular shows like "How I Met Your Mother," "Gilmore Girls," and "CSI: NY," but audiences are more likely to find him familiar based on some of his larger parts, ranging from a role on one of the biggest medical procedural shows of all time to one of the most acclaimed mystery series in recent years.

Those who watched the (relatively) early chapters of "Grey's Anatomy" will certainly find James Tupper familiar, as the actor once held a recurring role on the medical drama series. Specifically, he appeared for several episodes of Season 7 as Dr. Andrew Perkins, a trauma counselor hired to help the hospital's staff work through their feelings about the workplace shooting that occurred in the Season 6 finale. As is seemingly the fate of any character who becomes a part of the show's lineup for any period of time, Perkins briefly became one-half of a "Grey's Anatomy" couple. He strikes up a romance with none other than Teddy (Kim Raver), though their love isn't meant to be.

In an interview with Media Mikes, Tupper spoke about his positive experience working with the "Grey's Anatomy" cast. "When I worked on "Grey's Anatomy" the show had a real ensemble feeling led by Patrick Dempsey," he explained. "The acting was very deep and everyone on that show really knows how to work a scene."

James Tupper was also a part of one particular family movie classic of the early 2010s: "Mr. Popper's Penguins," starring Jim Carrey as the titular penguin dad. Tupper's role in the movie is relatively small, as he plays Rick, the new eco-loving boyfriend of Popper's ex-wife. Nonetheless, it's still enough time for him to share some comedic scenes with the main characters during their penguin-centric escapades.

Working with a renowned actor such as Carrey was something of a milestone for Tupper, and he was all too aware of that fact at the time. "I had to go to set the day before just to meet Jim because I knew I would be nervous," the actor said in an interview with Media Mikes. "He is an icon. He is a guy that is funny all the time. Jim really understands comedy. When I first met him he slapped me on the back and asked if I like to be called Jim or James? I figured because he was Jim Carrey, so I decided I would stick with James."

While James Tupper had already spent a decent few years guest starring for a few episodes on various TV shows, ABC's underrated mystery series "Revenge" marked the first time that he stuck around on a show for its entire duration. Indeed, the actor recurred throughout the show's first three seasons as David Clarke, the presumed dead father of protagonist Amanda (Emily VanCamp) and a major driving factor in her quest for revenge. The fourth and final season upped Tupper to a series regular, revealing David to still be alive in the present day, and he plays a major role in how the series wraps up.

In an interview with Daily Actor, Tupper said he enjoyed portraying a character who is shown to be so different at distinct points in his life. "It's really fun for me because he's a financial analyst at the beginning of the series, he's really optimistic, and then he dies in prison and then he comes back," he explained. "So as I'm shooting him as this broken man, this Robinson Crusoe guy who's unable to connect emotionally with people, I also see flashbacks of him with my daughter on the beach. What can ever go wrong in my life? It's awesome."

Moving from one show about the danger of dark secrets to another, James Tupper landed a role on the main cast for both seasons of HBO's acclaimed series "Big Little Lies." Throughout the show, Tupper plays Nathan Carlson, the ex-husband of lead character Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and current husband of Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz). For all intents and purposes, Nathan is a pretty average suburban dad, though the mysterious investigations of Bonnie, Madeline, and the rest of the main group threatens to derail his family life.

In an interview with Collider, Tupper noted the significance of the show in the greater cultural landscape. "I think we touched a cultural moment, where America was waiting, ready and willing to have a cultural shift and change," the actor said. "We were ground zero for #MeToo, and I think it was high-time for a dialogue and other really important changes. This little show captured some of and was in the middle of that spark, and now it's become this other thing, not to mention that it's just terrific entertainment."

It remains to be seen whether a "Big Little Lies" Season 3 ever materializes, but Tupper counts himself among the many who would like to see it happen one day.

One of James Tupper's most recent roles of note has come in the form of several guest star appearances throughout the first two seasons of ABC's dramedy series "A Million Little Things." In the show, Tupper portrays Andrew Pollock, the third financial partner of the restaurant that main characters Regina (Christina Moses) and Delilah (Stéphanie Szostak) run. Andrew and Delilah enjoy a fledgling romance but, as is so often the case, their respective baggage stops the pair from getting a happily ever after ending.

While Andrew factors heavily into those first two seasons of the series, the character would not appear again in the subsequent three installments of "A Million Little Things" before it concluded with Season 5. That could possibly be because of Tupper's other projects around this time, as it wouldn't be too long after his time on "A Million Little Things" that he would rapidly get more involved with a certain popular network.

James Tupper may have a major role on "Ride," but the show is actually far from his first rodeo with a Hallmark production. The actor has also appeared in quite a few of the network's original Hallmark movies, beginning with "Mom's Day Away" in 2014. Since then, he's starred in all three entries in the Emma Fielding mystery trilogy "Past Malice," 2021's "My Christmas Family Tree," 2022's "Mid-Love Crisis" opposite Teri Hatcher, and 2023's "Fall Into Winter." Suffice to say, the man is something of a Hallmark veteran at this point.

Tupper once told ET that he's a particular fan of when Hallmark does adaptations of popular novels, as was the case with "Past Malice." "I think Hallmark is doing this really exciting thing right now, where they buy a series of books, they're books for young adults, or adolescents, and they're really fun Agatha Christie-style mysteries," he said.