Shannon Bruce Snaith[1][2] (born June 10, 1978),[3] better known as Shane West, is an American actor, singer and songwriter.

West was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Leah Catherine (née Launey), a lawyer, and Don Snaith, a drugstore owner.

[12] West struggled to land acting work for two years and resided at his manager's house[11][13] before making his acting debut in 1995, playing Dave Lattimore in the CBS drama Picket Fences (season 4, episode 6, "Heart of Saturday Night") In 1998, West guest-starred in several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and played Mark Tapper in the stage production of The Cider House Rules.

West was cast as Landon Carter opposite singer and actress Mandy Moore in 2002's adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel A Walk to Remember.

In 2003, West starred as an adult version of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen alongside Sean Connery.

A year later, he joined the cast of the NBC medical drama, ER in the eleventh-season premiere, playing resident Ray Barnett.

In May 2007, West left ER at the end of the thirteenth season after winning a role in Supreme Courtships,[16] but the series was not picked up by the Fox Network.

West received positive reviews for his portrayal in the movie; the San Francisco Chronicle stated that he is the one who "lifts the entire film to a whole other level".

[22] Similarly, The Seattle Times wrote that his impersonation was "worth saluting" while TV Guide called it "pretty impressive".

[29] In November 2018, it was revealed that West would portray the role of Billy Millikin in the then upcoming feature film Gossamer Folds.

[30] In November 2019, it was announced that West would star in the then upcoming sci-fi thriller No Running;[31] the film was retitled Outsiders and released in 2022.