Inheriting the talent and gorgeous features of the grandfather he never met, Steven R. McQueen was born with the same Hollywood tough guy blood as the legendary King of Cool, Steve McQueen, and is an impressive actor at 34.
Steven R. McQueen is the son of race car driver, and former actor Chad McQueen, who’s the offspring of the legendary Steve McQueen.
The young Steven was born in 1988, eight years after his famous grandad died of a heart attack while having surgery to remove numerous tumors.
In 2017, McQueen–the “low key tough guy”–was listed by Forbes as one of the highest earning dead stars and posthumously named by GQ one of the 50 Most Stylish Men. In 2008, one of his prized possessions, a 1963 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso, was purchased at auction by an anonymous fan for $2.3 million and in 2006, another fan paid $70,200 for a pair of Persol sunglasses worn by McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair.
The handsome senior McQueen, whose icy blue eyes hypnotized fans, was a Hollywood bad boy who’s immortalized after performances in films like Bullitt, Sand Pebbles, The Magnificent Seven, and The Great Escape.
“I love his career. He chooses really cool, awkward films and he’s always very interesting to watch, so I’d like to–not mimic–but kind of use him as an example,” Steven told the New York Post of his grandfather. “I love everything I’ve seen that he was in…My favorites are probably Papillon and The Thomas Crown Affair.”
Steven, the dark-haired, brown-eyed actor, is chiseled perfectly in the form of his late grandfather.
Explaining the “bane and boon” of being the grandson to the great Steve McQueen, Steven said, “Knowing that my grandad was a highly respected actor wasn’t necessarily intimidating, but it definitely meant there was always a pressure to live up to his reputation. I think that’s why acting wasn’t something I even considered doing, as a kid,” he said, adding that he spent a lot of time travelling with his mom and stepfather, a retired professional hockey player.
Steven’s mother Stacia Toten, who divorced his dad Chad in 1990, is now married to Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille, whom Steven sees as his dad.
“My stepdad has been more like a biological dad in my life. I’m pretty close with my biological dad, but I think of him more like an uncle. It’s a good relationship,” said Steven, the R in his name standing for Robitaille.
His father Chad, a former actor who appeared in several films like Karate Kid I and II (1984 and 1986), and Firepower (1993), inherited his dad’s love of bikes and cars, and became a professional race car driver. In 2010, Chad founded McQueen Racing, LLC, a company that offers high-quality automobiles and limited-edition custom vehicles. The junior McQueen also produced the documentary Filming at Speed: The Making of the Movie Le Mans, which stars his late dad.
It was in his mid-teens that Steven started watching his grandfather’s movies. “Seeing him in those films was inspiring but so, too, was watching other actors, like Marlon Brando and James Dean, in a whole bunch of other films. That’s what made me want to try acting,” Steven told the New Zealand Herald. “From there, my passion for it slowly unfolded. I went to a couple of classes and I grew to love it.”
Following his grandfather’s footsteps, Steven started his acting career when he was 17.
But, entertainment runs deep in Steven’s blood, who’s grandmother is Neile Adams, the great aunt of Julio Iglesias Jr. and his brother Enrique, making them Steven’s cousins.
The handsome Steven first TV appeared on TV with a guest role in the Sci-Fi drama Threshold. Steven then had a recurring role on WB’s Everwood, where he played a bad boy teenage piano prodigy.
And then in 2009, he had his breakthrough role in the hugely popular supernatural TV series, The Vampire Diaries, where for six years he played Jeremy Gilbert, a mortal who fights ghosts and vampires, trying to save his haunted hometown of Mystic Falls.
“…I think it’s the supernatural element which makes it fun to watch–and shoot–because you aren’t limited to the usual film-making rules, like life and death.” He continued about the show that ended in 2015, “It’s like anyone can die and then come back to life, including me. I think I’ve died three times now but I’m still here–even though I play a human character. So, for me, it’s that escapism–the ability to project yourself into a whole different realm–mixed with eternal youth and endless possibilities.”
He also appeared in the cult horror film Piranha and loaned his dashing looks as a model for fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch.
From 2015 to 2016, he had a main role on Chicago Fire and Chicago PD and In 2018, Steven reprised his role as Jeremy for one episode in The Vampire Diaries spinoff, Legacies.
He can also be seen in Medal of Honor, an anthology series of real-life war stories.
Speaking again to his namesake, Steven said, “There’s definitely a level of pressure because of it, but it’s the name I was born with so I figured I may as well stick with it…Anyway, I’m quite a competitive person, so it pushes me to not only live up to any expectations, but to climb out of the shadow and cut a path of my own.”
If you haven’t yet seen Steven R. McQueen, you’ll have to check out one of his shows. He is a gorgeous young talent and no doubt his grandad would be very proud
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