Chris Briney is an American actor best known for playing Conrad Fisher in Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty. Born in Danbury, Connecticut, and raised in the state, he studied acting at Pace University before landing two career-changing opportunities in quick succession: his first major film role in Dalíland and the part of Conrad, which became his breakout role.
By 2026, Briney’s career had expanded well beyond that series. He had played Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, made his professional theater debut Off-Broadway in Dilaria, guest-starred in the final season of Hacks, and taken roles in The Julia Set and the Amazon MGM romantic comedy Clashing Through the Snow. Prime Video has also announced a feature-film continuation of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Key takeaways
- Chris Briney is best known as Conrad Fisher in The Summer I Turned Pretty.
- He was born in Danbury, Connecticut, despite older online references that incorrectly list Hartford.
- Pace University identifies him as a 2020 graduate of its Acting for Film, Television, Voice-overs, and Commercials program.
- His first major film role in Dalíland and his casting as Conrad happened in the same important stretch of 2021.
- His recent work includes Dilaria, Hacks, The Julia Set, Clashing Through the Snow, and the announced Summer I Turned Pretty movie.
Chris Briney profile summary
| Detail | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Thomas Briney |
| Profession | Actor |
| Date of birth | March 24, 1998 |
| Birthplace | Danbury, Connecticut |
| Hometown background | Briney has described himself as being from Naugatuck, Connecticut |
| Education | Pace University, class of 2020 |
| Training | Acting for Film, Television, Voice-overs, and Commercials |
| Breakout role | Conrad Fisher in The Summer I Turned Pretty |
| Notable film role | Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls |
| Recent work | Dilaria, Hacks, The Julia Set, Clashing Through the Snow |
Early life and acting training
Briney was born in Danbury, Connecticut. That point is worth stating clearly because some older biographies incorrectly identify Hartford as his birthplace. CT Insider later corrected its own reporting, explicitly stating that he was born in Danbury.
Briney has also described himself as being from Naugatuck, Connecticut, which is best understood as hometown or upbringing context rather than a competing birthplace. In a 2025 Interview Magazine conversation, he referred to Naugatuck as the small Connecticut town he came from and said he had been living in New York since 2016.
Acting was not always his first imagined career. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Briney said he had once thought about pursuing baseball professionally before acting and filmmaking became more important to him. He later attended Waterbury Arts Magnet School and developed a stronger interest in performance during high school.
He moved to New York for college and attended Pace University. Pace identifies Briney as a 2020 alumnus of its Acting for Film, Television, Voice-overs, and Commercials program.
His college years were not especially glamorous. Briney confirmed in Interview Magazine that he worked at Trader Joe’s while studying. He also made short films and developed an interest in directing, an ambition that has stayed with him even as acting became his public career.
The breakthrough: Dalíland and Conrad Fisher
Briney’s entry into professional acting came after a long run of auditions that had not led to a job. He told the Los Angeles Times that he had auditioned for roughly 70 roles before his first significant break.
That break came in spring 2021, when director Mary Harron needed a replacement actor during production of Dalíland. According to the Los Angeles Times profile, Harron found Briney through graduate acting showreels and cast him as James, a young gallery assistant drawn into Salvador Dalí’s world.
The timing is central to Briney’s career story. Shortly after arriving in Liverpool to work on Dalíland, he completed a virtual chemistry read for The Summer I Turned Pretty. Jenny Han, who created the television adaptation from her novels, later said that Briney’s chemistry with Lola Tung and his ability to convey Conrad’s internal life were important to his casting.
By the time Dalíland wrapped, Briney had secured the role that would make him widely recognizable.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Briney began playing Conrad Fisher when The Summer I Turned Pretty premiered in 2022. Conrad is one side of the central romantic triangle involving Belly, played by Lola Tung, and Conrad’s brother Jeremiah.
The role became Briney’s breakout and remained his defining screen work through the show’s third and final season. According to Prime Video’s official series information, the final television season concluded in September 2025.
The end of the series did not end the franchise. Prime Video subsequently announced a feature-film continuation, with Jenny Han directing. Briney is expected to continue as Conrad, although no verified release date was available in the sources used for this profile.
The series also created a common point of confusion around Briney and his character. Conrad experiences panic attacks, but that storyline should not be treated as evidence about the actor’s health. In an interview with TV Guide, Briney said he could relate to anxiety but was not prone to panic attacks in the way Conrad is.
Dalíland and the unusual order of his early career
Although Dalíland was the first major film Briney shot, many viewers encountered him first through The Summer I Turned Pretty. That reversal makes his early filmography slightly confusing.
Briney was cast in Dalíland during 2021 production. The film later appeared on the festival circuit before reaching U.S. audiences after Briney had already become known as Conrad.
That chronology matters because some databases have attached an earlier year to Dalíland that can make it appear Briney had an established film career before his television breakthrough. The stronger production record places his casting and filming in 2021.
Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls
Briney took on another familiar romantic-lead role in 2024 when he played Aaron Samuels in Paramount’s film adaptation of Mean Girls. Paramount’s official film page lists him in the role opposite a cast led by Angourie Rice and Reneé Rapp.
The project placed Briney inside another well-known youth-oriented franchise, but it also exposed one of the limits of his musical background: he did not sing or dance in the film. Briney later joked about that distinction when discussing his stage work.
The role nevertheless widened his audience beyond The Summer I Turned Pretty and gave him a major studio-film credit between seasons of the series.
His Off-Broadway debut in Dilaria
In 2025, Briney moved into professional theater with Julia Randall’s Dilaria at DR2 Theatre in New York. He played Noah and described the production as his first professional theater experience.
The move was significant because it required a different kind of repetition and physical discipline than screen acting. In his Interview Magazine conversation, Briney described arriving early on performance days and working through physical and vocal warm-ups. He said live performance involved “a lot of trial and error” because each show could feel different.
Playbill also identified Dilaria as his Off-Broadway debut. The production previewed in June 2025 and continued into August.
The role also gave Briney a chance to work more directly in comedy. That interest was not new. He told Interview Magazine that his father had introduced him and his sister to the Marx Brothers and Monty Python when they were young, and that he had long enjoyed comedic work.
Hacks and a broader move into comedy
Briney continued that direction in 2026 by joining the fifth and final season of Hacks. Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed him as a guest star in the acclaimed HBO Max comedy.
Later interview coverage identified his character as Nico Hayes, a rock star who enters Deborah Vance’s orbit. The appearance gave Briney a different screen rhythm from the restrained romantic drama that had defined much of his work as Conrad.
The role also fit his own comments about wanting to explore more comedy rather than repeating the same kind of character indefinitely.
The Julia Set and new film work
One of Briney’s most notable 2026 film projects is The Julia Set, a coming-of-age drama in which he plays Pascal, a teaching assistant connected to a gifted mathematics student played by Chase Infiniti.
Infiniti told People in January 2026 that the film had already wrapped and described working closely with Briney during production. The film was scheduled for a Toronto International Film Festival screening on September 11, 2026.
Because that screening was still upcoming at the research cut-off used for this profile, it is safest to describe The Julia Set as a 2026 festival project rather than state that its TIFF premiere had already taken place.
Briney also stars opposite Michelle Randolph in Clashing Through the Snow, an upcoming Amazon MGM romantic comedy directed by Carlson Young. The project had been filmed by 2026, but no precise release date had been confirmed in the strongest public sources available for this article.
His interest in directing
Briney has spoken repeatedly about wanting to work behind the camera.
In his 2025 Interview Magazine conversation, he said he “definitely” wants to direct and explained that his love of acting is tied to a broader interest in the process of making movies. He also said he had already directed short films and wanted to continue pursuing that side of filmmaking.
That ambition provides useful context for his career choices. His work has not moved in only one direction toward larger commercial roles; he has continued to talk about independent film, theater, comedy, and directing as parts of the same creative career.
What Chris Briney is doing now
As of September 2026, Briney’s career is in a transition period after the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty as a television series.
He has recently appeared in Hacks, completed work on The Julia Set, filmed Clashing Through the Snow, and remains connected to the announced Summer I Turned Pretty feature film.
That makes the simplest description of him as “the actor who plays Conrad” increasingly incomplete. Conrad remains his most recognizable role, but his recent choices show a deliberate expansion into theater, comedy, independent film, and potentially directing.
FAQ
How old is Chris Briney?
Briney’s widely published birth date is March 24, 1998, which makes him 28 years old as of September 2026.
Where was Chris Briney born?
He was born in Danbury, Connecticut. Older references to Hartford are contradicted by CT Insider’s explicit correction.
Where did Chris Briney go to college?
He attended Pace University in New York and graduated in 2020 from its Acting for Film, Television, Voice-overs, and Commercials program.
Who does Chris Briney play in Mean Girls?
He plays Aaron Samuels in the 2024 Paramount film.
Who does Chris Briney play in Hacks?
He guest-stars as Nico Hayes in the fifth and final season of Hacks.
What is Chris Briney’s next movie?
His current and upcoming film work includes The Julia Set, Clashing Through the Snow, and the announced The Summer I Turned Pretty feature film. Exact release timing for the latter two had not been firmly confirmed in the strongest sources available for this profile.
Conclusion
Chris Briney’s public career developed unusually quickly: a long stretch of unsuccessful auditions was followed by Dalíland and The Summer I Turned Pretty arriving almost at once. Conrad Fisher made him widely known, but the more interesting part of his career now is what has followed—stage work, comedy, independent film, and a stated ambition to direct.
By 2026, Briney is no longer just an actor associated with one breakout series. His recent choices show a career moving outward from that role while keeping the film-focused interests that shaped his training in the first place.
