Shane West was born in 1978 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He began to pursue an acting career at the age of fifteen, gaining bit parts on various television shows, but it was not until 1999 when West appeared in ABC's Once and Again that he got his major breakthrough. Aside from catapulting to teen heart-throb status with the success of the show, West has made his mark on the screen within such films as Liberty Heights and Whatever It Takes. Aside from acting, West continues the musical traditions of his family (both parents were musicians when he was young) with his band, Average Jo, for which he writes and plays guitar.
Dated Rachael Leigh Cook Is in a band called "Jonny Was", formerly known as "Average Jo". "Jonny Was" performs in clubs in LA and the OC. Has a song on the soundtrack of A Walk to Remember with "Average Jo". Shane's father's and mother are Don & Catherine West. He has two sisters, Simone is 19 and his half sister Marli Ann is less than a year old. He was so in love with the 1968 Camaro drove in A Walk to Remember that he bought it for $5000. Got into acting when he was forced to take Drama class in high school because he needed one more credit to graduate. He dedicated a song to the late actor Jonathan Brandis of SeaQuest 2032 fame. He was nearly cast as John Connor in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The role went to Nick Stahl instead. At the end of A Walk to Remember, his character had gone off to and was accepted to medical school. Two years later, he played a doctor on ER. Attended Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. Is replacing Darby Crash in legendary punk band The Germs