Honestly, most people still just see Grant Ward when they look at Brett Dalton. It makes sense. That jawline and the "good guy gone very, very bad" arc in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. basically redefined how Marvel handled TV villains back in 2014. But if you’ve only been following his Hydra-related betrayals, you’ve actually missed out on a pretty wild career trajectory that spans everything from Hallmark romances to some of the most intense voice acting in modern gaming.
Dalton is one of those Yale School of Drama grads—he actually studied with Lupita Nyong'o—who brings a weirdly high level of craft to things you wouldn't expect. Whether he's playing a disgraced firefighter or a cosmic entity in a video game, he has this specific way of being charming and unsettling at the exact same time.
The Marvel Shadow: Grant Ward and the "Heel Turn"
We have to talk about Ward. It’s the law. When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first premiered, Dalton’s character was... well, he was boring. He was the "boring tactical guy." Then the Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in happened, and suddenly Ward was shooting his teammates and revealing he’d been a sleeper agent the whole time.
That shift changed everything for brett dalton movies and shows. It proved he wasn't just a pretty face for the procedural crowd. He ended up playing like four different versions of that character: the hero, the traitor, the unhinged boyfriend, and eventually, a literal parasitic alien god named Hive. It's rare for an actor to get that much mileage out of a single show. Even after Ward was killed off (multiple times), the writers kept finding ways to bring him back because the fan reaction was so polarized. You either loved to hate him or you were writing 50,000-word fanfics about his redemption.
From Firehouses to Missing Persons
After Marvel, Dalton sort of became the king of the "high-stakes procedural guest star" before landing his next big steady gigs. He had a solid run on Chicago Fire as Lieutenant Jason Pelham. Fans were actually pretty split on him because he was replacing Jesse Spencer’s Matt Casey, which is basically sacrilege in the One Chicago fandom.
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He played Pelham as a guy with a massive chip on his shoulder and a secret suspension in his past. It was gritty, grounded, and a far cry from the superhero world.
Right now, though, if you're looking for him on TV, you’re looking for Found on NBC. He plays Mark Trent, a detective who has to navigate a very complicated relationship with Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton). It’s a dark show about missing persons, and Dalton plays the "law and order" foil to Gabi’s more... legally flexible methods. It’s arguably his most "adult" role to date, leaning into the weary detective trope but with that classic Dalton intensity.
The Secret Life of a Voice Actor
This is the part that surprises people who don't play video games. Brett Dalton is a massive deal in the gaming world.
In 2015, he played Mike in the horror hit Until Dawn. If you haven't seen it, it’s basically a playable slasher movie where your choices decide who lives. Dalton did the full performance capture, and his character Mike goes from being a "sleazy jock" to a total action hero who can survive a literal sanatorium full of monsters. It’s such a fan-favorite performance that people were still talking about it nearly a decade later when the remake/remaster rumors started swirling.
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He didn't stop there. He’s also:
- The Witness in Destiny 2. This is a huge deal. He voiced the ultimate big bad of a ten-year story arc. It's a creepy, multi-tonal voice that sounds like a thousand people speaking at once.
- Freyr in God of War: Ragnarök. He brought a weird, laid-back, "cool uncle" energy to the Norse god that really lightened up an otherwise very heavy game.
- Bat Lash and Captain Atom in the recent DC Tomorrowverse animated movies like Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Hallmark Pivot
Okay, let’s pivot hard. You can’t discuss brett dalton movies and shows without acknowledging the Hallmark phase. It’s a rite of passage for many TV actors, but Dalton actually seems to enjoy them.
He’s done Cooking with Love, Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, and Just My Type. In these, he usually plays the "charming but slightly closed-off guy who learns the meaning of [insert holiday or hobby here]." Honestly, after watching him play a character who tried to destroy the world in S.H.I.E.L.D., seeing him bake cookies or fall in love with a travel writer is kind of a nice palette cleanser.
Key Works You Might Have Missed
If you want to go deeper than the big hits, there are a few indie films that show off his range better than the big-budget stuff.
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- The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (2017): He plays a washed-up child star forced to do community service at a church. It’s a faith-based comedy, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Dalton is genuinely funny in it. He has great comedic timing that he rarely gets to use in his more "intense" roles.
- Lost in Florence (2017): This is a romance/sports drama where he plays "Calcio Storico," which is basically a brutal, ancient version of football in Italy. It’s a beautiful-looking movie, even if the plot is a bit predictable.
- Beside Still Waters (2013): A very quiet, indie dramedy about a group of friends reuniting after a death. It’s very "Big Chill" vibes and shows a much softer side of his acting style.
What's Next for Brett Dalton?
As of 2026, Dalton is still a mainstay in the procedural world with Found, but his voice acting career is where he seems to be having the most "prestige" fun. He’s also moved into more animation work, lending his voice to shows like Hamster & Gretel.
The reality is that Brett Dalton has managed to avoid being "just" a TV actor. He’s carved out a space in the MCU legacy, the Hallmark romantic universe, and the top tier of AAA video games. Not many actors can say they’ve been punched by Captain America and also starred in a movie called Cooking with Love.
If you want to catch up on his best work, start with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (specifically seasons 1 through 3), then jump over to a playthrough of Until Dawn to see how he handles horror. For something current, Found is the best showcase for where he is as an actor right now—seasoned, a bit more rugged, and still very good at playing characters with secrets. Check out his recent voice work in the Justice League animated trilogy if you want to hear him lean into the superhero genre from a different angle.