Luke Aaron Benward (born May 12, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Will in the Disney film Cloud 9 (2014). His first starring role was Billy Forrester in How to Eat Fried Worms (2006), and as Charlie Tuttle in Minutemen (2008). He played the role of Dillon in Ravenswood and Bo in the Netflix film Dumplin'. He recurred as Teddy's boyfriend, Beau, on the final season of the Disney Channel series Good Luck Charlie.
Benward was born in Franklin, Tennessee,[citation needed] the son of Kenda (née Wilkerson) and Aaron Benward.[1] His father is in the country duo Blue County, his mother is a part-time actress, model, and acting coach, and his grandfather is Contemporary Christian music artist Jeoffrey Benward. He has two younger sisters.
Benward's acting career started when he landed a role in the film We Were Soldiers as David Moore in 2002. His success grew in 2006, when he played Billy Forrester in the movie How to Eat Fried Worms, which he won a Young Artist Award for in the category of Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film.[citation needed]
He also played 14-year-old Charlie Tuttle in the Disney Channel movie Minutemen, the 14-year-old Alan in Dear John, and the little boy who helps the abused girl in the music video "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. Benward's first release, a 5-song EP titled Let Your Love Out, came out on January 5, 2009.[citation needed]
He also toured with the Christian group iShine LIVE for a short time, where he would sing his music in concert. The record label that signed him is called In Crowd Productions, whose collective credits include Hilary Duff, India.Arie, the Backstreet Boys, Mat Kearney, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Jonas Brothers.[citation needed]
He has also been in various commercials, including Nintendo, McDonald's, Willy Wonka, American Express, and Hamburger Helper. He also played the role of Nicky in Mostly Ghostly and played Stevie Dewberry in the film Because of Winn-Dixie. He also played in the Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster as Ryan Dean, the love interest of Skylar Lewis (Olivia Holt).[citation needed]
Benward also had a recurring role as Matthew Pearson, the ex-boyfriend of Emily Hobbs (Ryan Newman) on See Dad Run. He was in the movie Cloud 9 from Disney Channel with Liv and Maddie star Dove Cameron and appeared as Beau, Teddy's love interest, on six episodes of Good Luck Charlie, reuniting him with his Minutemen costar Jason Dolley. He appeared as Thor in the third-season premiere of the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World.[2]
Benward dated Olivia Holt after meeting her on the set for Disney Channel’s Girl vs. Monster. The couple split in 2017.[3] Since 2020, he has been in a relationship with actress Ariel Winter.[4]
