Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and as Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda. Sorbo is also known for acting in the Christian films such as God's Not Dead and Let There Be Light. Early life and education Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, on September 24, 1958. He is of Norwegian descent. He was raised in a Lutheran family. Sorbo attended Minnesota State University Moorhead, where he double majored in marketing and advertising. To help pay for tuition, he began to work as a model for print and television advertising. Career In the mid 1980s, Sorbo traveled around Europe and Australia working in television commercials and also modeled for print advertisements. By the early 1990s, he had appeared in over 150 commercials. One of the popular commercials he appeared in was for Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, known for Sorbo's repeated catchphrase "This ain't Jim Beam". He occasionally landed acting roles during this period and made his acting debut in an episode of the soap opera Santa Barbara in 1986. This was followed by guest appearances in television series such as 1st & Ten, Murder She Wrote and The Commish. In 1992, he starred in an unsuccessful pilot for a medical drama series titled Condition: Critical which was not picked up but aired as a television film on ABC. He was considered for and lost out to Dean Cain as Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and was a possible contender for the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files which went to David Duchovny. In 1993, he made his film debut playing a supporting role in Slaughter of the Innocents. In 1993, he received his breakthrough leading role as the Ancient Greek mythical demigod Hercules in a series of five television films which aired in 1994 as part of Universal Television's Action Pack. The first film to premiere was Hercules and the Amazon Women which aired in April 1994 and the subsequent films aired later in the year. The ratings success of the films paved the way for the commissioning of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which started airing in syndication from January 1995 and ran for six seasons. The series made Sorbo an international star and was one of the highest rated syndicated