Ben Foster | |
---|---|
Born | Benjamin A. Foster October 29, 1980 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1995–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Jon Foster (brother) |
Benjamin A. Foster (born October 29, 1980) [1] is an American actor. His films include The Punisher (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand and Alpha Dog (both 2006), 30 Days of Night (2007), The Messenger and Pandorum (both 2009), [2] The Mechanic (2011), Contraband (2012), Kill Your Darlings and Lone Survivor (both 2013), The Program (2015), and Leave No Trace (2018). He was won an Independent Spirit Award for portraying Tanner Howard in Hell or High Water (2016). [3] He also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin in the television series Six Feet Under (2003–2005).
Foster was born in Boston on October 29, 1980, the son of restaurant owners Steven Foster and Gillian Kirwan. [4] [5] [6] He has described his parents as "free-spirited, Vietnam-protesting hippies". [7] He has a younger brother, Jon, who is also an actor. In 1984, the Foster family relocated to Fairfield, Iowa when their Boston home was broken into by robbers while they were present. [6] [7]
Foster was raised Jewish, and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. [7] [8] His paternal grandparents were Celia (Segal) and Abraham Foster, who was a prominent judge and politician in Boston; their families emigrated from the Russian Empire. [9] [10] [11] As a youth he attended Interlochen Arts Camp and studied theatre there. [12]
Foster began working as an actor when he was 16 years old. [6] In 1996 and 1997, he starred in the Disney Channel television series Flash Forward . His first major film role was in the 1999 Barry Levinson film, Liberty Heights , which Todd McCarthy described as an "outstanding bigscreen debut." [13]
In 2001, he acted in the film Get Over It . Foster also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin (22 episodes) in the HBO original series, Six Feet Under . [6] After appearing in the films 11:14 and The Punisher , Foster appeared in Hostage with Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, and Michelle Horn. In 2006, Foster appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as the comic-book hero Angel / Warren Worthington III. [6] In the crime thriller Alpha Dog , he played the character Jake Mazursky and added glaucoma drops to his eyes to simulate the appearance of a drug addict in the film. [14] In 2007, he played cold-blooded killer and outlaw Charlie Prince in the Western film 3:10 to Yuma . [15] In February 2013, he was cast to replace Shia LaBeouf in the Broadway play Orphans as his first theater performance. [16] In May 2014, it was announced that he would star opposite Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby in Benedict Andrews' new production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic in London. [17] The same production closed on September 19, 2014 and transferred to New York in 2016, opening at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. [18]
Foster played Lance Armstrong in the biopic The Program , [19] [20] and co-starred in the fantasy adventure Warcraft , released in June 2016. [21]
Also in 2016, Foster appeared in Hell or High Water as the dangerous Tanner Howard, opposite Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges. He reunited with director Barry Levinson to make The Survivor in 2021.
Foster was acclaimed for his roles and has received numerous awards nominations.
Foster has often received praise from critics for his "intense" and "unhinged" performances in numerous films. [22] [23] Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz described Foster in 2016 as "one of those actors who makes even a bad film worth seeing. Sometimes he suggests the film you'd rather be watching." [24]
Foster was in a relationship with German actress Antje Traue, his co-star in the movie Pandorum . Traue revealed in an interview that she had moved to Los Angeles and lived with Foster until their relationship ended around 2010. [25] Foster began a relationship with actress Robin Wright in early 2012. [26] [27] They became engaged in early 2014, [28] but called off their engagement on November 12, 2014. [29] Foster and Wright reconciled in early 2015; [30] however, on August 29, 2015, they announced they were ending their second engagement. [31]
In October 2016, Foster announced his engagement to actress Laura Prepon. [32] Prepon gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Ella, in August 2017. Foster and Prepon married in June 2018. [33] Their son was born in February 2020. [34]
After filming of the movie Here ended, five members of the cast and crew got tattooed with the letters T.I.A., which stand for This Is Armenia. [35]
Foster practices transcendental meditation. [36]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Orphans | Treat | Broadway debut |
2014 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley Kowalski | The Young Vic, London |
Robin Gayle Wright is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards.
Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike, he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005.
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor and film director. He has won Academy Awards for his roles in the mystery drama Mystic River (2003) and the biopic Milk (2008).
Matthew Paige Damon is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among Forbes' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Barry Lee Levinson is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. His best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as Diner (1982), The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Bugsy (1991), and Wag the Dog (1997). Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for Rain Man (1988). In 2021, he co-executive produced the Hulu miniseries Dopesick and directed the first two episodes.
Laura Prepon is an American actress. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). Prepon made her film debut in 2001 with the independent drama Southlander. Her other films include the romantic drama Come Early Morning (2006), the comedy Lay the Favorite (2012), the thriller The Girl on the Train (2016), and the drama The Hero (2017).
Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn is an Australian actor. He first rose to prominence in Australia for his break-out role in The Year My Voice Broke (1987). He gained international attention for his starring role in the crime drama Animal Kingdom (2010). He has since had roles in films such as The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Starred Up (2013), Lost River (2014), Mississippi Grind (2015), Rogue One (2016), Darkest Hour (2017) and Ready Player One (2018).
Christopher Kennedy Masterson is an American actor and disc jockey known best for his role as Francis on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. He is the younger brother of actor Danny Masterson, and the older half-brother of Alanna Masterson and Jordan Masterson, who are also actors.
Jon Foster is an American actor and musician. His films include the drama The Door in the Floor (2004), the horror film Stay Alive (2006), the thriller Brotherhood (2010), and the drama Rampart (2011). Foster is a co-founder of the electronic-soul duo Kaneholler, with his wife, Chelsea Tyler who is the daughter of musician and singer Steven Tyler.
Bryan Greenberg is an American actor and singer, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role in The Mindy Project. He also had a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the WB series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road. His film work includes The Perfect Score, Prime, Bride Wars, and Friends with Benefits. He made his directorial debut with his film Junction.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash and Vox in the adult animated black comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel.
Paula Maxine Patton is an American actress and producer. Patton made her feature film debut in the 2005 comedy Hitch, and has had starring roles in the films Déjà Vu (2006), Precious (2009), Jumping the Broom (2011), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), 2 Guns (2013), Warcraft (2016), and Sacrifice (2019).
Scott Michael Foster is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Captain John Paul "Cappie" Jones in the ABC Family comedy-drama series Greek (2007–11), Leo Hendrie in the ABC Family drama Chasing Life (2014–15) and as Nathaniel Plimpton III in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2017–19). Foster has also had recurring roles on Californication (2012), Halt and Catch Fire (2014), Once Upon a Time (2014), and You (2021).
Pandorum is a 2009 science fiction horror film directed by Christian Alvart, produced by Robert Kulzer, Jeremy Bolt and Paul W. S. Anderson, and starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. Travis Milloy wrote the screenplay from a story by Milloy and Alvart. The film's title is a fictional slang term for a form of psychosis caused by deep space and triggered by emotional stress, leading to severe paranoia, delirium, and nosebleeds. Pandorum was released on 25 September 2009 in the United States, and on 2 October 2009 in the UK. The film was poorly received and a box office flop.
Antje Traue is a German actress. She started performing in plays as a sixteen-year-old in 1997, made her first screen appearance in the 2000 German film Verlorene Kinder, and appeared in her first English-language role for the 2009 film Pandorum. Internationally, she is known for her portrayal of the villain Faora in Man of Steel (2013) and The Flash (2023), as well as Agnes Nielsen in the German Netflix series Dark.
The Program is a 2015 biographical drama film about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears, starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O'Dowd as journalist David Walsh.
Rock the Kasbah is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Mitch Glazer. The film stars Bill Murray as a talent manager sent to Afghanistan for a USO tour, Kate Hudson as his partner in country, Bruce Willis as his armed protection and book client, and Leem Lubany as his musical discovery. Open Road Films released the film on October 23, 2015.
LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner is an artist trio consisting of American actor and artist Shia LaBeouf, Finnish artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö, and British artist Luke Turner. Their performance art explores connection, emotion, and collaboration across digital and physical platforms.
Noah Jupe (born 25 February 2005 is an British actor. He is known for his roles in the television series The Night Manager ; the dark comedy film Suburbicon ; the drama film Wonder ; the horror film A Quiet Place and its sequel A Quiet Place Part II ; the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari ; the drama film Honey Boy, for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male; and the miniseries The Undoing.
Ben Foster has been attracting attention for some time thanks to his intense (sometimes even downright unhinged) portrayals in action flicks...
... with this performance Mr. Foster, having shown intriguing promise in "Alpha Dog" and "3:10 to Yuma," places himself in the first rank of young American screen actors.