Ben Foster (actor)
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| Ben Foster | |
 Foster in December 2007 |
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| Born | October 29, 1980 Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1996 — present |
Ben Foster (born October 29, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the teen movies Liberty Heights and Get Over It, as well as the action films Hostage, X-Men: The Last Stand, Alpha Dog, 3:10 to Yuma, and most recently in the horror film 30 Days of Night.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Stephen Foster, a restaurateur.[1] He has a younger brother, Jon, who is also an actor. Foster's parents, whom he has described as "free-spirited, Vietnam-protesting hippies", relocated to the small town of Fairfield, Iowa four years after he was born, after their Boston home was burglarized while they were present.[2] Foster is Jewish; his paternal grandmother emigrated from Russia to escape Pogroms.[2][3]
[edit] Career
At the age of sixteen, Foster dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles. In 1996-97, he appeared in the television series Flash Forward. He auditioned for the role of Donnie Darko in Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. The role eventually went to Jake Gyllenhaal. In the next three years, Foster had small roles in two made-for-TV movies and in two episodes of the series Freaks and Geeks. In 2001, he acted in Get Over It. Foster also had a recurring role as the bisexual Russell Corwin (22 episodes) in the HBO Original Series, Six Feet Under. After he made 11:14 and The Punisher, Foster also 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. A notable role was in the crime thriller Alpha Dog, in which he played Jake Mazursky, a drug addict. Foster added glaucoma drops to his eyes during filming in order to simulate the appearance of a drug abuser.[4] In 2007, he played cold-blooded killer Charlie Prince in the critically acclaimed 3:10 to Yuma.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Kounterfeit | Travis | |
| 1998 | I've Been Waiting for You | Charlie | TV film |
| Breakfast with Eistein | Ryan | TV Film | |
| 1999 | Liberty Heights | Ben Kurtzman | |
| 2001 | Get Over It | Berke Landers | |
| The Laramie Project | Aaron Kreifels | ||
| 2002 | Big Trouble | Matt Arnold | |
| Bang, Bang, You're Dead | Trevor Adams | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special | |
| 2003 | Phone Booth | Big Q | Uncredited |
| Northfork | Cod | ||
| 11:14 | Eddie | ||
| 2004 | The Punisher | Spaker Dave | |
| The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things | Fleshy Boy | ||
| 2005 | Hostage | Mars Krupcheck | |
| 2006 | Alpha Dog | Jake Mazursky | |
| X-Men: The Last Stand | Warren Worthington III / Angel | ||
| 2007 | 3:10 to Yuma | Charlie Prince | SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 30 Days of Night | The Stranger | ||
| 2008 | Birds of America | Jay | |
| 2009 | The Messenger | Will Montgomery | awaiting release |
| Pandorum | Bower | post-production |
[edit] Television appearances
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Flash Forward | Tucker James | Seventeen episodes, lead role |
| 1998 | You Wish | Earl | One episode, "Future Shock" |
| 2000 | Freaks and Geeks | Eli | Two episodes |
| Family Law | Jason Nelson | One episode, "A Mother's Son" | |
| 2001—2002 | Boston Public | Max Warner | Two episodes |
| 2005 | The Dead Zone | Darren Foldes | One episode, "The Last Goodbye" |
| 2003—2005 | Six Feet Under | Russel Corwin | Twenty-two episodes, supporting character SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series |
| 2007 | My Name Is Earl | Glenn | One two-part episode, "My Name Is Inmate 28301-016" |
[edit] References
- ^ Ben Foster Biography (1980-)
- ^ a b Miller, Gerri (1999). "Foster Reaches for the "Heights"" ([dead link] – Scholar search). JVibe. http://ben-foster.org/!/articles/article_jvibe.php. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
- ^ Breed, Allan G. (1999-01-25). "Ben Foster has been stealing the show since second grade". Associated Press Archive. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F8A0766A15A3B0F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
- ^ "X-MEN STAR FOSTER RISKS EYESIGHT TO PLAY DRUGGIE". Contact Music. 2006-12-12. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/x-men%20star%20foster%20risks%20eyesight%20to%20play%20druggie_1016263. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
[edit] External links
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