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Owen Cunningham Wilson (born: November 18,
1968 in Dallas, Texas) is an American actor and Academy Award nominated
writer.
****
Birth name: Owen Cunningham Wilson
Date of birth: November 18, 1968
Birth location: Dallas, USA
****
Biography
Early life
Owen on Bottle RocketWilson was born in
Dallas, Texas to Robert Andrew Wilson, a PBS executive, and Laura
Cunningham, a photographer, both of whom were of Irish Catholic descent.
Owen is the middle sibling of three brothers: Andrew, the eldest, and
Luke, the youngest, who is also a well-known actor.
He attended The Lamplighter School and then
St. Mark's School of Texas, where he was expelled in tenth grade. He
graduated high school at the New Mexico Military Institute. Afterwards,
he attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met future
collaborator Wes Anderson. Owen dropped out two courses shy of a degree;
he needed a math and a Spanish class to graduate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rise to Stardom
In 1993, Wilson co-wrote and starred in the
short film version of Bottle Rocket, which was directed by Wes Anderson.
After being screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Wilson and Anderson
were recruited by filmmaker James L. Brooks to expand the Bottle Rocket
short to feature-length for Gracie Films. The young team of filmmakers
were given $5 million dollars to make the film, about a group of
innocents who try their hands at being petty thieves. Although not a
financial success upon its release in 1996, the film became a cult
favorite and introduced Wilson's offbeat acting style to American
audiences. (Owen's oft-repeated line is an indie film fan favorite: "On
the run from Johnny Law. Ain't no trip to Cleveland.")
Owen, along with his brothers Luke and
Andrew, moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting careers. Owen landed minor
roles in big budgeted movies very quickly such as The Cable Guy which
was directed by Ben Stiller, an early admirer of Bottle Rocket. After
minor appearances in action films like Anaconda, Armageddon and The
Haunting, Owen got his big break with the 2000 comedy action hit
Shanghai Noon starring opposite Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, which
grossed nearly US$100 million worldwide.
Gene Hackman took notice of Owen's
performance in Shanghai Noon and recommended him to play opposite him in
the 2001 action film Behind Enemy Lines — it remained the only big
budgeted film which Owen had a starring role that deviated from buddy
comedy roles that Owen has since embraced.
Career
Buddy Comedy Success
Owen returned to the buddy comedy genre in
2002 with the action comedy I Spy, co-starring this time with Eddie
Murphy. The big screen remake of the television series flopped at the
box office. He then reunited with Chan to make Shanghai Knights (2003),
teamed up with Ben Stiller in Zoolander (2001) and the movie remake of
the television series Starsky & Hutch (2004), and partnered with Vince
Vaughn in the 2005 Wedding Crashers which grossed over $200 million
dollars in the US alone. In 2006 he starred in You, Me, and Dupree.
Writing Career
Although he found initial success as a film
actor after his turn as "Dignan" in Bottle Rocket, Wilson remained a key
creative collaborator to Wes Anderson's next two directorial efforts.
Rushmore was the two writers' second script, and was partially based on
Wilson's own expulsion from St. Mark's as a teenager. Although he didn't
appear in the film, he and Anderson acknowledged on the Criterion
Collection DVD audio commentary that Wilson has a sort of quasi-cameo as
Rosemary Cross's dead husband, Edward Appleby. The photographs of
Appleby in Ms. Cross's room are ones taken of Wilson as a boy. [1]
In 2001, Wilson and Anderson wrote their
third film, The Royal Tenenbaums, which was a financial and critical
success. The comedy featured an all-star cast, including Gene Hackman,
Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson,
and Danny Glover. Wilson had a memorable supporting role in the film as
a Professor-turned-bestseller "Eli Cash." It earned the writing team an
Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Due to his busy schedule as an actor, he
wasn't able to collaborate on the script for Wes Anderson's fourth
feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which was ultimately
co-written by filmmaker Noah Baumbach. However, Wilson eventually did
star in the film as Bill Murray's would-be son, Ned Plimpton, which was
a role written specifically for Wilson. [2]
Frat Pack
Wilson's roles have varied between small,
quirky comedy collaborations with Anderson and bigger budget box office
fare. Wilson, along with Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince
Vaughn, Jack Black, and Steve Carell are considered members of the Frat
Pack. [3] Owen is the first "Frat Pack" member to receive an Academy
Award nomination.
He has been in seven movies with Ben
Stiller, up to this date. They are The Cable Guy (1996), Permanent
Midnight (1998), Meet the Parents (2000), Zoolander (2001), The Royal
Tenenbaums (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004) and Meet the Fockers (2004).
In 2006, he and Stiller will both appear in Night at the Museum.
In early 2005, Wilson rushed to the defense
of his long-time friend and fellow frat-packer, Ben Stiller, after The
New Yorker published a disparaging characterization of Stiller's film
performances, calling him "the latest, and crudest, version of the urban
Jewish male on the make." The esteemed magazine published a letter
written by Wilson, charging that the critic David Denby was a "bully"
who blithely dismissed all of Stiller's filmography with a touch of
personal rancor. In Wilson's words, he jumped to defend Stiller "not
because [the article] was good or fair toward my friend but exactly
because it wasn’t." [4]
Personal life
Owen Wilson dated Sheryl Crow when he was
making The Minus Man. The couple separated in 2000. Currently, Wilson is
reportedly dating Kate Hudson, his co-star from You, Me and Dupree.
Wilson is also a big Willie Nelson fan, and enjoys playing Ping Pong. He
once played a publicized match against Regis Philbin on Regis and Kelly.
Owen also likes to skateboard and appears in Yeah Right! a 2003
skateboarding movie (he is also seen teaching kids how to skateboard in
a half pipe in You, Me & Dupree).
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
2007 Drillbit Taylor
Knocked Up Himself Cameo
2006 Night at the Museum Jedidiah
You, Me and Dupree Randy Dupree
Cars Lightning McQueen Voice
2005 The Wendell Baker Story Neil King
Wedding Crashers John Beckwith
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Ned
Plimpton
Meet the Fockers Kevin Rawley Cameo
Around the World in 80 Days Wilbur Wright
Cameo
Starsky & Hutch Ken Hutchinson
The Big Bounce Jack Ryan
2003 Shanghai Knights Roy O'Bannon
Yeah Right! Himself Cameo
2002 I Spy Alex Scott
2001 Behind Enemy Lines Lt. Chris Burnett
The Royal Tenenbaums Eli Cash Oscar nod
(writing)
Zoolander Hansel McDonald
2000 Meet the Parents Kevin Rawley
Shanghai Noon Roy O'Bannon
1999 Heat Vision and Jack Heat Vision/Doug
(voice) TV
The Haunting Luke Sanderson
Breakfast of Champions Monte Rapid
The Minus Man Vann Siegert
1998 Rushmore Edward Applebee
Permanent Midnight Nicky
Armageddon Oscar Choi
1997 Anaconda Gary Dixon
1996 The Cable Guy Robin's date
Bottle Rocket Dignan
1994 Bottle Rocket (short) Dignan
Movie Salaries
You, Me and Dupree (2006) $15,000,000
Cars (2006) $2,000,000
Wedding Crashers (2005) $10,000,000
Starsky & Hutch (2004) $10,000,000
Behind Enemy Lines (2001) $3,000,000
Zoolander (2001) $2,000,000
Shanghai Noon (2000) $4,000,000
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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