Owen Wilson

Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. Wilson was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay of The Royal Tenenbaums, but he is perhaps best known for his successful comedic roles such as John Beckwith in Wedding Crashers and as Hansel in Zoolander.

Early life

Wilson was born in Dallas, Texas, to Laura Wilson (née Cunningham), a photographer, and Robert Andrew Wilson, an advertising executive and operator of a public television station. He is left handed. His family are Irish American and Roman Catholic. While living in Dallas, Wilson attended The Lamplighter School, [1] which he revisited in 2005; and St. Mark's School of Texas, when in the tenth grade after stealing his teacher's textbook in an attempt to help him finish his math homework quicker, he was expelled. Owen also attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico.

After graduating from University of Texas at Austin in 1991, Owen moved to Los Angeles with brothers Luke and Andrew to pursue acting careers, and to collaborate with Owen's creative classmate, the aspiring filmmaker Wes Anderson. The four of them produced a short film, Bottle Rocket, which led to Owen Wilson's first press mention in the Dallas Morning News in January 1993; Bottle Rocket aired at the Sundance Film Festival later that same month.

Career

Initial success

While Wilson found some initial success as a film actor after his turn as Dignan in Bottle Rocket, he also remained a key creative collaborator in Wes Anderson's next two directorial efforts. Rushmore was the two writers' second script collaboration. Although Wilson 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. When Max Fischer visits Miss Cross in Appleby's boyhood bedroom, photographs of a young Owen Wilson are incorporated in the set for the scene.

Wilson quickly landed minor roles in big-budget movies such as The Cable Guy, directed by Ben Stiller, an early admirer of Bottle Rocket. After minor appearances in action films like Anaconda, Armageddon and The Haunting, Wilson appeared in two dramatic roles: supporting actor in Permanent Midnight, which starred Stiller as a drug-addicted TV writer; and a role as a serial killer in The Minus Man.

Owen is considered a part of the Frat Pack, a group of actors including Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, and brother Luke Wilson who often work in each other's movies.

Movie star

Wilson got his big break with the 2000 comedy action hit Shanghai Noon, starring opposite Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan. The film grossed nearly US$100 million worldwide. His fame continued to rise after starring alongside Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell in the 2001 film Zoolander.

Gene Hackman took notice of Wilson's performance in Shanghai Noon and recommended Wilson to play opposite himself in the 2001 action film Behind Enemy Lines, Wilson's last dramatic starring role to date. Also in 2001, Wilson and Anderson collaborated on 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, Danny Glover, and brother Luke. Owen Wilson had a memorable supporting role in the film as Eli Cash, a wigged-out, drug-addled bon vivant who becomes a literary celebrity. It earned the writing team an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay; Owen is the first “Frat Pack” member to receive an Academy Award nomination.

Wilson returned to the buddy comedy genre in 2002 with the action comedy I Spy, co-starring Eddie Murphy. This big-screen remake of the television series flopped at the box office. He then reunited with Chan to make Shanghai Knights (2003) and the movie remake of the television series Starsky & Hutch (2004). Due to his busy schedule as an actor and his ongoing sinus malady, Wilson was unable to collaborate on the script for Wes Anderson's fourth feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The 2004 film was ultimately co-written by filmmaker Noah Baumbach. However, Wilson did star in the film as Bill Murray's would-be son, Ned Plimpton?a role written specifically for Wilson.

Wilson partnered with Vince Vaughn in the 2005 Wedding Crashers which grossed over $200 million in the US alone. Also in 2005, Owen collaborated with his brothers by appearing in The Wendell Baker Story, written by brother Luke, directed by Luke and brother Andrew. In 2006, Wilson provided the voice of Lightning McQueen in the Disney/Pixar film Cars, starred in You, Me, and Dupree with Kate Hudson, and appeared with Stiller in Night at the Museum.

Wilson has appeared in eight movies with Stiller (a long-time friend) to date: The Cable Guy (1996), Permanent Midnight (1998), Meet the Parents (2000), Zoolander (2001), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Meet the Fockers (2004) and Night at the Museum (2006).

Upcoming projects

• Acted in another Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited, screening at the 45th annual New York Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, opening September 30, 2007, co-starring Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody, in which three brothers take a train trip through India.
• In Post-production on Judd Apatow's comedy, Drillbit Taylor, scheduled for release March 2008.
• Acted in Kyle Gulutzan and Sean Casey's production of Roundabout, scheduled for release December 2008.
• In Pre-production, film adaptation of John Grogan's best-selling memoir, Marley & Me, co-starring Jennifer Aniston.
• In Pre-production talks, along with Vince Vaughn, regarding the movie Outsourced, a story about when the factory that they work at gets outsourced to Mexico, two workers on the line decide to head over the border and get their jobs back, director Hank Azaria.

Movie salaries

• Shanghai Noon (2000) $4,000,000
• Behind Enemy Lines (2001) $3,000,000
• Zoolander (2001) $2,000,000
• Starsky & Hutch (2004) $10,000,000
• Wedding Crashers (2005) $10,000,000
• You, Me and Dupree (2006) $20,000,000
• Cars (2006) $4,000,000

Personal life

In early 2005, Wilson rushed to Stiller's defense 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 magazine published a letter written by Wilson, charging that 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.”

Relationships

Wilson was previously linked with actress Demi Moore, singer Sheryl Crow and, most recently, with actress Kate Hudson. Their relationship ended in May 2007.

Suicide attempt and hospitalization

Wilson was taken to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica on August 26, 2007 after a reported suicide attempt at his Santa Monica home, confirmed by a Santa Monica Police Department log. Once stabilized at St. John's, Wilson was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where his condition was initially described as serious, then later upgraded to good and stable condition.

On August 27, 2007, Wilson issued a statement: “I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time.” On August 29, 2007, Wilson dropped out of filming Tropic Thunder, (replaced by Matthew McConaughey) being produced and starring Wilson's friend and frequent collaborator, Ben Stiller. Wilson was brought home and is now under constant observation.

Filmography

References

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