Ben Foster

Ben Foster

Active - 1996 - 2023  |   Born - Oct 29, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Comedy, Action

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Biography by AllMovie

Born in Boston in October 1980, he began to realize his passion for acting after attending the Interlochen Theater Arts Summer Program. After writing, directing, and starring in his first play at the age of 12, it wasn't long before the venom of the acting bug had successfully worked its way into the budding thespian's blood. Devoting his life to acting, Foster dropped out of high school at 16 and prepared to face the challenges that accompany such a career.

In 1999, Foster won his breakthrough role in Liberty Heights. Set in 1950s Baltimore, Foster starred as a Jewish high school student whose socially taboo relationship with an African-American classmate (Rebekah Johnson) finds him facing negative pressure from his family and friends. He would go on to appear in many other films, like The Laramie Project, Big Trouble, 30 Days of Night, Alpha Dog, 3:10 to Yuma, Pandorum, Rampart, and more. Foster would also have a succesful TV run, with a role on the popular HBO series Six Feet Under.

He played William Burroughs in 2013's Kill Your Darlings and also appeared in Ain't Them Bodies Saints and Lone Survivor the same year. Foster also focused on his stage work, starring in A Streetcar Named Desire in London in 2014.

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Factsheet

  • Raised in Fairfield, Iowa.
  • Left high school at 16 to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting.
  • Made feature-film debut in 1996 in Kounterfeit.
  • Received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special in 2003 for Bang Bang You're Dead.
  • Despite a fear of heights, did some of his own stunt work---including a rooftop leap---in action film The Mechanic (2011).