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Jake Busey

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000198
Jake Busey
Watch Jake Busey Reel
Play demo reel7:22
Jake Busey Reel
47 Videos
85 Photos
Jake spent his childhood in sunny southern California, as well as a plethora of film sets around the country. His childhood similar to a "military brat", a series of strung-together extended-stay location shoots, alternating with tours on the road with his father's various bands and associates. In a world of gypsies & artists, spending many years on tour buses and side-stage-studying such acts as Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Little Feat, the Band, and Fleetwood Mac, Jake found his passion for music and performing live.

Busey entered the industry at the age of 5 in his first motion picture, Dustin Hoffman's opus, "Straight Time" (1977) playing Son to his father and Cathy Bates, . After finishing high school at Crossroads School, and college in Santa Barbara , Jake returned to L.A to study the craft of acting for film seriously. He started auditioning at 20yrs old, and booked his first role in a PBS film, "Shimmer", shot on location in Iowa. Slowly but surely bit parts playing supporting characters in independent films would follow. After a few years of hard work and little returns, He was Cast as the villain in Showtimes "rebel highway series" Motorcycle Gang, by Director John Milius. The film was part of an 8 film series, and drew great attention amongst the "up and coming actor" buzz of hollywood. He made his true debut to the big screen in 1994 alongside Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon in grind house grunge film "SFW", but that Buzz caught the eye of Robert Zemekis & Peter Jackson which led jake to star opposite Michael J. Fox in the Frighteners. .soon after wrapping, big changes came from a 3 page monologue about religion vs. science, when he landed "Contact" with Jodi Foster and Matthew McConnaghey. Then "Enemy of the State", then Vince Gilligan scribed "Home Fries," and most memorably as the smart-mouthed Private Ace Levy in the Sci-Fi cult classic "Starship Troopers." Jake was a force to be reckoned with in the late 1990's A-list film market. Then in the early 21st century, after the great success of "Identity", Jake took some risks with projects, leaps of faith, stepping up into starring roles in such studio disasters as "Tomcats" and "the First 20million is always the hardest", Films hyped to glory among the Hollywood machine, which failed miserably, and left him needing to reassess his position . It was time for a break.some time away was needed.

After a few-year hiatus from acting as he pursued directing films, "road-tripping" the country , and playing in his band around hollywood, he was ready for his come-back. Jake blasted onscreen as a pyrotechnic specialist in the final season of FX's hit series "Justified", leaving many an audience member aghast, having thought he was a solid new addition to the show...alas, just a masterfully crafted cameo, blowing up in 30 seconds. When Robert Rodriguez cast him as the new Sex Machine for all three seasons of "From Dusk Till Dawn, Things started heating up again. In The History Channel mini-series "Texas Rising", Busey plays Samuel Wallace, the man credited with reciting the legendary warning, "Remember the Alamo!" directed by Roland Joffe.

His recent projects include "Mr. Robot", and Stranger Things", Showtime's "Ray Donovan", CBS television's "NCIS" Episode 346(1516) , ABC's "Marvels agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.., Episode 513 & 519, and in the summer of 2018 he made his return to the summer tent-pole event scene with 20th Century Fox's "the_Predator".

A bit of a modern-day Renaissance man, Jake's passions in life includes fatherhood, acting, desert racing, architecture, playing music, flying planes when necessary, and fabricating anything mechanical in his metal shop. .
BornJune 15, 1971
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJune 15, 1971
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000198
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 4 nominations total

    Photos85

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    + 81
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    Known for

    Dina Meyer and Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers (1997)
    Starship Troopers
    7.3
    • Ace Levy
    • 1997
    Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer, Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo in Stranger Things (2016)
    Stranger Things
    8.6
    TV Series
    • Bruce
    The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners
    7.1
    • Johnny Bartlett
    • 1996
    Will Smith and Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State (1998)
    Enemy of the State
    7.3
    • Krug
    • 1998

    Credits

    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • The Heavy
      • Tom
      • Pre-production
    • The Great American Action Hero
      • Senator MIchael Berry
      • Post-production
    • The Giant
      • Paul T Walker (credit only)
      • Pre-production
      • TV Series
    • Terrarium
      • Dr. Renard
      • Filming
    • Shadow Watchers
      • Preacher
      • Post-production
    • Mascotland
      • Orville
      • Filming
    • Gettysburg 1863
      • Leek
      • Post-production
    • Dead of Night
      • Craig Williams
      • Post-production
    • CATnip
      • Detective Pendleton
      • Post-production
    • Bikers vs Werewolves
      • Sheriff Ray
      • Post-production
    • Alask'Car
      • Billie
      • Completed
      • TV Series



    • Jake Busey and Felix Merback in Dead Janitors Club (2026)
      Dead Janitors Club
      8.3
      • Dirk
      • 2026
    • Hussain Ahmad in The Delano Files (2025)
      The Delano Files
      • Smith
      • 2025
    • Frankie Ray and Spencer Harrison Levin in Bad Haircut (2025)
      Bad Haircut
      8.7
      • Officer Steve
      • 2025
    • Dermot Mulroney, Jake Busey, Sean Patrick Flanery, Kym Whitley, Martin Kove, Jason Mewes, French Stewart, Jesse Kove, and Sierra McCormick in Killing Mary Sue (2025)
      Killing Mary Sue
      5.1
      • Wes Adamle
      • 2025
    • Kimi-Sung, Richard F Law, Katrina Ann Volonnino, Matthew Schmidli, Andrea Fantauzzi, and Katie Coryell Hall in Black Zone (2025)
      Black Zone
      7.6
      • Dr. William Roberts
      • 2025
    • Alec Baldwin, Josh Hopkins, and Travis Fimmel in Rust (2024)
      Rust
      5.8
      • Drum Parker
      • 2024
    • Mark Feuerstein in Guns & Moses (2024)
      Guns & Moses
      5.4
      • Owen Gibbons
      • 2024
    • Bruce Boxleitner, Lee Majors, Sean Faris, Kate Vernon, and Kelley Jakle in A Gettysburg Christmas (2023)
      A Gettysburg Christmas
      7.7
      • Sam
      • 2023
    • Bluegrass Spirits (2023)
      Bluegrass Spirits
      5.0
      • Nicholas
      • 2023
    • Scalper (2023)
      Scalper
      3.2
      • Detective Hayden
      • 2023
    • Warriors of Stone (2023)
      Warriors of Stone
      • Idris
      • 2023
    • Jake Busey, Clare Kramer, Billy Armstrong, and Brook Sill in Chaos on the Farm (2023)
      Chaos on the Farm
      4.8
      TV Movie
      • Lawrence
      • 2023
    • Niecy Nash in The Rookie: Feds (2022)
      The Rookie: Feds
      5.4
      TV Series
      • Rusty Filmore
      • 2022
    • Pig Killer (2022)
      Pig Killer
      3.7
      • Willy
      • 2022
    • Brooklin Michelle in Shooting Star (2022)
      Shooting Star
      5.9
      • Mr. York
      • 2022

    Producer



    • Cross (2011)
      Cross
      3.0
      Video
      • producer
      • 2011
    • The Rain Makers (2005)
      The Rain Makers
      3.5
      • associate producer
      • 2005

    Music Department



    • TORC: The Off-Road Championship (2010)
      TORC: The Off-Road Championship
      TV Series
      • performer: theme song
      • 2011

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos47

    Jake Busey Reel
    Demo Reel 7:22
    Jake Busey Reel
    Upside Down the Rabbit Holes of "Stranger Things"
    Clip 3:45
    Upside Down the Rabbit Holes of "Stranger Things"
    Upside Down the Rabbit Holes of "Stranger Things"
    Clip 3:45
    Upside Down the Rabbit Holes of "Stranger Things"
    What We Know About "Stranger Things" Season 3... So Far
    Clip 3:05
    What We Know About "Stranger Things" Season 3... So Far
    What 'The Predator' Trailer Doesn't Show
    Clip 2:02
    What 'The Predator' Trailer Doesn't Show
    Last Man Club
    Clip 0:43
    Last Man Club
    Last Man Club
    Clip 1:06
    Last Man Club

    Personal details

    • Official sites
      • Cameo
      • X
    • Alternative names
      • Jacob Busey
    • Height
      • 6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
    • Born
      • June 15, 1971
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Parents
        Judy Busey
    • Relatives
      • Luke Busey(Half Sibling)
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Interview
      • 1 Article

    Did you know

    • Trivia
      Learned to play violin for Starship Troopers (1997).
    • Quotes
      [on his younger half-brother] Luke is an amazing uncle. He does a great job of keeping Autumn [Jake's daughter] safe and out of trouble. What can I say? Some kids grow up long before others; if it comes to that, they'll know...and that's when they step up.
    • Trademark
      His wicked smile

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