Biography

Ben Foster

Jump to

Overview

Born
October 29, 1980 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Birth name
Benjamin A. Foster
Nickname
- Goat Boy
Height
5′ 9″ (1.75 m)

Biography

Ben Foster was born October 29, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Gillian Kirwan and Steven Foster, restaurant owners. His younger brother is actor Jon Foster. His paternal grandparents were from Russian Jewish families that immigrated to Massachusetts (his grandfather became a prominent judge in Boston), while his mother's family is from Maryland.

During his childhood, his family moved to Fairfield, Iowa, where he was raised. Fairfield had four community theaters. His passion for acting was discovered early on, and after starring in the title role in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", put on by one of the community theaters, he wrote, directed, and starred in his own play at age 12, a play that won second place in an international competition. After attending Interlochen Theater Arts Summer Program at age 14 in Interlochen, Michigan, it was only a matter of time before Ben dropped out of high school at age 16 and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was almost immediately snapped up for the Disney series Flash Forward (1995), in which two friends narrate the highs and lows of high school.

His film debut was a small role in the little-seen Kounterfeit (1996), after which he was solicited for several made-for-TV movies and appearances on television series before reaching his next milestone, Liberty Heights (1999), where he played alongside Adrien Brody and Joe Mantegna as a rebellious Jewish teenager who engages in a forbidden relationship with a Black girl. His first starring movie role was in the film Get Over It (2001), where he starred along with Kirsten Dunst as a lovelorn teenager, and then the beautifully crafted Bang Bang You're Dead (2002), in which he played Trevor Adams, the starring role. Still, until 2005, his parts for the most part were small but beautifully played, and then he landed the role of Marshall Krupcheck in the movie Hostage (2005), an intense piece of acting that made people begin to take notice and recognize his potential and talent.

Since then, he played major roles in many movies, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Alpha Dog (2006), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Messenger (2009), The Mechanic (2011), Rampart (2011), Kill Your Darlings (2013), and Lone Survivor (2013).
- IMDb mini biography by: Eccentric Banshee

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademark

Often plays crazed, violent characters
Calm mellow voice
Soft hoarse voice
Intense acting style
Frantic fast-paced delivery

Trivia

At age 12, he won second place in an international competition for a play that he wrote and directed.
Risked his sight while filming Alpha Dog (2006) by adding glaucoma drops to his eyes for much of the shoot to dilate his pupils, making him appear to be high. He'd hide in the bushes at night and cover his eyes between takes to keep the lights from shining into them and also had to talk to director Nick Cassavetes with his eyes closed.
Was formerly engaged to Robin Wright from January 11, 2014 to November 12, 2014. They got back together on January 2015.
His favorite actress is Gena Rowlands, and his favorite actors are Philip Seymour Hoffman and Gary Oldman.
For his role in 3:10 to Yuma (2007) he was trained by renowned Hollywood gun coach Thell Reed, who also trained actors Russell Crowe, Kurt Russell, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Sam Elliot, Girard Swan and Val Kilmer for Tombstone (1993).

Quotes

[Discussing his role in Hostage (2005)] In the novel, my character was written as a 400-pound, 30-year-old massive force. Since I am not that, I had to find a different direction. I based my character on a serial who saw his parents die and now has a fetish for little girls and watching people die.
[on preparing for his character in Liberty Heights (1999)] The big goal for me was just to get the mental state of mind, this kind of pure innocence. My generation is pretty jaded, pretty cynical. Everything happens really fast. Too much, too fast. So I got all the Life and Look magazines from '54 to '55, stuff that would be at the family's house, on the coffee table. I listened to all the Columbia years of Frank Sinatra, stuff that would probably be on the radio. I talked to my grandmother and looked through her photo album. I talked to my dad.
[on director Nick Cassavetes] Nick is magic. He doesn't tell you what he wants, he allows. And as long as you're taking chances and he feels that you are being truthful to yourself, then you can do no wrong.
I'm so sick of sarcasm and irony, I could kill! Sincerely, the real root of things is love and sacrifice. Everything else is an illusion. I'm not trying to preach here. I can't tell anybody anything. But I will say, if you're available to them, there are so many great secrets in the world, so many signs. It's when we stop for a moment and listening that the world gets interesting.
[Talking about meditation practices] It's always difficult. To feel, rather than to think, to tap into that source and let it come through you. It takes courage. Because we feel it and then we get scared and we analyze it. We live in this thought web, we identify things and put them away and distance ourselves from them. But to be completely present? That is source, that is art, that is spirituality. And meditation is a way to defy fear and experience that source. *Laughs* I know this is all esoteric and weird.