Ben Foster Biography

Ben Foster (born October 29, 1980) is an American actor. His film roles include The Laramie Project, Liberty Heights, Get Over It, Hostage, X-Men: The Last Stand, Alpha Dog, 30 Days of Night, The Messenger, Bang Bang You're Dead and Pandorum. Ben Foster received best supporting actor nominations from both the Saturn and Satellite Awards for his 2007 role in the film 3:10 to Yuma.

Ben Foster

Ben Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of restaurant owners Gillian and Steven Foster. Ben Foster has described his parents as "free-spirited, Vietnam-protesting hippies". Ben Foster has a younger brother, Jon, who is also an actor. Ben Foster was raised in his father's Jewish religion. His paternal grandmother emigrated from Russia to escape pogroms in 1923.

When Ben Foster was four years old, his family relocated to Fairfield, Iowa, after their Boston home was burgled while they were present. He has practiced Transcendental Meditation since he was four years old and, while living in Fairfield, attended the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, which included Transcendental Meditation in its curriculum.

Career

Ben Foster began working as an actor when he was sixteen years old. Foster dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. In 1996 and 1997, he appeared in the television series Flash Forward and had an unsuccessful audition for the lead role in Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. Over the next three years, Ben Foster obtained small roles in two made-for-TV movies as well as two episodes of the TV series Freaks and Geeks.

In 2001, Ben Foster acted in the film Get Over It. Ben Foster also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin (22 episodes) in the HBO Original Series, Six Feet Under. After appearing in the films 11:14 and The Punisher, Ben Foster appeared in Hostage with Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak and Michelle Horn. In 2006, Foster appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as the comic-book hero Angel/Warren Worthington III. In the crime thriller Alpha Dog, he played the character Jake Mazursky and added glaucoma drops to his eyes to simulate the appearance of a drug addict in the film. In 2007, Ben Foster played cold-blooded killer Charlie Prince in the critically acclaimed Western 3:10 to Yuma.

Filmography

1996–1997 Flash Forward
1997 Kounterfeit
1998 I've Been Waiting for You

Ben Foster

1998 You Wish
1998 Breakfast with Einstein
1998 1973
1999 Liberty Heights
1999 Freaks and Geeks
2000 Family Law
2001 Get Over It
2001 Boston Public
2002 The Laramie Project
2002 Big Trouble
2002 Bang Bang You're Dead
2002 Phone Booth
2003 Northfork
2003 11:14
2003 Six Feet Under
2004 The Punisher
2004 The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
2005 Hostage
2005 The Dead Zone
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand
2007 Alpha Dog
2007 3:10 to Yuma
2007 My Name Is Earl
2007 30 Days of Night
2008 Birds of America
2009 The Messenger
2009 Blink
2009 Pandorum
2010 Here
2011 The Mechanic
2011 Rampart
2012 Yellow
2012 Contraband
2012 360