Jason Schwartzman biography
Date of birth : 1980-06-26
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Los Angeles, California
Nationality : American
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2011-08-31
Credited as : Actor, musician,
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Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Talia Shire (née Coppola) and the late producer Jack Schwartzman. Many of his family members are involved in film; he is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, cousin of actor Nicolas Cage, director Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola and Christopher Coppola, and grandson of Italia Coppola (née Pennino) and Carmine Coppola. His brother is actor/musician Robert Schwartzman (vocalist for the band Rooney), and his paternal half-brother is cinematographer John Schwartzman. Schwartzman is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on his father's side and Italian descent on his mother's side, and was raised without religion.
Chosen at the tail end of an exhausting casting search, Schwartzman burst into the film industry with his deft, hilarious portrayal of chronic overachiever Max Fischer in Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed Rushmore (1998). Since then, the young actor kept a low profile, opting to spend time with his band Phantom Planet, which recorded an album for Epic Records. Keeping with his geek-chic nature, he also chose small, quirky roles in television, such as his guest appearance as a slimy fake-ID dealer on NBC's tragically short-lived series Freaks and Geeks or his work in spoofs for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards.
He maintained his credibility in the independent scene during the next couple of years, appearing in Spun, and acting in his cousin Roman Coppola's CQ. After a role on the short-lived, though critically acclaimed, Fox sitcom Cracking Up in 2003, Schwartzman began kicking his film career into high gear. After a role in the quirky 2004 David O. Russell ensemble comedy I Heart Huckabees, the young actor appeared in 2005's big-screen version of Bewitched with Will Ferrell. He then played a lovable slacker in the intimate, critically acclaimed dramedy Shopgirl, appearing with Claire Danes and Steve Martin, who wrote the novella that the script was adapted from.
In 2006, Schwartzman joined the cast of his cousin Sophia Coppola's biopic Marie Antoinette, playing French king Louis XVI opposite star Kirsten Dunst. Then in 2007, he re-teamed with Wes Anderson, starring in and co-writing The Darjeeling Limited, a film about three brothers taking a soul-searching train ride through India. The film got mixed reviews, but reception to it was positive overall, setting Schwartzman up nicely for his next film, The Marc Pease Experience, in which he played the title role of a former high-school musical star who's stuck living in the past.
Filmography:
1998: Rushmore
2005: Shopgirl
Awards:
Schwartzman won the following awards:
-the 1999 Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best Actor (for Rushmore)
-the 1999 YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film (for Rushmore)
On February 17, 2009, Jason was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ magazine.