Equally at home onstage or in front of the camera, Jake Weber entered films with two wildly disparate 1989 pictures, writer-director Melvin Van Peebles little-seen farce "Identity Crisis" and Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July", but turned down roles in "Glory" (also 1989) and "Reversal of Fortune" (1990) to continue his graduate studies at Juilliard. He honed his classical chops in a number of Shakespeare in the Park productions, including "Richard III" (1990), "Othello" (1991) and "As You Like It" (1992), as well as acting in Off-Broadway productions of John Patrick Shanley's "The Big Funk" (1990) and the highly-acclaimed "Mad Forest" (1991). The blandly attractive blond actor made an auspicious Broadway debut playing five Italian brothers in Alan Ayckbourn's farcical "A Small Family Business" (1992). He had small roles as an ill-fated Hassid in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us" (1992) and as a secret informant who puts his life on the line in Alan J. Pakula's "The Pelican Brief" (1993) before enjoying more screen time as a violent but likable pimp in the independent "Skin Art" (also 1993).
Weber upped his visibility somewhat as a regular on Gene Wilder's unsuccessful sitcom vehicle "Something Wilder" (NBC, 1994-95) and made a stronger impression as a dedicated country doctor with a dark past on the highly touted but low rated supernatural drama "American Gothic" (CBS, 1995-96). He worked Off-Broadway in Arthur Laurents' "Radical Mystique" (1995), Shanley's "Missing Marisa/Kissing Christina" (1996) and a Williamstown Theatre Festival revival of "The Rivals" (1998), but his burgeoning film career has precluded further stage work. Increasingly, he has essayed characters with an edge like the snotty, rich brat in "What the Deaf Man Heard" (CBS, 1997), the treacherous would-be successor and son-in-law to Anthony Hopkins in "Meet Joe Black" (1998) and John Cusack's sarcastic, opinionated best friend in "Pushing Tin" (1999). A change of pace was provided by the chamber drama "Into My Heart" (also 1998) in which he co-starred as the eyepatch-wearing never-been-emotionally-hurt "golden boy" best friend of Rob Morrow. Weber found himself in the top-notch ensemble of the blockbuster "U-571" (2000), playing the quietly-brave, German-speaking mastermind of the plot to capture the Enigma machine, and rounded out the year as an FBI agent unsure of the direction taken by his partner in the supernatural thriller "The Cell".
Family
-
Son: Waylon Weber. born March 24, 2006; mother, Elizabeth Carey
Significant Others
-
Companion: Elizabeth Carey. longtime girlfriend; mother of his son Waylon
-
Wife: Diane Weber.
-
Companion: Nora Ariffin. had been romantically linked for several years; acted together in Skin Art (1993)
Education
-
The Juilliard School, New York, New York, 1990
-
Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, English and political science, BA
-
Summerhill School, Leiston, Suffolk, England
Milestones
-
1988 New York stage debut in Road
-
1989 Film acting debut, Melvin Van Peebles Identity Crisis (unreleased theatrically in the USA)
-
1989 First released film, Oliver Stone s Born on the Fourth of July ; played bit role
-
1992 Broadway debut, playing five Italian brothers in Alan Ayckbourn s farcical A Small Family Business
-
1992 Played a Hasidic Jew in Sidney Lumet s A Stranger Among Us
-
1992 Shared Drama Desk Award nomination as part of the ensemble of the Off-Broadway production of Mad Forest
-
1993 Played secret informant who puts life on line to reveal truth about a conspiracy to murder supreme court justices in The Pelican Brief , adapted from the John Grisham novel
-
1993 Portrayed a violent pimp in the independent feature Skin Art
-
1994 TV-movie debut, Vanishing Son II , an installment of the syndicated Action Pack series; portrayed a tobacco-chewing homicidal maniac
-
1997 Appeared as snotty, rich brat in Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, What the Deaf Man Heard (CBS), starring Matthew Modine
-
1997 Had small role as Mr Wright in Steven Spielberg s Amistad
-
1997 Reteamed with Shanley for two one-act plays ( Missing Marisa and Kissing Christine ) produced Off-Broadway as Missing/Kissing
-
1998 Essayed French King Henry whose liaison with the famous 16th-century courtesan of Dangerous Beauty insured the offer of his ships to save Venice from the Turks
-
1998 Offered a suitably despicable turn as the treacherous Drew in Meet Joe Black , co-starring Claire Forlani
-
1998 Starred opposite Rob Morrow as his idealistic golden boy best friend since childhood in Into My Heart (filmed in 1996); Claire Forlani played his wife; released theatrically in the USA in 2000
-
1999 Played John Cusack s sarcastic, opinionated best friend in Pushing Tin
-
2000 Cast as FBI agent Gordon Ramsey in supernatural thriller The Cell , the feature directorial debut of award-winning music video director Tarsem
-
2000 Portrayed one of the leaders of a mission to intercept a stranded German submarine in the WWII thriller U-571
-
2001 Had featured role on the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man
-
2001 Received strong reviews as a man whose family comes under attack in the supernatural thriller Wendigo ; screened at Sundance
-
2002 Starred in the Off-Broadway play Monster , based on Mary Shelley s Frankenstein
-
2004 Starred in the remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead
-
Appeared as a regular on American Gothic , a CBS supernatural drama
-
Appeared in Shakespeare in the Park (New York Shakespeare Festival) productions of Richard III (1990), Othello (1991) and As You Like It (1992); also acted in NYSF production of John Patrick Shanley s The Big Funk (1990)
-
Did TV guest shots on Another World and Law & Order (both NBC), among other series
-
TV series debut as a regular, Something Wilder (NBC), a sitcom starring Gene Wilder
-
Turned down roles in Glory (1989) and Reversal of Fortune (1990) to continue his studies at Juilliard