A promising young actor noted for his worldly demeanor and an eye tic, Balthazar Getty exploded onto the scene as Ralph in Harry Hook's 1990 remake of "Lord of the Flies.” The great-grandson of oil tycoon J Paul Getty, the then-13-year-old was attending Los Angeles' Bel Air Prep when casting agents visited in search of young talent and discovered him. His harrowing intensity as the cadet leader who refused to descend into the savagery of his shipwrecked schoolmates earned him raves and a host of follow-up opportunities.
Since "Flies,” he has grown up in the business, holding his own alongside Christian Slater, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and Emilio Estevez in "Young Guns II" (1990), mentoring under the veteran but paternal Ben Johnson in "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" (1991) and working with the likes of Oliver Stone in 1994's "Natural Born Killers" as a gas station attendant seduced and murdered by Juliette Lewis), Sylvester Stallone (as a cadet in "Judge Dredd" 1995) and Ridley Scott (as one of the students in "White Squall" 1996). "December" (1991), in which he was Wil Wheaton's younger brother who wanted to enlist and fight in WWII, gave Getty his first chance to work almost entirely on a set while "Where the Day Takes You" (1992) afforded him the opportunity to expand his range as an actor by playing a street kid living on Hollywood Boulevard.
For Paul Haggis' "Red Hot" (1996), Getty's research included studying piano and guitar for months in order to play a 50s Russian music student who catches American rock-n-roll fever. The part allowed him to ". . . play music, be an outlaw, and fall in love." In real life, music claims great deal of his attention; under the moniker B-Zar, he produced tracks for the debut recording of the band Mannish. David Lynch cast the young actor to head the second part of his twisted thriller, "Lost Highway" (1996). In a convoluted turn, Getty's Pete is found a prison cell previously occupied by a murderer (Bill Pullman) and is released. The role was a variation on his performance in Stone's "Natural Born Killers" as the naive character is led astray by a mysterious femme fatale (Patricia Arquette). He followed with a turn alongside Burt Reynolds and William Forsythe in the comedy-thriller "Big City Blues" (1997). Around this time, Getty went into rehab for years of heroin and alcohol abuse, addictions he developed while a teenager and shared by grandfather J. Paul Getty, Jr. and father J. Paul Getty III. He has remained clean ever since.
Getty first appeared on the small screen as young Master Miles in Showtime's "The Turn of the Screw" (1989) and did not return to the medium until playing the role of Andreas Symes in the Sci-Fi Channel's movie "Habitat" (1997). Showtime's series "The Hunger" (1997) reunited him with Ridley Scott, its executive producer, when he portrayed James Chandler in "The Swords" episode, directed by Tony Scott, that depicted Getty as an American in London engaged in a steamy affair with a young woman (Amanda Ryan) seemingly not of this world. Getty next appeared in a string of low-budget indies that barely saw the light of day. After two straight-to-video releases—“Out in Fifty” (1999), about an ex-con determined to go straight, and “Voodoo Dawn” (2000), a cheese-ball thriller about a convict who learns voodoo to exact revenge on the people who put him behind bars—Getty starred as a gas station clerk looking to put his days of drugs and booze behind him in “Shadow Hours” (2000).
In “Four Dogs Playing Poker” (2000), another low-budget thriller failing to garner a theatrical distribution, Getty was one of four thieves who crash a Buenos Aires wedding with the intention of stealing a Degas statuette. When the prize turns up missing, the dealer (Forrest Whitaker) expecting the piece demands its delivery or $1 million immediately, forcing the gang to come up with a desperate plan—take out insurance policies on their lives and figure out who’s going to die. A supporting role in “The Center of the World” (2001) as the friend of a millionaire computer wizard (Peter Sarsgaard) who falls for musician-cum-stripper (Molly Parker) during a three-day Las Vegas tryst governed by strict no-contact rules was followed by a regular series role as the drug-abusing black sheep of a wealthy publishing family in the short-lived primetime soap “Pasadena” (FOX, 2001-2002).
Getty continued keeping a low profile in little-seen features while randomly showing up on television. He had a small, but interesting role in “Deuces Wild” (2002) as the loyal right-hand man to the leader (Norman Reedus) of a 1950’s gang who’s released from prison and causes trouble for another gang trying to keep heroin of its block. Getty next joined Christian Slater and Val Kilmer in the heist thriller “Run for the Money” (2002), then gave an energetic performance in “Sol Goode” (WB, 2002) as a 20-something ladies man whose life takes a sudden turn for the serious when he faces the prospect of getting evicted. Forced to get a real job—and a real life—he starts falling for his best friend, Chloe (Katherine Towne), who is not convinced that he turned over a new leaf. In a different turn for the actor, Getty was portrayed as one of the good guys in “Ladder 49” (2004), director Jay Russell’s melodramatic tribute to firefighters.
Returning to television, Getty joined an ensemble for “Traffic: The Miniseries” (USA, 2004), playing a failed Seattle businessman who returns to his father’s garment business and is appalled to see the old man giving cover to the Chinese underworld smuggling illegal aliens, followed by a small role in the epic western miniseries “Into the West” (TNT, 2005). He gave a compelling performance as son of a dead soldier (Wentworth Miller) in the pilot episode of “The Ghost Whisperer” (CBS, 2005- ), then joined the cast of “Alias” (ABC, 2001-2006) for its fifth and final season, playing an agent in Authorized Personnel Only—a black-ops division of the CIA. A storyline involving Getty’s character being targeted for assassination by a mysterious operative called The Cardinal was never wrapped due to the show’s abbreviated last season. He then joined an all-star cast that included Calista Flockhart, Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths for “Brothers & Sisters” (ABC, 2006- ), a “Dallas”-like primetime soap about a group of troubled siblings dealing with the family’s lucrative food business after the death of their father (Tom Skerritt).