A handsome character player and occasional lead best known for his portrayals of burnt-out characters, native Californian James Le Gros began his career appearing on stage and in small roles in made-for-television movies. He moved on to such critically lauded features as Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" (1987), Gus Van Sant's "Drugstore Cowboy" and Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" (both 1989).
In 1992, Le Gros was a firm, versatile screen presence, appearing in four acclaimed films: he had strong cameos in "Singles" and "Where the Day Takes You", and powerful lead performances in "My New Gun" and "Gun Crazy", where his "soft, yet hard" edge was put to good use portraying characters who liberate various confined women. He subsequently earned praise for his tour-de-force portrayal of a disaffected young resident of Los Angeles in "Floundering" (1994). That same year, he romanced Andie MacDowell in "Bad Girls" (which also co-starred Le Gros' father-in-law Robert Loggia) and he portrayed Deems Taylor in Alan Rudolph's underrated "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle".
Le Gros continued to add to his resume in 1995 with turns in diverse features including Mario Van Peebles' "Panther" and Todd Haynes' "Safe". He co-starred as an offbeat hotel owner with a bank robbing past in the pallid comedy "Destiny Turns on the Radio" and won raves for his portrayal of a dim-witted rising star in Tom DiCillo's paean to independent filmmaking "Living in Oblivion" (both 1995). The busy actor appeared with Winona Rider and Lukas Haas in "Boys" and co-starred with Matthew Broderick in "Infinity" (both 1996).
- Also Credited As:
James Le Gros, James LeGros
- Born:
April 27, 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor
Family
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Father-in-law: Robert Loggia.
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Son: Noah Le Gros. born in 1993; mother, Kristina Loggia
Education
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Professional Conservatory, South Coast Repertory Theater, Costa Mesa, California
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University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California
Milestones
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1984 Acting debut in The Ratings Game , directed by Danny DeVito
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1985 TV movie debut, Kicks
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1986 Had featured role in Solarbabies
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1987 First collaboration with Kathryn Bigelow in Near Dark
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1988 Debut as a leading man in Phantasm II
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1989 Had featured role in Gus Van Sant s Drugstore Cowboy
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1991 Reteamed with Bigelow on Point Blank
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1992 Initial collaboration with director Stacy Cochran, My New Gun
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1994 Had a tour de force as a man suffering from insomnia in contemporary L.A. in the Sundance-screened Floundering
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1995 Offered an amusing turn as a Brad Pitt-like actor in Tom DiCillo s Living in Oblivion
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1995 Supported Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes Safe
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1996 Acted in Cochran s Boys
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1997 Co-starred with Julianne Moore in The Myth of Fingerprints ; first onscreen teaming with Noah Wyle
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1998 Played Will Smith s associate in Enemy of the State
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1998 Played recurring role on the NBC medical drama ER as rival in love to Noah Wyle s Dr Carter
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1998 Reteamed with Gus Van Sant to play the car salesman in the director s shot-by-shot remake of Psycho
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2000 Cast as a gay man having doubts about marrying his lover in the Harvey Fierstein penned segment ( Andy & Amos ) of Common Ground (Showtime)
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2000 Joined cast of Ally McBeal (Fox) playing attorney Mark Albert; left after only one season
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2000 Starred in the Sundance-screened Drop Back Ten , playing a magazine writer investigating a celebrity; third collaboration with Stacy Cochran
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2001 Co-starred in Lovely and Amazing , directed by Nicole Holofcener; also screened at Toronto; released theatrically in 2002
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2001 Made cameo appearance in World Traveller , reteaming with director Bart Freundlich; screened at Toronto; shown at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival before its theatrical release
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2001 Portrayed the slacker owner of a fast food restaurant encouraged by his ambitious wife to kill a rival in Scotland, PA. ; screened at Sundance; released theatrically in 2002
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2004 Cast in the film Catch that Kid
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2005 Starred opposite Courteney Cox in the drama November ; premiered at Sundance
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2006 Cast as Dante, a sensitive singer-songwriter in Bart Freundlich s Trust the Man
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Raised in Redlands, California
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Served an apprenticeship at South Coast Repertory