| Christian Slater |
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| Biography - www.Hollywood.com A puckish lead whose cool, wiseacre persona has eased his transition from teen to adult roles, Slater is equally adept at comedy, drama and strenuous action fare. He began his stage career when cast in a national tour of "The Music Man" at age nine. (His mother, Mary Jo Slater, is a successful casting director.) Slater appeared on Broadway and simultaneously began a small screen career on ABC daytime soaps with "One Life to Live" at seven and "Ryan's Hope" as a teenager. (His father, variously known as Michael Hawkins and Michael Gainsborough, originated the role of Frank Ryan on the series). 5Films, though, would eventually bring Slater fame, but it took a few years, even with his enviable family contacts. He had a bit in "The Legend of Billie Jean" (1985), starring the unrelated Helen Slater, and then gained notice as the young apprentice who helps Sean Connery solve a murder in "The Name of the Rose" (1986), Silly fluff like "Twisted" (1986), "Personal Choice" and "Gleaming the Cube" (both 1988) did little for the up-and-coming actor, but Slater became a player--at the ripe old age of 20--with his unnerving Jack Nicholson-inspired performance as a charming sociopath in the cult hit "Heathers" (1989). Capitalizing on his rising status, he offered a truthful and affecting portrayal of a misunderstood youth in "Pump Up the Volume" (1990). What followed was a succession of mostly teen-oriented action fodder: "Young Guns II" (1990), "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991, as Will Scarlett), "Mobsters" (also 1991), and the unsuccessful action comedy "Kuffs" (1992). 5Slater proved quite effective as a romantic lead opposite Marisa Tomei in the bittersweet "Untamed Heart" and held his own among a host of powerful players in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted "True Romance" (both 1993). Slater landed a coveted part in one of the most anticipated movies of 1994, as the interviewer in Neil Jordan's screen adaptation of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" (1994), a role originally slated for the late River Phoenix. Slater then appeared as an idealistic lawyer hired to defend accused killer Kevin Bacon in the period courtroom/prison drama "Murder in the First" (1995). While the romantic Bed of Roses" tanked, the hit actioner "Broken Arrow" (both 1996), which pitted him |
| Will Scarlet |
| against John Travolta , more than made up for it in box office. "Hard Rain" (1997), which he also co-produced, was little more than standard action fare and while the black comedy "Very Bad Things" (1998) provided him with a rich villainous role, it too did not set any box office records. Slater did manage to rejuvenate his career with a turn on Broadway as the child of a jazz musician and his troubled wife in "Side Man" (1998-99). 5Throughout his lifework, Slater's offscreen antics have made as many headlines as his films, what with arrests for drunk driving, gun possession and assault, not to mention his romances with co-stars Samantha Mathis, Winona Ryder, Patricia Arquette and super-model Christy Turlington (with whom he appeared in the unintentionally hilarious documentary "Catwalk", 1995). |
| Select Filmography |
| Heathers (1989) Young Guns 2 (1990) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992) True Romance (1993) Interview with the Vampire (1994) Murder in the First (1995) Broken Arrow (1996) Hard Rain (1998) Very Bad Things (1998) The Contender (2000) Windtalkers (2002) |